Friday, March 25, 2011

Assignment #9

Fair use, where to begin? Well let me say that I did not do as well on the fair use quiz as I anticipated. I guess some things a lot of people take for granted and really don't understand what's right and what's wrong. I have really developed a new found respect for copyright laws. Please don't think that I am the copyright pirate, because I am not. I am, however, guilty, of downloading a ton of music, free of charge when Napster was first sprung into the world wide web - don't act like you havent done it either! In the article, Copyright 101written by Kate Thompson, copyright is defined as a form of protection provided by U.S. law to the creators of original works of authorship. Copyright laws and intellectual property laws in general are based on two basic beliefs:1. Anyone who creates an original, tangible work deserves to be compensated for that work. 2. That person should be able to control how that work is used. I think these beliefs state what copyright is in it's most literal of terms.

I believe that this should be a topic that should be discussed in schools. There are so many different "short-cuts" available to help get you things and this could be an infraction of a copyright law. If anything, by teaching students about copyright laws, you are protecting them and your institution. When I was younger, I never even thought twice when I was copying music for free, or even buying bootleg movies. These are just examples but as we read in the articles, there are many other laws broken pertaining to copyright. I don't blame the people who have created something and getting upset when someone steals their idea or work, I'd imagine I would be upset also.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Assignment #8

Looking at the Technology Integration Matrix, I chose to look at the cell that describes an active learning environment for the students and the teacher is asked to infuse their teachings in this environment. The active learning and infusion level of the matrix on a shared level, is used to describe how one class creates a magazine. I thought this lesson was very engaging because they were asked to relate a real life scenerio to their own class lesson. The students magazine was based on literature and short stories where each student had a responsibility for the writing, layouts, advertisement, and pictures.
Using the NETS for Teachers, the specific standards that the matrix example addresses in regards to teacher skills is that it shows how to design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences in the creation of the magazine from cover to cover. It also calls for the students to provide an assessment incorporating contemporary tools and resources (computers, internet, advertising, management) to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitude. In this case the teacher customize and personalized a learning activity to address students' diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resources. This strategy is described in section 2-C of the NETS for Teachers.
Since the beginning of this instruction I feel as if my knowledge and comfortability of the use of technology has increased dramatically. I never once thought that I would be able to: 1.) Create a blog 2.) Create a website 3.) Develop the ability to "embed" 4.) Create a slidecast/podcast. These things to me were all extremely foreign and I wouldn't even know how to go about getting started to accomplish them. This being said, I feel as if I am at the Infusion category and I think that is being generous because I still think there is far more for me to learn. However, I do think that I have a much better attitude towards learning news skills in technology. 

Monday, March 7, 2011

Assignment #7

In this assignment I would ask my students to think of one obtainable goal they would like to achieve that is outside of their comfort zone. The purpose of this lesson is to get comfortable when in the face of adversity. I believe it is prudent to work on this skill because there are multiple situations we go through in life where we can be better prepared for and dealing with pressure has much to do with that. The key to this lesson is setting a deadline where the student would give themselves enough time to reaching their goal.