BLOG 8: Final Reflection

I enjoyed this course very much. As research shows, educational technology courses work best when there is a global community formed. This works best when students know each other. Although this is a distance course, we met as a class four times throughout the semester. This helped foster a community feeling. This enabled us to communicate effectively with Blackboards and our blogs. I have experienced distance education courses before where I never met anyone in the course. I was distant and didn't even know whose post I was commented on. It is much more effective to know one another. Also, I appreciated that the syllabus was outlined before we began. In distance courses, one must carefully pace themselves weekly, or else they will get overwhelmed. It takes discipline. In the future, I might state that the My Education Lab in our textbook is optional. It is supposed to serve as an additional resource. The first few weeks I thought it was part of the reading. Therefore, I read and watched all the My Education Lab videos which was very time-consuming. Although it is an excellent resource, some of the information I already knew, and watching the videos was not a productive use of time. However, that was my fault! I liked that this course clearly stated the technology terms. This was an excellent text to help those of us new to technology learn at a comfortable pace. Once I finished the assignments, I felt more confident. The most important part was having a buddy in the class that I could call when I was stuck on something. Again, fostering a global community prior is very important.

BLOG 7 : COPYRIGHT AND INTERNET SAFETY

Wow! Well, this was an overwhelming and slightly scary topic. I think this would be an excellent professional development for teachers, especially concerning issues of copyright. We so often go about our day without knowing what copyright laws we could possibly be violating. I thought to myself, the companies would only go after people who deliberately and knowingly committed copyright violations. Oh, how wrong I was! They have no problem going after teachers or unaware individuals. So, before you make copies or post anything on a website, you need to make yourself familiar with the copyright laws! First, you should take this quiz to see what you know about copyright laws: http://webinstituteforteachers.org/2000/curriculum/homeroommodules/copyright/copyrightquiz/copyrighttestc.htm I was shocked when I took it! I didn't know it was copyright infringement to make a copy of someones image and put it on a webpage. I see teachers and people do it all the time. I am glad I know now. You can usually find the author's email and send them a request to ask permission and then cite it on your page. Or, just use clip art and images that are free if you are worried. Basically, just know this and you can answer almost any question you have about copyright: The AUTHOR is the OWNER. That sums it up in basic terms. So if you have an image, link, or media file, then if you did not create it, it is not yours. Another great website is :http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/IntellectualProperty/offsite.htm . The Copyright Act link takes you to Cornell Law School's webpage which organizes the copyright laws in sequential, organized manner that is friendly to the user. Lastly, and my favorite, was a website just for teachers. http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Teachers/copyrightlaw.html . I LOVED the Classroom Copyright Chart. It is a quick and easy reference for teachers. It would be beneficial to print it out and paste it next to your classroom computer. That way you won't forget and there is no need to memorize all the laws. If you just know the basics, and keep the chart by your computer, this will help you greatly. For Internet Safety, this involves the teacher, administration, students, and parents to be educated. First, schools need to have firewalls in place. Also, students need to learn about Internet Safety at a young age. I like reading books and showing videos to the young students. A great website to share with your young students on Internet safety is http://www.carnegielibrary.org/kids/bigkids/netsafety.cfm . Also, it is important students are aware of online predators. However, in researching Internet safety, I learned students are more likely to be victims of cyberbullying than online predators. I also did a professional development on cyberbullying, so I am aware of current issues regarding this. Sadly, cyberbullying is a vicious cycle in which cyberbully victims often turn into cyberbullies themselves. Cyberbullying can occur anytime and anyplace. Often, it occurs outside of school. Schools that implement awareness programs and educate the community will help this problem. Again, affective education, educating the whole student, will help this problem. Children need to be aware of privacy issues and be careful about the information they give on the Internet.