Blog Post #2

The only time I have used MS Word as a student was to write essays or papers. I have never been asked to use it in any other way and up until college I had been using Microsoft Works to type up all my essays and papers. My teachers would use MS Word to create a syllabus for their class, but other than that they mainly used PowerPoint.    

Honestly, I have never given much thought to copy right when looking at videos or power points my teachers have shown me, but now that I have learned a bit more about it I am pretty positive some of my teachers were using copyrighted products. I do not believe they were trying to steal someone’s work on purpose, many of them probably were unsure of the proper way to recognize sources. Now that I have a good knowledge of copy right and fair use, I do not think I will have an issue with them in the future. As a teacher, I would purposely add in a source that would need to be cited and intentionally show the class a power point containing references to those sources. Hopefully, the class would want to ask questions pertaining to the slide with the references on them and I could inform them about the importance of copyright and fair use. After showing the students and explaining to them about copyright, I would assign a small power point project where the objectives would include finding images on google and to reference the source from with they came from, regardless if they are fair share. I believe the best way to prevent copy right and fair share issues from occurring is to address them before using technology in the class room. Then once the students have a decent understanding of the concept, then allow them to reference the sources they find on their own.

Safety of the students would be my first concern as a teacher, with that being said, I would want to address Student Privacy, Acceptable use, and Cyber-bullying before starting the school year. On the first day of class I would send home a letter with the students to give to their parents that would inform them of the technology our class would be using throughout the year and the expectations of the students when using technology. I would require the parents to sign the letter indicating if they understand and are ok with their child using these technologies and acknowledging these expectations and have the students return the letter by the end of the week. After receiving all the letter back having been signed by a parent or legal guardian I would then discuss how to treat technology and internet safety. I would give a mini quiz on the discussion and expect my students to answer the majority of the questions correctly. After all students take and pass the quiz, then we will begin to use technology in the classroom by taking baby steps.