Blog #4

I used twitter to connect with friends from school. I saw twitter as “the next big next” so I started using it. However, in EME 2040 I use it as an educational platform. I am able to connect with different educator from around the world who share the same interests as me. One particular twitter user posts that interests me is White House Af-Am Ed- (@AfAmEducation) mainly because they have amazing quotes relating to education and life. Twitter will be helpful in my future career because it can give me the opportunity to network with other educators while allowing me to adopt different methods to reach my students that have been beneficial for other educators.

The digital divide a split between the students who have access to technology and those who don’t. The digital divide affects student’s success because some students don’t have the resources to complete assignments at home. Some students might have access to computer but the computers could be out dated. If a teacher requires internet access the student will not be able to complete the assignment and will probably receive a low grade. Teachers might require the student be able to use Microsoft Office but some students might not have the funds to buy Microsoft office.  From my own experience my teachers would eliminate the digital divide by not assigning take home projects because of our school funding, they would reserve our computer labs so we could complete assignments as a class.

According to the podcast, when evaluating websites, you can use ABCDT. A is for the author. Is it a creditable source? Can you contact the author if you have any questions or concerns? B is for bias. You should think about if website have a bias toward something or is it neutral? C is for content. Is the information accurate? Is the information current? Are there spelling errors? Is it appropriate for my students? D is for design. Are there pictures? Are there creative things on the website? T is for Technical elements. Is the site essay to nagavtiagete? You should also check to see how stable the website is. Look to see if it is crediable through other sites. The podcast and my personal thoughts are similar. I mainly focus on whether the author is a creditable source to use. ABCDT is important because you should want to give your students the best information you can and by doing that you should make sure you evaluate each website you chose to incorporate in your lesson plans.