Equal Access to the Digital World!

What does it mean to "provide equal access to the digital world"?

To provide equal access to the digital world, teachers need to have a variety of tools and a flexible curriculum. Teachers need a variety of tools because not all students are able to access a netbook because they can not use a keyboard, they may not be able to see the keys or may not have the physical ability to type or more a mouse. There are a variety of tools available to help students who are visually impaired or have mobility restraints, the tool that will work best for each student will vary. It is important for there to be a flexible curriculum because students will need to access information differently, they will need to be able to express what they have learned differently and they will need to engage in with the information differently. Under Universal Design for Learning (UDL), this flexibility is stressed. According to CAST (2013), "UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone--not a single, one-size-fits-all solution but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs." 

CAST: Universal Design for Learning. (n.d.). CAST: About UDL. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://www.cast.org/udl/index.html

Educational Value of Social Media

Social media is a tool that many of us use in our personal lives. It allows us to stay connected people we know and up to date on news, updated technology, information and events near and far. When used correctly, it can be used in the classroom as a collaborative tool. I love using blogs with students because it allows us to communicate and share ideas while beginning to navigate the tools available to us through technology. Shantel Scott makes the point that students today come to school connected. Teachers have a greater task ahead of them now. We not only need to teach traditional curriculum, but we need to teach students how to be digitally literate and use social media responsibly. In order to do this, we need to expose students to different kinds of social media and show them how to use it.

I will be using KidBlog with students through out the WebQuest and I will also be using Twitter. Students will actively participate in the blog and I will tweet updates and share new resources with students and parents. Time to Tweet!


Scott, S. M. (2012). Go ahead ... be social: Using social media to enhance the twenty-first century classroom. Distance Learning, 9(2), 54-59. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1034600860?accountid=3783