Twitter, The Digital Divide, & Other Technology (BP4)

The earliest I can remember using Twitter for social media was freshman year of high school. Honestly, I got one because everyone else had one so I felt like I was missing out on something. I briefly kept up with it throughout high school, never posting anything, but made sure I caught all of the latest twitter wars. And then like clockwork, I deleted the account the day after graduation. This was not only because I felt I didn't use it enough, but also because I was in the mentality that I was going to cut all ties with my high school and never look back. Until now, I have never wanted to create another account. Now, I view it as a tool for educators and students to be in contact and interacting throughout all parts of the day, rather than just in the classroom.

Unfortunately, Twitter is another resource that is only a quality tool if all students have access to it. This makes us analyze the issue of the digital divide. For those who don't know, the phrase "digital divide" refers to the divide among students in a classroom. The divide is between students with technology access and those who do not. There can be many reasons to this digital divide. I think the most obvious and self-explanatory of those reasons is socioeconomic status. Although studies have shown that almost everyone of all economic levels has access to smartphones, not all of those people have access to laptops or tablets. This makes accessing certain websites difficult as they are not mobile friendly. This is a big thing to consider if you plan on being an educator in the future. When I have thought about it, I usually come to the conclusion that many schools are allowing budgets to account for a class set of technology, whether that includes iPads or ChromeBooks. However, if I end up working in a classroom or school that isn't quite as fortunate, I think I would figure out a way for those students who know they won't have access to technology on a given day to complete the work during the day.

One technology tool that I have heard about around campus that I would like to incorporate into my classroom is Kaltura. This is an easy way to record and tape your lectures without a lot of hassle. My plan would be to record my lectures each day and send it to people who were absent that day so they don't have to go through the pain and stress of getting notes elsewhere. Another tool I would like to use as a future educator is something like Canvas or Google Classroom where I can keep everything organized, from lectures, to worksheets, to course calendars. I think this would also be useful for students so they can plan ahead with family holidays or absences.