Class Journal #4

         The use of twitter in class has been a fun endeavor. I have been interacting with the tweets of people in our class, which has been nice to use this platform for interesting conversation. I have looked at some of the professional accounts, for example ISTE, but many of their tweets are links to articles or videos and I find it somewhat bothersome to leave the tweet to click on the link. Twitter would be helpful in the future maybe to interact with other professional in my field in the future to collaborate or simply share ideas on different topics we are interested in. I hope to find twitter more helpful in the future as we continue to use it. 

         Students in areas where there is digital divide can be harmed because there are lots of opportunities that open up by knowing how to use computers and navigate different programs that are used commonly like MS Office. Some causes of the digital divide is income. One article I read about it says that over half of the households with income under 20,000 don't have access to broadband internet. I may experience having to teach them a lot more about computers if I teach at a school in a low income area versus a school in a more well off school zone. 

         A couple of software programs I remember using in elementary school were Mavis Beacon and Zoo Tycoon. I think these were very beneficial in my learning so I think it could also benefit my future students. Mavis Beacon is a program where you learn how to type on a computer. You practice using all the keys with the appropriate finger for the most efficient way of typing.  Mavis Beacon may be an outdated version of this concept, but I'm sure I could find something more updated for my classroom, and its a great skill to practice these days. Zoo Tycoon I remember very fondly. It is a game that teaches you business skills. You have to build a zoo with a certain amount of money allocated, and then make sure your business is thriving while all your animals are fed and taken care of accordingly. You can keep expanding your zoo with new habitats if you have enough profit. This is an awesome way to teach children how to manage money and about all the different aspects of running a business, which is a skill everyone should know nowadays at least to a surface level extent.