Blog Journal #4

My first experiences using twitter was doing my freshman year, when another student and I were running a "corn" appreciation twitter, for a project about Big Agriculture vs. small town farms. During the twitter for this class I have interacted with a few of my classmates, but I won't lie, I have trouble thinking of things to tweet out because I don't really like / use the platform in my personal life. Twitter could be helpful in my future career as an educator, but I'm not sure if it would even be relevant anymore by the time I become a teacher.

The digital divide not only affects academic success within schools, but it can also lead to personal feelings of negativity and the feeling of not being as good as others. It can lead into being unprepared for college, or the workforce, and can even develop into being inept on social media platforms. The digital divide is more than just an economic issue. It's also caused by the inaccessibility of Internet in rural areas, or older communities. As a teacher, I think I will be more aware of the digital divide within my walls, and be as accommodating as possible to those without reliable access to Internet off school grounds. Not a lot of history is done using technology though, so I'm confident my teaching and lessons won't suffer a student without that access. 

Some software I think would be good to introduce and implement into my classroom would be Photo shop, and Microsoft. I think not only could it advance students grasp of some concepts, but it will also be a good exercise in preparing them for college. For photoshop, a specific project they could do would be to design their own war propaganda posters, like the Uncle Sam and Rosie the Riveter ones. For Microsoft, I could easily assign any number of essays or powerpoints on multiple topics. I think it's important for teachers to lay groundwork that will help students build their skills in the future, and prepare them for the more advanced things they may encounter.