Post #2 Copy Rights and Fair Use & Chapter 11

I have used Microsoft Word since I first started high school and I would say that was about seven years ago. I had to write book reports and papers on various topics through out my four years in high school but I did not use it too much. To get into college, I had to write three or four different application essays on various subjects to attach to my application and submit. Then after getting into college and starting my freshman year at Florida State, I used Microsoft Word for almost every one of my classes. I write much more than I did in high school and I am very familiar with MS Word as I am in my junior year of classes. As far as my professors, I have seen a few pull up MS Word and use it on the lecture screen and show us how to do something like how to cite properly or how to number our pages. But as far as that, I haven't seen any use MS Word in class besides all the syllabi that they hand out at the beginning of the semesters.

Before reading through the code of best practices on Fair Use and Copy Rights, I had little knowledge on how any of the legal laws worked for use in the classroom. My experience with copyright and fair use of materials in an educational environment is using photos from the internet in power points and in papers. I have also used music in power points and cut out photos from a magazine to make projects in high school. But I would say I use photos from the internet for power points more than any other form of content from the web. As a future teacher, I would familiarize my self with the copy right and fair use laws and act as if everything I pull from sources is copy righted, just in case. I would also enlist the help of other experienced teachers to ask them their experience with copy rights and fair use and see what their advice would be.

A few of the issues and concerns mentioned in Chapter 11 include cyber bullying, preparing students to be good digital citizens and ensuring that each and every student has an opportunity to use technology. Cyber bullying has become a popular trend with students using technology at a younger age than ever before. All students are connected in some way on Facebook or group chats or other platforms of social media and it is easy to hide behind technology and criticize someone without consequences. In my classroom, we will remember to show kindness in ALL aspects of life including on how we treat others on and off line. As far as preparing my students to be good digital citizens, the integration of technology is crucial to prepare these kids for the next chapter in their life. As I moved into college, I am grateful that I had the chance to use and learn about the technology to prepare myself to use those tools and succeed in college with the use of tech. I hope to prepare my students by using tech to teach and having them use technology and they can grow their knowledge and build on it as they move to the next stage in their life academically. Lastly, making sure every one of my students has the opportunity to use technology is vital, especially if the student does not have access at home. We will use as much tech in the classroom as we can to make sure that when my students go home they are able to grow their knowledge and practice at home and for those who do not have the opportunity to do so.  

Post #1 Standards and Digital Natives

One influence for teachers to use technology in the classroom is to prepare students for contemporary life. Today's students are immersed in technology before they even walk into school so teachers need to be able to use tools to enhance these kids education in a way that they better grasp. The Partnership for 21st Century Learning has provided the framework for teachers regarding the skills students will need in their futures. The Common Core Standards also incorporate technology into its standard and is just another example of why teachers need to use technology in the classroom. As far as a students use for technology in the classroom, each student learns differently than their peer and so on. Some students are visual learners, and some are auditory learners, etc...When a student is able to use another avenue, such as technology, to learn a topic, they are able to have one-on-one instruction that a teacher may not be able to provide in crowded classrooms. Not to mention that students become more excited when they are able to touch a screen or see animation that gets them excited and also engages their mind.

After reading over the ISTE standards, I believe they set a high standard for all teachers and are great guidelines to follow and strive for. I feel that people do not realize all the the trials and tribulations that teachers forgo so reading through these was eye opening to see all the things teachers can achieve. The standard that gladdens my heart is the following: "Engage with families to bolster students' educational goals and reduce barriers to digital access, and proactively communicate  with families in ways that exhibit cultural competency." This standard makes me happy because engaging with the students parents is so vital to a child's success. The standard that seems outside of my current skill set is the following: "Model with colleagues and students social learning through the use or creation of online personal and professional learning networks." This feels out of my skill set because I am just not familiar with this standard or just how to achieve this.

A digital native is a person who grew up knowing technology but mostly encompasses children, teenagers and young adults. These individuals, typically K-12, can not remember a time without computers, cellphones or the internet. I agree with this label as I am a digital native and most of my professors are digital immigrants except, obviously, my Ed. Tech. teacher. Most of my professors  have a general understanding on technology and can use some tools in the classroom but I would say my classmates and I have a better understanding overall. We sometimes have to help a professor or explain how to use a certain piece of technology during class. As far as the future, I feel that my students will be the same as I am right now in the world and them surpassing my knowledge on technology. Children these days are much more immersed in technology than I was as a child so the future seems clear in that aspect of their knowledge on technology.

Post #0 Experience with Tech

My prior experience with technology comes from learning material from high school classes and from taking Education classes here at Florida State. In my high school courses, teachers used SMART boards and projectors to teach material and to help students see content in a different light. In my Education classes at Florida State, we had the chance to visit the Technology Sand Box and were able to see an array of technology that would help students in the classroom. We had the chance to try out and see how many different pieces of tech were used to facilitate the growth of the students knowledge in a way that they may not have been exposed to prior.

Some things that I hope to learn in this class are one, how to use Microsoft Excel in any setting. Another thing I wish to learn in this course is how to use some of the technology in the Technology Sand Box and how to apply that tech to classrooms and students. To gain a better sense of understanding on all things tech is another I wish to gain by taking this class.

In taking the Learning Styles Questionnaire, my results read that I am a little bit more active than reflexive meaning: "Let's try it out and see how it works" is an active learner's phrase; "Let's think it through first" is the reflective learner's response (Felder & Solomon). I also learned that I am more sensing than intuitive meaning that I prefer more facts rather than learning possibilities. My results also read that I am much more visible than I am verbal meaning that I prefer to use images or diagrams to learn rather than words or descriptions. The last of my results show that I am more sequential than I am global meaning that I prefer to do things step by step rather than trying to see the big picture first.