The Digital Literacy Gap

As someone involved in education, I know that many preservice teachers are being taught how to foster digital literacy. I haven’t seen much discussion on increasing digital literacy post-education. However, Best Buy is changing that with their EveryoneOn training program update! What stands out to me about Best Buy’s program is just how inclusive it is. The article highlights that the crowd consisted of all ages, which is wonderful.

Intel is another force supporting the growth of digital literacy. They have a four programs, 3 of which are aimed at students while 1 is aimed at adult learners. I especially love the idea of The Intel Computer Clubhouse Network. It provides a safe place for kids to hang out while promoting education through access to technology

My hope would be that more and more companies see the need to support digital literacy as something separate from education or STEM. It is a community-wide issue and needs its own space in the CSR world.

Technology

The "Building Airplanes" video is a great metaphor for integrating technology into the classroom. It's always a work in progress because the educational and technological landscapes are always changing. I feel like many teachers I had would try to adjust every year. We don't know what tech background our kids will have and if they will actually connect with the technologies we choose to utilize, so we have to be flexible.

I am definitely a tech resident. First of all, I'm an FLVS intern so at this point I have to be. Secondly, I love living my tech life on the computer or my iPhone! I use so many different sites for a variety of reasons, from just for fun to essential to keeping my life in order (only slightly hyperbolic). 

Scribblar looks like a very cool tool. I love how collaboration-centric it is, and I think it would lend itself well to an English classroom. It would be fun to use to write a story with another class from another state or even country! My next choice is SlideShare. I like it because kids get to share what they make, which is important. I think it would be fun if kids could each make a few slides on a certain aspect of writing, and we could combine them all into a mega presentation. After, they would get to share it with the world! My final choice would be Socrative because I want to effectively use tablets and phones in my class. I think it would be a great way to check understanding as we go along. Little quizzes throughout the lesson would help wake everyone up and keep them engaged.

The NCTE is my go-to resource. I love the idea participating in and following educational Twitter chats, too. I think for my professional development in general, it will be all over the map. Virtual learning is great because, honestly, it can be hard to take time to get away from school. I'd rather learn on my own time. I think I will also depend on many peer recommendations in terms of professional development.

Goodreads will be a staple in my classroom! I want kids to make their own book lists and share. Our Timelines seems like a fun idea, but the site is super dated. Tagxedo is amazing. I used it during a live lesson so kid could see what the most common words in their love poems were. They loved it because it used their work and gave them an artifact to save! Easel.ly is my go-to for infographics because it is super simple and calls for an interactive creative approach. I think for any virtual writing, risks can be that the students' work is available to anyone (for the most part). I wouldn't want them receiving inappropriate comments or getting upset in general. Benefits definitely include more learning experiences and more fun! 


easel.ly

As for what lies ahead, it looks like many teachers are using mainstream technology services in the classroom. Before, it seemed like teachers were solely using educational-geared technologies, but it's nice to see that they are using what a lot of the kids probably use. In the long run, I think that will help make it easier for teachers to incorporate more and more technology because the kids can provide support.

I love the technological version of Bloom's Taxonomy! I feel like it is the perfect tool to help teachers better understand what they should be doing in their classrooms and provides an easy-to-navigate illustration. It is definitely something that should appear in educational technology courses. Understanding where a web tool falls will help teachers make more comprehensive plans and use the tools to their full extents. Also, it's a great way to see what we are already doing to support kids. Many teachers use Prezis and encourage their kids to use them, for example, so they are all already creating. 

I have used many of these educational tools, but my favorites are Prezi, Goodreads, and Tagxedo. I love highly interactive tools the most because they keep my attention and make me feel more involved. I chose to try out Gliffy because I love graphic organizers and think they are extremely helpful in any classroom. I used Gliffy to complete part of an assignment my kids do, and it was so much easier than creating everything in Word. Look below to see what I made:

Gliffy was fun because the creator gets to use a lot of manipulation. I felt involved in the process, and it was easy to undo mistakes. It is simple, clean, and provides excellent design options for graphic organizers or planners. I was a little unsure at first because it looks very technical, but it was great in the end!

Seattle

From May 2012 to August 2012, I lived in Seattle, WA. I was a community relations & affairs intern at a large bank and loved it. I would return to the corporate responsibility world in a heartbeat, if I were the offered the right job. It is honestly the only other job aside from teaching that I can imagine doing. That's not what I want to talk about, though.

Seattle was amazing. It's like a small big city, which sounds silly but it's true. After a week, I knew my way around everywhere. I saw the same people over and over when walking to and from work. After three weeks, it felt like home.

I lived in a studio apartment in Belltown, which was where they had Fifty Shades of Grey walking tours because part of the book takes place there. Another highlight of my apartment's location was that it was right next to a fire station. I can now tune out sirens, which has its pros and cons.

This was my view from my kitchen table.

I never took that elevator after seeing it like this.

 
The real highlights of my apartment were actually positive. I could see the Space Needle from the courtyard (a cement block with four huge planters). The bar that was considered, with overwhelming consensus, the diviest bar in the neighborhood was two blocks away. They served fried macaroni and had a huge moose head hanging in the back wearing a lei. By far my favorite aspect of my apartment was that it was near a Rite Aid. I had never been to one before moving there, and I loved it. They had the best nail polish and kitschy perfume scents there.

My workplace was amazing. I had never had a corporate job before, so I was very intimidated. Of course, everyone was nice. My second day of work was my birthday, and my managers brought me cupcakes that we all shared. After that, I wasn't worried.

The fanciest cupcakes I've ever eaten.

 


 I loved working, even though I was usually exhausted at the end of the day. I worked on the 47th floor, and the view was amazing. The only downside was that it was absolutely terrifying during a thunderstorm. When the first storm came through, I was positive the building was going down and taking us with it.

A view from our floor! I felt sick after
taking this picture. I hate heights.

Before working there, I didn't have a super positive view of the business world. My dad is an engineer and my mom is a teacher, so I thought anything in business wouldn't be hands-on enough for me. I was wrong. My manager and I made frequent trips to visit organizations our company had given grants to, and it was always so fun to hear about what they did and what they planned to do.

The absolute best was seeing what an amazing community garden a Puyallup YMCA had created. This Y ran a youth development program that would give priority to at-risk kids, with many of these kids needing court-mandated community service hours. The kids tended flowers and vegetables, which they would sell at local events.The biggest problem the organizers experienced was that they didn't have enough jobs for all of the kids to do because they had so many volunteers.

At this point, Seattle just reminds me of all of the new thing I did. Some of them were minor life accomplishments, such as trying macarons for the first time! (They were great!) Others were more major, like moving to a new city while my family was all the way across the country.

Hiking at Mount Rainier!

A marmot. I'm so glad I found out these existed.

When I returned home, it felt strange. I've always been more independent, so moving in with my family definitely felt like a step back. It turned out to be the opposite, and, sometimes, I don't want to leave in May.

I think a change in scenery does a ton for a mindset. My temporary move was probably one of the best things I've ever done, even though it was only for a summer. Have you ever had an experience, big or small, like that?

Introduction

Hi!

I'm Caty, and I'm almost a full-fledged teacher! I took my PET on Saturday and passed, so now all I have to do is graduate. It's nice that the finish line is in sight, finally. I've always wanted to be a teacher, and soon I finally will be one! The only thing I hate about it is that it will be a testament to the high school career aptitude test I had to take. My first result was high school teacher, which was fine by me. However, my next result was mortician (seriously), which made me question the validity of the test.

This blogging project will definitely help the semester fly by because I think it will be fun and useful. I've never had a non-embarrassing blog before, so this is refreshing. One of the main reasons I'm excited for blogging is that it will help me learn how to use technology in a personal and professional way. Also, I'm interning at FLVS, so I should be delving into as much educational technology as I can!

My life beyond the computer is pretty fun, too. I live close to the beach, so I like surfing and just looking at the ocean. I also play the bass guitar and have played in bands in the past. Aside from that, I just like being outside. I live right by the river, so it's nice to go down there to relax.

This is where my family watched all of the shuttle launches!

One of my favorite things in the world is driving. I love driving anywhere, from Walgreens to Niagara Falls. (I have driven to both of those places, for the record.) My dad and I have taken many road trips but still have so many places to go. Our tradition is to go on a ghost tour wherever we stop to visit. They're a super fun way to learn probably made up historical facts. I also drive a lot to Gainesville, FL. My sister and boyfriend both go to UF (where I graduated from with my undergrad!), so I love to visit them. A usual weekend visit consists of lots of cooking and lots of exploratory driving.

A field of wildflowers in Gainesville that my boyfriend and I saw while driving.

I know that if I had no guidelines to my blogging, I would make it all about my dog, Callie, and gardening. Luckily for everyone, there are some rules.

Callie, being sweet and pensive.

I think that's a good introduction to me. I'm looking forward to sharing more in the future!