This article states very clearly that although computers might be familiar and easy to you, they aren't to everyone. It is important to remember that some people have no knowledge about computers at all and that this lack of knowledge can be very frustrating. Also when you are showing someone how to preform a certain operation on a computer it is important that you don't do it yourself but that you let your student do it with your verbal instruction. This is the only way they will properly learn.
In my presentation my group will have all of our audience navigating our site on their own without our assistance so they can learn it better. Everyone in our class is familiar with our technology, but practice makes perfect!
Friday, September 28, 2007
Monday, September 17, 2007
Type I and Type II
The Type I use of technology in the classroom is basically teaching the same things that teachers have always taught in about the same ways that they have always taught them. Type II is using technology to find new and exciting ways of teaching.
Some examples of Type I would be perhaps a program where math questions were flashed on the screen while the student enters in the answer, a program used solely for spelling words correctly, or a program where students make art on the screen in a basic fashion.
Type II examples would be perhaps using Google Earth to study local geography, creating web-pages instead of writing book reports or composing a song using Garageband to accompany a project.
Some examples of Type I would be perhaps a program where math questions were flashed on the screen while the student enters in the answer, a program used solely for spelling words correctly, or a program where students make art on the screen in a basic fashion.
Type II examples would be perhaps using Google Earth to study local geography, creating web-pages instead of writing book reports or composing a song using Garageband to accompany a project.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 2 QR
This chapter suprised me and cemented ideas I already had at the same time. I thought it was very mature of these students to recognize that whil they might like some teachers better than others, it is the teachers that push them to do their best and go the extra mile that end up being the ones that teach them the most and whose influence has the most lasting effect. They also spoke openly about the hardships of being a teenager and wanting to do your best at the same time, and I thought that it was excellent on how there was a whole section about how we as teachers need to rise above and forgive transgressions when our students are going through so many changes that they might be one person one month and a whole different person the next.
Fires in the Bathroom Chapter 1 QR
I absolutey adore this book so far. In this chapter there were a lot of valuable tips about getting to know your students, ad real students chimed in about how much they are willing to let a teacher know about them, how much they would like to know about a teacher, and how different activities would make them more likely to open up than others. Personally, I have always planned on having my students keep journals that I will allow maybe ten minutes a class for them to write in, and I liked reading the feedback here. I also liked how the students stated that they want the guidelines and rules right up front about what the class is going to be like, because that is the way I plan to teach.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Copyright and Fair Use LR
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14. On Back-to-School night, an elementary school offers child care for students' younger siblings. They put the kids in the library and show them Disney VHS tapes bought by the PTA. This is permissible.
False. Video (like everything else) is not covered under fair use for entertainment or reward. The use described is entertainment, pure and simple. However, Disney will sell you a one-time license for $25 that makes this legal use. Call Disney at (818) 560-1000, ask for "Rights," and prepare to trade faxes.
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First and foremost, I feel that Disney movies are like sunsets: To be enjoyed by all be they old or young, student or teacher, covered by copyright laws or flagrantly violating them. This example states that the VHS tapes were bought by the PTA of the school. There was no charge for the childcare; therefore no money was changing hands so that the children could watch these movies. How is this different than watching Finding Nemo with the kids I babysit so they will stop screaming?? They didn't buy Finding Nemo, and neither did their parents, and it was in their parents' home. I bought the movie. I should sue those law-breakers!
Truly though, I think this is ridiculous. Just because the video happens to be in a school setting it makes it copyright violation. If the circumstances were the same, but the childcare was held across the street from the school, would that change anything? Too many questions, loopholes and ludicricies arise here. This is madness at its basest level. Can you therefore not display art in schools, where children who did not purchase the art can view it? MADNESS, I tell you.
14. On Back-to-School night, an elementary school offers child care for students' younger siblings. They put the kids in the library and show them Disney VHS tapes bought by the PTA. This is permissible.
False. Video (like everything else) is not covered under fair use for entertainment or reward. The use described is entertainment, pure and simple. However, Disney will sell you a one-time license for $25 that makes this legal use. Call Disney at (818) 560-1000, ask for "Rights," and prepare to trade faxes.
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First and foremost, I feel that Disney movies are like sunsets: To be enjoyed by all be they old or young, student or teacher, covered by copyright laws or flagrantly violating them. This example states that the VHS tapes were bought by the PTA of the school. There was no charge for the childcare; therefore no money was changing hands so that the children could watch these movies. How is this different than watching Finding Nemo with the kids I babysit so they will stop screaming?? They didn't buy Finding Nemo, and neither did their parents, and it was in their parents' home. I bought the movie. I should sue those law-breakers!
Truly though, I think this is ridiculous. Just because the video happens to be in a school setting it makes it copyright violation. If the circumstances were the same, but the childcare was held across the street from the school, would that change anything? Too many questions, loopholes and ludicricies arise here. This is madness at its basest level. Can you therefore not display art in schools, where children who did not purchase the art can view it? MADNESS, I tell you.
Copyright and Fair Use SR
1. (Photoshop Available on Server) I thought that the law about this example are a little ridiculous. While people are allowed to use the program, more than one person cannot use it at a time?? That is hardly practical for teaching, when it is quite probable that many if not ALL the students in a class would need to be logged onto the program at the same time to receive instructions or work on a project.
2. (Schools Buy Max Amount Possible of Software Before Copying) This guideline is one that seems to be solely based on the moral integrity of the "Powers-That-Be" in a given school. While one school without a lot of money might buy as many copies as they can before copying, perhaps a school with a higher budget might spend funds elsewhere and then take advantage of the loophole, copying nearly all of the needed software? If I were an administrator, I'd want the rule to be a little more defined to prevent moral ambiguity.
3. (Marine Life Picture OK to Use) I think that this is one of the parts of the law that is most beneficial. Nothing gets the point across like a picture, and nothing dresses up a student poster like some quality jpegs. Hats off to this part of the rules. But be prepared to put them back on.
4. (MP3.com) I feel that there are so many resources out there now for people who want to download pretty much ANYTHING that it is very difficult to tell which sites are legit and which ones are legal, even for educated adults. I feel that there should be some kind of standard for these sites and perhaps a comprehensive list of legal sites to use presented to all schools for reference. Maybe there is. If so, good job!
5. ("Psycho" Won't Copy) This entry pretty much just made me laugh because it says we as teachers should snap up all the laser discs we can. I don't think I would know one if someone lobbed one at my head. But seriously? I think that manufacturers have that right to prevent copying. But that they should make that same material available to teachers through a website or something for educational purposes if they insist on preventative technology.
6. (Recycled Holocaust Interview) As a teacher myself, I would not allow this in my classroom as more than just an aid to a bigger part of the lesson, because using the interview that other kids worked hard to produce shouldn't be used as though the work was done by myself or my own students. I just don't feel that this is ethical in the moral sense, even if it is legal.
7. (No Compilations) I think that it is a bit ridiculous to allow such willy-nilly copyright limitations on teachers, but then not allow material to be used in shorter, more manageable clips such as in a compilation. This kind of blows my mind and seems like the companies are saying, "Well, if you can copy our stuff, than you should have to suffer through owning ALL of it, not just the part you want!!"
8. (Yearbook Tunes) I feel personally that if the music that is being played in the background of the yearbook slideshow was originally purchased properly (i.e. from a legal download site, on a CD) than it should be allowed to be played no matter what. That is like saying that if I play my CDs in the parking lot of the school I have to keep my windows up so some law-abiding student doesn't walk by, hear my music, and break a copyright law for hearing music they didn't buy.
2. (Schools Buy Max Amount Possible of Software Before Copying) This guideline is one that seems to be solely based on the moral integrity of the "Powers-That-Be" in a given school. While one school without a lot of money might buy as many copies as they can before copying, perhaps a school with a higher budget might spend funds elsewhere and then take advantage of the loophole, copying nearly all of the needed software? If I were an administrator, I'd want the rule to be a little more defined to prevent moral ambiguity.
3. (Marine Life Picture OK to Use) I think that this is one of the parts of the law that is most beneficial. Nothing gets the point across like a picture, and nothing dresses up a student poster like some quality jpegs. Hats off to this part of the rules. But be prepared to put them back on.
4. (MP3.com) I feel that there are so many resources out there now for people who want to download pretty much ANYTHING that it is very difficult to tell which sites are legit and which ones are legal, even for educated adults. I feel that there should be some kind of standard for these sites and perhaps a comprehensive list of legal sites to use presented to all schools for reference. Maybe there is. If so, good job!
5. ("Psycho" Won't Copy) This entry pretty much just made me laugh because it says we as teachers should snap up all the laser discs we can. I don't think I would know one if someone lobbed one at my head. But seriously? I think that manufacturers have that right to prevent copying. But that they should make that same material available to teachers through a website or something for educational purposes if they insist on preventative technology.
6. (Recycled Holocaust Interview) As a teacher myself, I would not allow this in my classroom as more than just an aid to a bigger part of the lesson, because using the interview that other kids worked hard to produce shouldn't be used as though the work was done by myself or my own students. I just don't feel that this is ethical in the moral sense, even if it is legal.
7. (No Compilations) I think that it is a bit ridiculous to allow such willy-nilly copyright limitations on teachers, but then not allow material to be used in shorter, more manageable clips such as in a compilation. This kind of blows my mind and seems like the companies are saying, "Well, if you can copy our stuff, than you should have to suffer through owning ALL of it, not just the part you want!!"
8. (Yearbook Tunes) I feel personally that if the music that is being played in the background of the yearbook slideshow was originally purchased properly (i.e. from a legal download site, on a CD) than it should be allowed to be played no matter what. That is like saying that if I play my CDs in the parking lot of the school I have to keep my windows up so some law-abiding student doesn't walk by, hear my music, and break a copyright law for hearing music they didn't buy.
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