Blog Journal 2

Throughout my educational career I have been exposed to Microsoft Word as a much needed tool to effectively get writing assignments done. I have only ever used MS word to do written assignments such as essays, blog post on canvas, creating a brochure, or for peer editing others work. My teachers on the other hand have used it for that and much more. They have created official documents, quizzes and test, flyers and many more things. I have never had to use word for anything else besides these things and I am interested to learn, if any other, all the ways it can be used. MS word is something I grew up using throughout my educational career and it is shocking to me that I still do not know all of the little tricks and strategies associated with it.

When asked to do an assignment, such as creating visual aids for a class presentation, I never thought of where I was getting my photos or art from. It was always something I would just copy and paste directly into a slide or an essay, and then never think to cite it. I've been in some classes where my teacher has stated they cannot make copies of a particular workbook because of its copyright and we would then proceed to take out a sheet of paper and work on it from the over head screen projector. Fair use is not a concept I was familiar with until today's class and I never realized how much I see it in our everyday lives. For example, sometimes while I am viewing a you tube video where someone uses a famous song, there is always tweaks to the music, whether it be in pitch, speed or change or an addition of a sound. This is copyright and fair use at work, we are not able to take the information or art verbatim, unless otherwise stated.

As an instructor, I would ensure that all the work handed to my students, if not my own, will have some sort of tagline or foot note of where it originates from and who is responsible for it. It is important to give credit where credit is due, so I would encourage this same behavior from my students. A great source was introduced in class today, Creative Commons, which is a way to have your photos or work copyrighted or have the rules listed for its fair use and this is a source I would encourage my students to use as they create their own work. As well as I will use when creating my own test, quiz, or any helpful learning aids in the classroom.

It is no surprise, that in our day and age technology will be incorporated into the classroom and educational instruction. Although technology is a very helpful, and useful tool, it does come with some problems. For example, academic honesty, which is a student being honest about the work they are submitting being completely their own and if any parts of it are not, then a citation or link gives credit to the appropriate source. With the use of electronic articles, newspapers and other sources, it can become easy to copy and paste that information because it is already out there for use. Something that I have always done as a writer and something I think my students should do, is to completely write or finish the project on their own first and then look online to find sources that support their claims. 9 times out of 10 there is someone out there who is making the same argument or has a source for you to use.

Another issue we face with the incorporation of technology into the classroom, is the digital divide. The digital divide is the division in society between those who have access to technology and these electronic tools, and those who do not. This is why it is important as a teacher to always offer ways for students to get to the technology you may be using in class. For instance, if you assign an online video for the students to watch before next class, always ensure that, one, this source can be viewed on any platform of technology they may have. This ranges from smartphones to desktops. Next, make sure that if there are students in your classroom who do not have access to technology then you offer the use of the school library, or give them and opportunity to complete the assignment in class when they have free time.

Technology not only offers an educational benefit but a social one as well. The use of social media apps has made it possible for people to communicate their lives like never before. People have access to anything, and everything we post online, this includes our students. As a teacher it is important to have all our social media privacy settings on and be very careful to not befriend our current students. Privacy is for both the teacher and the student, when the students leave the school what they do with their friends and families should not be your business, and vice versa. The issue with privacy is that now everything is posted for the world to see and the younger generation does not seem to care how they are portrayed online. I think, as a teacher, we should not go snooping or lurking into our students lives. We should only know what they want us to know, and vice versa. I would encourage all my students and their family to use the privacy settings these social media outlets offer, and explain to them the importance of privacy, by discussing the ramifications of one bad photo or post being leaked tot he wrong person.