Technology!

     At first i was very confused on how twitter for this class would work, but I've enjoyed it. I like seeing the updates from EME2040 and FSU Education, because they've informed me on interesting events going on in the Education building and reminded me of assignments we've done in class. Following other educational accounts has also informed me on what's going on in the education field nationally and some articles they've shared have been very informative. I normally don't watch the news or stay updated in politics so going on twitter has helped me get informed. Twitter also lets you interact globally for free, so you can see what's happening worldwide and interact with others from another country. This could be very helpful in my career to connect with other teachers worldwide and compare our standards and teaching techniques.
     Statistics have shown that digital divide is part of reason for some student's success over others. Students with more access to technology outside of the classroom and have grown up using technology have a greater advantage in being prepared for the workforce and assignments teachers assign with technology. The more technology a student is comfortable around the more confident they are in completely technology based assignments resulting in a higher pass rate. Digital divide could be caused by the lack of income people have. Some families can't afford internet access or computers so they have less experience with technology. It also depends on where you live, if you can get public access to computers and internet easily or not. As a teacher, I know I will have students with more access to technology than others. To try and help the problem I could use teaching time to do technology based learning assignments so each child is up to date on technology use and processing skills. This will also boost students confidence in their technological skills, especially the ones with little to no internet access. Another thing I could do to try and avoid digital divide is not assign homework or assignments that requires technology to complete.
     In my classroom I would teach my students how to use Office 365. Using Office 365 students will be able to learn how to create word documents, powerpoint  slides, and excel spread sheets. They can complete writing assignments using Word, presentations using PowerPoint, and graphs and spreadsheets using Excel. This software is used all throughout one's career and worldwide so teaching students how to use it and becoming familiar with it will be very beneficial for them. This could help them become more familiar with technology and more confident in completing assignments that involve technology. Another technology I would use is Kahoot! I used it a lot throughout middle and high school for test prep. It made learning fun and competitive. My peers and I wanted to be involved in Kahoot and learned our mistakes from it. It was something different we didn't get to do all the time, but always enjoyed when we did. I would use it for test and quiz prep with my students. They'll learn what they need to study while also having some fun. I would use it to give them a break from the regular book studying.