December 15th

Envision the role of social networking in the 21st century:

When thinking of social networking in the 21st century and what it may look like, I envision  many different pieces to the puzzle. 

*Virtual classrooms
*Students no longer having textbooks but instead having an IPAD or something very similiar.
*Communicating through Skype, blogs, wikis....etc
*I envision students being taught by other human beings from other countries
*Responding and interacting with multi-age children to enrich knowledge and vocabulary

Digital Divide:

The digital divide definitely exists in my school.  Even though we are a school of high technology and we are located in a more affluent community, there are a percentage of students/families that do not have access to technology.  Four years ago when we moved into our new building, we all had to create a personal website for our class and showcase it to the families.  We sent out surveys and questionnaires and the feedback was shocking.  There are so many people who just cannot afford technology; therefore cannot access certain informational websites.  
As far as I know, there have not been any accommodations done to rectify this as a district.  I know some teaches always make copies of documents that are uploaded to the websites to ensure that everyone receives the information.  It is hard for me to say this because I love the classroom setting and the daily interaction with children but part of me feels that this is also going to go away and students will only learn through primary sources.

 

I believe in all classroom settings today, we need to be using instructional strategies that are going to benefit all students.  Small group instruction and small cooperative groups are very beneficial to young learners.  I find being an educator of young children; these two instructional strategies work best.  When integrating technology into the daily learning, most children are more successful working collaboratively with other children.  This benefits the students with some experience with technology, as well as those students who have not been fortunate enough to have experienced technology.  In my classroom, I use the approach of team building and learning together.  During center time, children are paired up and are able to use the promethean board together to engage in academic learning.  I also have three of my higher level children, explore with various computer programs (TimeLine and Kidspiration).  They are intro level programs and very age appropriate for first grade.  I use it as another way to introduce the children to technology. 

As an educator in today’s “digital” world, it is my responsibility to integrate as much technology as I can into my students’ daily lives.   I have to realize that the transition from the old school of learning from a textbook has quickly turned.  Many schools across the nation are moving away from textbooks and lecturing and are incorporating various ways of technology to teach and communicate.  This is the way of the future and we as a nation need to find ways to quickly adapt to keep up and close the gap in so many areas of learning.