Copyright

Copyright infringement is a major problem in education

today. With so many ways to copy or download things it makes

keeping up with it very difficult. When I thought about

copyright, I think of stealing someone’s work and passing

it off as your own. As I read about copyrights I learned

that I, as an educator must pay more attention to the things

I use and in what context that I use it. I learned that if

you want to use something even if you document it, it can be

used only for the purpose of a tutorial. Using copyrighted

material in the classroom is ok as long as you are in the

classroom and do not try to go outside of it. For the

students we must teach them better online habits for the

future. Not only do we have to teach them about copyrights

we must give them instruction for proper etiquette online.

Copyright is a far less important is than this which can

lead to cyber misuse or cyber bullying. This is becoming

more visible than physical bullying.

I strongly agree with the guidelines put in place for

copyrights. I believe it protects society from being

overused and underappreciated. As an educator I know that it

is my job to help my students understand, now I can help

them understand how to cite but not copyright.  It is also

my job to instill in them some guidelines for going online.

Online has always been a dangerous place for students, but

these days because of predators online and cyber bullying,

its far more dangerous. The precedents that are already

set can help our students be safe and non harmful to other

students. I have learned a lot about copyrights and online

activity. I hope this will make me more aware for the safety

of my students and so I can know for sure I am not in

violation with any guidelines.

Online research has been around for years, and for me they have been a lively hood in most of my education. Online searches for me were mainly about going to Google and typing in what I needed and using the first thing that pops up. I had the idea that if it was the first thing to pop up it had to be the best. Another search tool I used was Wikipedia, which is not always true. The Wikipedia site can be updated by anyone and they can put anything on there. I never used multiple search engines or even tried to limit my search. I knew that the extensions meant were the website was from but I thought it was directly from that place. I had no idea that a person could also make a website for .edu for example. My search tactics were and until recently still were prehistoric.

                Through the lesson I learned better ways to get better results for my search. Such things as country codes and file extensions can be used to limit your search for things that you can use. Credibility of a site is another thing I’ve learned. Instead of using the first site you get and guessing that is true I now can do in-depth research on the site to find its credibility. There are sometimes links that give you thoughts and comments on the site. These help you make sure it is a good reference. Though I have only used Google for a long period of my life I now know what I can and cannot use on different search engines, because each search engine displays its information differently you may get more useful sites. Not all things that search engines pop up are useful so another useful tool is to find out who the publisher is to have accountability for the site.

                In high school it would have been lovely to have these tips. While it is more work to use these tools and research a search engine it gives far better end results. I think that my habits with Google have been broken. Being more specific has actually given me more time, because I am not looking through junk. In the classroom I believe this will make me more prepared because now I will know what I am teaching is appropriate and credible. I can now search for things only for a certain category or age. As far as my students I will try o give them these skills through instruction.  I know that they will not have as much use for it then as they will in the future, but they are useful habits to have.

k!m: ETEC 424

My name is Kimberly Dillard. I’m from Paris, Texas, and I currently reside in Paris. I graduated from Paris High School in 2007. Following I received an Associate in Science at Paris Junior College. Now I’m seeking a degree in education K-6 generalist at TAMU-Commerce, and plan to graduate in 2012. I hope to teach second grade upon completion of my graduation. Their minds are open to learn to material without any hesitation. I work at Paris High School in Content Mastery. I help students with their work during their independent work time in any subject. I love my family dearly. I still stay home with mom and dad. I’m 23 years old and a friendly kid at heart. In my spare time I enjoy texting, shopping, and traveling. I’m all about bright colors, bling, and zebra print (anything). When I get my own classroom I’m going to be one broke lady.

Times have changed tremendously since I was in public school and that’s only been four years. I believe technology is great, but we are weakening our children brain’s greatly! From my point of view technology is using many of the new items on the market. The interactive board can be used  for math, english, science, social studies, and many more subjects and and activities. Its a great tool because its more hands on and more of a visual to many. Students learn alot from that tool alone. The first tool ever introduce to students was a computer, and most people spend most of their time on it. They email, research, write papers, enter important data, and ect. The next items is the ipod. This is a great tool for elementary. You can download math songs, nap songs, and ect. It a time consuming tool. Using anything else besides books and worksheets are more valuable to the students.

My goals for ETEC 424 is to leave the class with more knowledge about technology than I knew. I plan to become familiar with blogging, because I don't the feeling of being uncertain. The most important thing I would love to leave the class with an "A".  This is a great way for me to develop a great pace level for myself. In the future I hope to take some of  this knowledge to my classroom. These techniques are great to communicate with parents. I have accomplish one goal already, I introduce blogging to my tenth graders for communicating about homework, and now they are showing me how to use it. This class is GREAT!