#4 - The Digital Divide

     Thus far, Twitter has proved to be a fun way to interact with my peers. I don't normally interact with every person in my class on social media but our educational twitter accounts allow me to do this. It is exciting to see the different ways people interpret the going-ons of our course. I've interacted with several people in my class, whether it be through "liking a tweet" or "retweeting" their tweet. Twitter could prove to be helpful in my career by bringing me closer to my colleagues outside of our schools. My mother, a third grade teacher, has a twitter and she uses it to access her school board and fellow teachers in a mature, but relaxed tone.


     When I effortlessly use social media outlets like Twitter it's easy to forget that there is a very large population of students who don't have as easy of access to technology. This phenomenon is known as "The Digital Divide". This divide is the gap between students who have access to reliable technology, and those students who do not. The podcast says, "the impact is not just about access, but also knowledge and skills". There are many forms of active learning software that make up the instruments of the Digital Divide, Among these are academic software, productivity software, presentation software, and academic software applications. Within each of these categories are programs like simulations, graphics, drill-and-practice software, educational games, simulations, and tutorials. Many students don't have access to these kinds of software's, and some don't even have access to more common software's such as Microsoft Office, a tool that many teachers incorporate in student projects. Students who rely on the failing, outdated computers of their school libraries are deprived of basic skills students with computers at home may be learning that will better equip them for future learning and careers.


    An example of one of the skills a student more acquainted with technology can develop is the ability to properly evaluate a website. This is the ability to determine whether or not a website is good and reliable. When I examine a website I first check to see the domain of the website. If the domain is .gov or .edu I automatically consider the website to be reliable. One can also check the sources of the information provided on the website. A basic rule of thumb to live by when navigating websites for information, however, is to ask yourself the question, "would the person providing this information lose their job if it wasn't accurate?"