Social Networking
I used Edmodo more last year with my students when I taught Social Studies and my teammates collaborated to add information. Edmodo is a great way to present a variety of information to students in different ways. My students enjoyed going to Edmodo for assignments during their computer time. It was a great refresher to see what was going on with my students. I do like the upgrades that now you connect it with your OneDrive or Google Drive which makes it easier to bring assignments over for me. It is also a way to teach the students digital citizenship and teach them how to be responsible students online.
Virtual Worlds
The two virtual worlds I explored were Club Penguin and Second Life. I last visited Second Life almost in its debut and really left it alone. Seemed very weird to me, a person who plays The Sims. I guess I just had no clue how to really use it. The version I found today is a lot friendlier. I can see Second Life working a lot better with the middle and high school setting for group discussions and sharing information. I think because Second Life has so many levels you really have to think about if that is the best Virtual Learning setting for students, one wrong click and you have a concerned parent about the site.
Club Penguin I realized there was a fee involved (thanks Disney) so I just went through the free site. I thought it was a pretty good way to introduce digital citizenship and community to younger students. It also is a great way to show parents how they can help their child grow up responsible internet users.
I think teachers would probably benefit the most out of Edmodo because of the great resources for teachers and students all under a very watchful educational website. It’s not to say it will be perfect. I had some students being silly and then I showed them how I could see what conversation they had which led to a great discussion about what they think is private can be public on social media sites. **My Second Life account had some issues and I didn't save a screenshot before it froze me out. I will update it once I can get back in.***
Digital Divide
There is a digital divide between computer and internet access. A lot of our students have access to their parents’ phones, but the parents in our school for the majority does not own a computer or laptop for any kind of research or internet access at home. So as much as I wanted to try to start a school year with less paperwork, I am still making copies for homework packets. All of the great programs we have for the students to work with at school they cannot access at home for additional practice. The computer access for the schools also vary school to school in the district. We had access to iPads (stole the whole cart this year). We only have One Chromebook cart and two computer labs for all 300 students. Most classes have 4 desktop computers. Other schools based on help from community and grants have more computer available. It puts me at a disadvantage because I do not want to seem like I am hogging the laptops but the students need more access to technology as even the statewide test is moving towards standardized testing online.
As stated by Gorski, “Students of Color, less likely to be exposed to these technologies, remain largely unaware of the power and complexity of the techno-society, and therefore outside the digital loop. And, as explored later, this exclusion can have social, cultural, and economic ramifications” (Gorski, 11). It is a horribly true statement about how they are going to fall behind if teachers do not get the training to present it and the student do not get the exposure. So I try to work it out, get the students in the lab at least once a week or have a digital day where everything is done online. I hope to have that happen starting next week. There is a lot of work to do to try to help get my students more exposure to technology and with the right planning I believe I can help my students fill some of the digital divide in.
References
Gorski, P. (2005). Education equity and the digital divide. AACE Journal, 13(1), 3-45..
Websites:
http://www.clubpenguin.com
http://www.edmodo.com
http://www.secondlife.com