Blog Post #4

            Since creating my Twitter account for this class I have so far followed four educational technology accounts and have been responding tweets. I have found it beneficial to see articles about new advances in education technology. I am quite familiar with Twitter as I have another account that I use to help my career. I network on there and pay attention to industry experts and occasionally respond to them. Mainly I chat with those in my field who are higher up. I frequently engage in Twitter chats, and on Monday night I was one of the featured guests for a chat to promote the release of a project I am involved with. You can find me on Twitter with either @EME2040Bender (my account for this class) or @MikaelaBender. 

The digital divide affects students’ success drastically. If a student does not have access to the technology schools are using and frequent internet access they will not be at the same level technology-wise as their peers when they graduate. In desktop publishing software, where teachers are creating e-magazines, flyers, and study materials that are online, these students may not be able to access them. Graphic software creates and enhances lessons and online learning environments which again some students on the other side of the digital divide may not be able to access. Reference software uses online dictionaries and atlases to help students, but those on the other side of the divide may be left behind. Again this problem arises in tutorials and drill-and-practice software where students can practice for tests and quizzes. However, not all students can use that software. Educational game software and simulation software for enhancing students’ learning are online. With authoring software, teachers are creating tutorials and web pages to email to their class, but for the student without internet access, this is a problem. Integrated learning systems use other software to only set the tech savvy student on the path to success.  Lastly students with special needs who do not have access to technology will not be able to utilize the special needs software that is available.

Sites must be evaluated before implementing them into a classroom. Using the acronym ABCTE is a good way to evaluate a website. A stands for “author.” Who is the author? Can you contact them? B stands for “bias.” Is the site biased? C stands for “content.” Is it current or is it out of date? Are there spelling and grammar mistakes? D stands for “design” and TE stands for “technical elements.” It is important to give students links they can click on to go to a website rather than having them type in the URL as it could take them to an inappropriate website. Also with links, check the links that are listed on the website and make sure where they go is not dangerous. Pay attention to advertising on a website. Are the ads appropriate or inappropriate? I learned a lot from the Evaluating Internet Resources podcast. Personally, I also think it is a good idea to fact check some of the content on a website.