I was really excited to give these resources a try this week. For the social network I decided to research Twitter since I don’t really participate much with it. I recently got a Twitter account because of the requirement of my ITEC 8500 course last semester. Honestly I didn’t really see a need for me to subscribe to another social network. It’s hard for me to keep up with the ones that I am active with. After signing up for Twitter I really enjoyed getting the quick information and updates throughout the day. I was able to see the most trending topics and get a snapshot concerning what is going on in the world. While attending the GAETC conference I sat in on several inspiring sessions and I started following those presenters. By far Leslie Fisher @lesliefisher is my favorite. She always seems to have some great resources or articles to share. Unfortunately, I’ve only sent out 6 tweets and they weren’t that spectacular, but you can follow me @tabitha0777. I currently teach grades K-2 and I think that it would be really difficult for my students to share their thoughts on Twitter. Recently, for a homework assignment, I had my second grade students write a tweet describing our novel using only 140 characters. This really challenged my students to really think about what they wanted to say while making sure that they only used 140 characters. It was really cool to read their summaries and the hashtags that they created. For the virtual environments I researched both Google Tour Builder and Mission-US and I was really impressed. I watched the video describing how to use this tool and I got so excited. I made a Google Tour to go along with my current gifted unit and it was so easy. The Google Tour that I created is all about our wonderful state of Georgia. It was so easy to upload pictures and video clips. I’ve even decided to add this resource to our unit. I know that my students are going to absolutely love this. The next virtual environment was Mission US and I thought that it would be better suited for the older students. There are four missions available for the students to complete. The missions are: City of Immigrants, A Cheyenne Odyssey, Flight to Freedom, and For Crown or Colony. It was easy to maneuver and it gives our students an opportunity to see history. While playing this interactive game the students have to make important choices that have consequences throughout the game. This gives our students a chance to experience what life was like during those time periods. Also, Mission-US is aligned with our national standards and it provides educators with lesson plans and a variety of resources to use with each one of the missions. I did notice that if you download the app that it seemed to run a lot faster than if you played it on your PC. Both of these resources would be great for our visual learners because they’re both colorful and visually appealing. Before reading the article I assumed that I had some background knowledge on the topic of the digital divide. I didn’t realize how in-depth this topic was covered with the seven principles. Gorski (2002) does describe the digital divide as, “inequalities in access to computers and the Internet between groups of people based on one or more social or cultural identifiers” (p.5). In my opinion the digital divide, at my school, includes access to equitable support and encouragement to pursue and value technology. My school is a very technology rich and we utilize a wide range of technology equipment. Unfortunately, we lack leadership to guide our exploration. Many times we are introduced to new resources without really being given a chance to explore and understand its uses. It would be great to have someone in our building full-time who could guide us and provide support for our teachers and students. After reading this article, I felt that there was one strategy that could be used by our schools to ensure equitable access to digital tools and resources. Providing continued training for our teachers would have such a positive impact on our classrooms. Once our teachers feel confident and supported this will change their perceptions and how they use technology in our building. Another strategy would involve our stakeholders and sharing with them how important technology is and how it can make a difference in our student’s lives. Gorski, P. (2005). Education equity and the digital divide. AACE Journal, 13(1), 3-45. | Screenshot of the Mission-US interactive game. Screenshot of the tour builder that I created. https://tourbuilder.withgoogle.com/tour/ahJzfmd3ZWItdG91cmJ1aWxkZXJyEQsSBFRvdXIYgICAra38qgsM |
5 Comments
Lisa Champlin
2/14/2016 08:45:25 am
Tabitha,
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Tabitha
2/16/2016 10:12:50 am
Hi Lisa! My school recently had a bunch of PTA members come in and watch a grade levels class, so they could be trained on a new data initiative. I was thinking that if we could make time for this then surely we could make time for technology. Our PTA is really great and I'm sure that if we said we need more time, which we do, then they would try and make it happen.
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Evonia
2/14/2016 07:49:34 pm
Hi Tabitha,
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Tabitha
2/16/2016 10:16:56 am
Hi Evonia! I'm not really sure if our admin realizes if their is a problem. Unfortunately, they push a lot of cash into new products, but not into the time to explore it. I would love for this position to be created at all schools, but right now schools are focused on the data for Milestones. For my Capstone project I am integrating technology into our IB planners and it has been interesting. I'm running into some opposition from one grade level, but the others are soaking it up.
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Ayun Chong
2/14/2016 09:05:59 pm
Hi Tabitha
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