Blog Post #4
I have really enjoyed using Twitter in an educational setting. I get to see tweets from my peers and from top educators all over the world. Every time I log on, I learn more about educational technology and how I can use it once I am a teacher. Since I plan to teach kindergarten, my tweets won't really benefit my students. However, I can use Twitter to keep parents informed as well as to share lesson plans and successful programs with other kindergarten teachers looking for inspiration.
The digital divide podcast was actually really enlightening for me. Growing up at a private parochial school, tuition was lofty so everyone who went to school there was pretty well-off. Very few people at my school faced the issue of not having digital resources at home. However, at a lower-SES school we see the digital divide is significantly greater. A family's social and financial stability can affect the digital literacy and availability of resources for their child. As a teacher, I will try to let my students use technology as much as I can in the classroom so that they can immerse themselves and become educated in the world of technology. When it comes to homework, I will try to assign paper and pencil types of homework that can be accessible to children and families of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Since I have always wanted to teach kindergarten, I have often imagined what my lesson plans might consist of. The only experience I have had with kindergarten classrooms was my own kindergarten class, so clearly the technology back then was not as advanced as it is now. When it comes to student software, my students will benefit most from read-aloud programs like Reader Rabbit and Audible. This will help them become strong auditory learners while using their imagination to create a visual component. A software that will not be very helpful in a kindergarten setting is probably Quizlet or Edmodo. Since these are targeted towards older audiences with access to cell phone for other mobile technology, it probably will not work well with my kindergarteners.
The digital divide podcast was actually really enlightening for me. Growing up at a private parochial school, tuition was lofty so everyone who went to school there was pretty well-off. Very few people at my school faced the issue of not having digital resources at home. However, at a lower-SES school we see the digital divide is significantly greater. A family's social and financial stability can affect the digital literacy and availability of resources for their child. As a teacher, I will try to let my students use technology as much as I can in the classroom so that they can immerse themselves and become educated in the world of technology. When it comes to homework, I will try to assign paper and pencil types of homework that can be accessible to children and families of all socioeconomic backgrounds.
Since I have always wanted to teach kindergarten, I have often imagined what my lesson plans might consist of. The only experience I have had with kindergarten classrooms was my own kindergarten class, so clearly the technology back then was not as advanced as it is now. When it comes to student software, my students will benefit most from read-aloud programs like Reader Rabbit and Audible. This will help them become strong auditory learners while using their imagination to create a visual component. A software that will not be very helpful in a kindergarten setting is probably Quizlet or Edmodo. Since these are targeted towards older audiences with access to cell phone for other mobile technology, it probably will not work well with my kindergarteners.
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