Welcome, welcome, welcome. I hope everyone's midterms either went fantastic or will go be fantastic. So far, I can't complain. This week, there some interesting topics in the air, one them being the use of Twitter. When I first joined Twitter, I didn't understand how it worked. I preferred Instagram, I didn't have to read much. And then Snapchat came and you only could read a sentence, it was great! Well, after three years of not using Twitter, I gave it another chance and loved it as a "comic relief" part of my day. In the last year, it has changed much from a way to get a laugh in the day to a bit more political and related to local businesses. This change came after I started working at my current job when I began meeting different, more professional people than I'm used to interacting with. And, this experience has made me realize that Twitter can be used to further your career through networking and self-marketing. Upon this realization, I am very grateful to have the tools necessary to be able to use Twitter for career growth.
The problem is that some people may not necessarily have the same resources that others have. Therefore, it may be more difficult to accomplish things like networking successfully. And, it makes me think about if I was a teacher with a classroom of kids... How do I fight the digital divide? Digital divide causes a disadvantage to less fortunate students who do not have grand access to digital aspects of a class. I believe the wealth to be probably the most common reason as to why a student would be on the disadvantaged side of the digital divide, ultimately depriving them of some technologies that may be considered common to have today. This divide may affect the students with lesser access to certain technologies to be less adept to use them, which could be harmful later as new technologies are created and upgraded exponentially. So, how would I fight digital divide in my classroom? Well, I believe I've mentioned before that I would like to be a TV Production teacher if given the chance. However, this class needs a huge amount of technology involved. Well, the digital divide would be broken through the fact that the school would need to provide the equipment necessary for students to do the minimal work required to be successful in the class. That means a few computers, a few cameras, and editing software. I believe that if the school cannot provide this, it shouldn't have a TV Production class. The class would serve as the hub for all projects. Students may complete certain aspects of the projects at home or outside school, and with their own equipment, however they have the time and resources to get all of it done during class.
To be fair, equipment for my classroom could be expensive depending on the quality of the equipment and the budget of the school. And I know this, but I still believe that a school should be ready to provide those things for the educator if a TV Production class is desired in the curriculum. That being said, I am willing to provide the software for editing the videos. The main software that will be used will be Premier Pro from Adobe, specifically for video editing. Students will be able to learn basic and some advanced aspects of the software, allowing them to construct videos for a mass audience (students and staff). Students will also learn to use and apply Spotify. Spotify is the music app that they... no I'm kidding. After Effects is the software, however Spotify will be on as much as possible because I need music for most of my day. Anyway, After Effects is also an Adobe software that used for applying effects to Premiere projects, or even to make random effect that could serve as stock footage, slideshows, etc. The cool thing is that students will mainly learn skills pertaining to the editing aspect of telling a story, and then they will add their awesome Hollywood-ish effects to their stories! All of it is hands-on, which I believe is the best way to learn.
Until the very next time, everybody!
-Tank
Hello Tank. I have had a similar experience as you have. When I originally started using Twitter, it was just to get a laugh. However, through experience and networking, I too learned that Twitter can be used in a professional setting.
ReplyDeleteI like that you touched on how the digital divide can affect those less fortunate who can not access the technology at home. I am aware that many middle school students are assigned homework on online programs that are easily accessible for the teacher and student, however I never thought about how the site may be less accessible for students from low-income families.