Chapters 4 & 6

What I took away most from chapter four was the mentioning of the 'participation gap.' What the participation gap is, is when technological resources aren't as accessible to some students whether it be at home or in the school district that students then fall behind on the use, knowledge and exposure of it. It stated in the text that "often economically advantaged kids get to do more intellectually challenging activities" when it comes to the use of technology. This made me think of what can we do as teachers if we happen to work in one of the less fortunate areas or with lower income students to prevent such a 'participation gap.' When schools have such limited funding it becomes a greater challenge because technology is a costly expense for teachers to pay out of pocket. 

I love the idea of implementing WebQuests and virtual field trips into classroom lessons. I feel that these two teaching strategies can be used and progressive in elementary through college years of learning. Technology is always changing so what better way to learn new information while also learning and staying updated with the newest and most current technology. I have never been on the student end of a WebQuest or virtual tour but it certainly seems like an experience.

1. What do you think would be an efficient way to close the 'participation gap?'

2. Have you ever participated in a WebQuest or virtual tour in your younger years in school?

Looking through the free education apps I noticed I had one! The Blackboard app! I find it very useful as a student with online work due. It helps keep me updated and sends me reminders of when assignments are posted, things are graded and when work is due. This saves a lot of time by not having to sign in through the internet or St. John's Central. Also during my student teaching experience, BrainPOP was widely used by a variety of teachers in a variety of grades. The videos they provide are both fun, intriguing and informative. 

Two websites that I love and would definitely implement into my students technology lives are pbskids.org and funbrain.com. They are both fun, bright, welcoming and education sites for kids to explore and have so much fun between videos and games that they wont even realize they are learning. These sites are also great to build lessons off of and can be used for motivations and tasks.