Blog Journal 5

 In all honesty, Twitter is not something I use day to day or am hundred percent familiar and comfortable using. Twitter was introduced to me when I was in high school. Everyone had twitter accounts before me and I was late to the party. It wasn't until everyone was talking about all the funny memes posted on twitter that I could not be part of until the memes were shown on Instagram. That was when I decided to get twitter. Then and now I never really used it all that much because I would just scroll through for entertainment and eventually I forgot about it. However I do believe that Twitter can be beneficial to those who use it. Through this course alone I have found out more and more about the benefits and uses for twitter. Whether thats staying updated on current news or joining twitter chats for education, to be even staying in touch and involved in your community and society in general. Twitter may be influential to me in my future career because as technology advances not only in the phones or computers but also technology advances in the medical field often times we can keep updated on those through twitter. I can also use it to keep updated on events or medical papers that people in the medical field may publish or recognize via twitter. 

Digital Divide is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. It is the separation or gap between those readily equipped with technology around the clock to those who are not. Today although many, if not majority of us, have technology at our disposal outside of the classroom. However not all of us can either afford or are allowed that internet and technology access outside of the classroom. So what do we do about those who suffer because of their lack of access? We cannot punish them for not being able to afford or use technology whenever we need them too. Saying this, as maybe a future teacher I need to be aware and sensitive to this matter. If a student of mine was not able to access technology outside of the classroom I will work with them on how to go about learning and using the technology available at school. Students will have time in class to use the technology provided but if a student does not have technology outside of the classroom they will not be penalties for it, I will allow extra time in class or assign work fairly not involving the computers to make sure everyone has fair opportunities. 

Academic Software is not the technology device you necessarily use but it is what is used ON the device for your benefit. Some examples of this is the computer is the hardware but Microsoft word, Quizlet, Google, etc is the software. In my future classroom I expect to be using software in a multitude of ways. Two academic softwares I intend on using within my classroom is Microsoft Word and a canvas or google classroom of some sort. Microsoft Word will be used for my students to be able to write papers, reviews, etc that I have them write. This allows them to be able to submit it to be virtually and faster, be able to have autocorrect for their grammar and spelling, and also be able to submit it to turnitin.com for plagiarism check. This is beneficial to the teacher, me, because it is less time consuming for me to have to check for common mistakes, I will know if one has plagiarized, and the time spent for me grading as well as them turning it in allows for more room in studying. I also intend on using either a canvas or google classroom type software to be able to keep my classes together and organized. By being able to section my class off from other classes it helps keep the students on topic and aware of upcoming assignments and due dates posted. I am also able ti send out announcements as a reminder and it is an easy way for students to get in contact not only with me but others in the class for help or communication.