Blog Journal #5

     I have past experience with Twitter, I originally made an account a year ago so I have become familiar with how to use the app. However, I have never used Twitter for educational purposes until now for this class. I have found using Twitter fun and interactive especially when chatting in Twitter chats for education. I have mainly been interacting with fellow educators through Twitter chats and have been getting notifications for any education-related topics that are happening on Twitter. Also, other teachers or educators have followed me on Twitter. I have found it beneficial especially when I joined the #WomenEdLeaders chat because it made me think about what I can do to improve education and develop my pedagogy. The questions and answers that were given in the Twitter chat made me learn new ideas and be exposed to others' approaches to teaching which I can use for inspiration when I become a teacher. 

    The digital divide can prevent students from keeping up with class material and with the rest of the students if they lack technology experience or do not have access at home. The digital divide can cause students to be out of touch with how to use the latest technology which could lead to the students spending more time struggling to use the technology than actually learning, affecting their success. Some causes of the digital divide are a lack of resources and not having enough trained teachers or experts on technology to help the students and teachers. Also, lack of funding can prevent students from all having the same technology in class, students may have to use school-provided devices while others use their personal devices, causing a divide because there may be technological differences. In my classroom, I might experience the digital divide as technology continues to change and if students' are lost when using the technology in class, I will have to shift my teaching strategies to account for the digital divide. I will teach both with and without technology on some days and try to help my students as much as I can to understand how to use the technology. 

    I would implement Microsoft PowerPoint and Google Docs in my future classroom. Microsoft PowerPoint is software to create slide-show presentations through Microsoft Office. Google Docs is a software that allows people to edit, create, and collaborate on online documents shared with one another through Google accounts. I would use PowerPoint with my future students for group projects where I want them to create a presentation on PowerPoint. Also, I would use PowerPoint to introduce different lessons I want to teach to the class. PowerPoint was one of the first academic software I learned how to use and it was through school and I find making PowerPoints fun so I hope that implementing it in my future classroom will improve engagement and make learning fun. I would use Google Docs with my future students so we can all share the same documents easily. Google Docs would also help make sure that all the students are following along with my lessons and can use it for assignments.