The Digital Divide

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1AaEMZat1x7XgOcsMSF8ty33YxEN_J6ZpzZdYD5owjZs/edit


I see the digital divide fairly clearly.  I have sort of seen this first hand in my own high school.  One of my best friends never had a computer at home growing up, which made doing online assignments difficult.  Therefore, she always went to the library to use the computer.  Two years ago that all changed.

As part of a one-to-one laptop program, every kid in my school, 7-12 grade was issued a Macbook laptop to use for the school year.  Not only did it benefit students without computers at home, but it really made it easier for all of us.  It also helped in classes such as Chemistry because we had a program that worked with our computers to collect information. However, we are only 1 of 10 schools in the entire state of Iowa that had this awesome opportunity.  There are plenty of other schools with students that are probably going through the same problem as my friend.

As far as dealing with this problem when I begin teaching, I will just try to do my best to make sure the kids have access during school hours and try to make assignments not ridiculously long, so hopefully they will be able to finish the during class.  That way they shouldn't have a problem trying to get to a computer outside of school hours.  This may sound like I would be cutting down on assignments, but I think sometimes teachers overload students, and there is plenty they can learn right there in the classroom with a computer, without having to finish it at home. I would also encourage teachers to talk together to see if there are any programs out there like the one-to-one program.  I know we get technology grants to keep the program going, so it is definitely something worth looking into.

As teachers, I think doing the above is something we can do to lessen the digital divide.  It is in our hands to try our best to make sure our students have access to digital opportunities and they should not be limited because they don't have access outside of school.

http://popplet.com/app/#/226922

Bloom's Taxonomy and mind mapping can be interconnected very easily.  I could easily plan a class assignment having my students use a mind map to do a project.  I could then incorporate Bloom's Taxonomy by looking at each of the levels and using the key words that go along with those levels.

Using the remembering level, students may have to remember info previously taught in class to get the main idea of their map.

Using the understanding level, students would have to remember how the ideas fit together, and then classify them into a group or content area to serve as a sub-group to the main idea.

Using the applying level, students could add pictures to illustrate their ideas and why they fit together.

Using the analyzing level, the students can then see how their ideas differentiate and they can then compare and contrast them.

Using the evaluating level, the students can look at their mind mind and argue or defend why they put certain ideas where they did.

Using the creating level, the students can then assemble all their information together to possibly make a new point of view.

Using a structure similar to this, I could easily organize my ideas and think constructively about instructional technology.  It may be very interesting to create a mind map about all the different technological resources we have used in class and putting pros and cons, features, and the ideas we used to make them.  I think this would help me in the future in choosing which program to use and which ones can fit into Bloom's categories.

What Parents Should Know About Digital Citizenship

I chose to discuss these four things for a couple reasons.  First, I think they are all important for parents to know.  Second, I remember when I first started using technology and social networking sites and my mom was a little concerned.  At the time, she wasn't too great with technology herself because she hadn't grown up with it like I did.  I honestly had information available to everyone that I shouldn't have and I think it's important that parents monitor their kids for this reason. In my classroom I will teach about digital citizenship by telling personal stories, as well as giving parents things to read about the cyber world. I also think it's important that the parents get hands on experience so I hope to have them mess around on some sites that they use regularly.  This will help them know how to set privacy settings and know how to check when they ask their kids if their privacy settings are set. I think most parents understand that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are.  With that said, I will let them know how friends of friends can still see their child's information.  It is especially important to watch what you are posting, even as adults, if you have for example, a boss as a friend on your site.

As far as resources, I think the best resource is getting them logged onto sites and experience it themselves.  I would also have handouts of articles and videos for them to watch. I would probably send a paper home explaining what we will be doing on the internet in the classroom and have the parents sign a waiver to make sure it is okay.  After all, this is to learn more about digital citizenship.  The students may in fact be able to teach their parents a little bit about it.

I would deal with cyber bullying by making sure my students know they can talk to me about it.  They need to know that it is important that they tell someone what is going on.  I will also let them know that they can talk to their parents, as long as it is someone they know they can trust.  As far as preventative measures, I would tell the student that if it is happening through a chat online, to just sign off. The bully can't hurt them much when you're not available to talk to.