Response to Chapter 8 Reading

While reading Chapter * of the Educause text, there were several pieces of data that come to no surprise to me. Data shows that “one study found in spite of the fact that 99 percent of K-12 schools have Internet access, as do most classrooms (87 percent), these resources are rarely used effectively.” This does not surprise me at all. Some of the older teachers have several resources of technology to use during teaching at their fingertips but they never use it. They are afraid to try new things and feel as though they cannot use technology. That is even seen in some of the classes at Albright. Some of the older teachers do not use technology even though several forms of it are present in the classroom, such as an elmo, projector, smart board, etc. Instead they use the smart board to write on as if it were just a simple white board. They do not know how to use the smart board and have not taken the time to try it so they sick to the traditional way of teaching which some may refer to as “lecturing.” Learning how to use the available technology should be a teacher’s top priority. This how teachers can capture the attention of their students and keep them engaged. These days, all students live for technology whether that is the internet, video games, ipod, cell phones, etc. So teachers should keep up with the pace of technology and become acquainted with it. Technology isn’t going to go away so it is better to use learn how to use it and make life easier.

I found it very surprising that only 38 percent of college students reported using the internet for work in classes instead it was used as a form of communicating. I agree that I use the internet a lot for communicating but I am always on the internet during research for my classes. I did my undergraduate work at Albright College and access to the internet was a necessity because professors were always giving us information to research or websites to visit or standards to download.  There is something seriously wrong that only 38 percent of college students reported using the internet for school work. That just seems so unreal to me especially because I use the internet for every single course I am taking right now for research and classwork.

If I were giving a similar survey, I would want to know which websites are most often used by students. How much time is spent using technology each day.

Copyright

I was shocked to read all that I read about copyright. I did not realize that there were so many rules and regulations regarding copyrighting. I always see the warnings when watching DVDs about not copying the DVD becasue it is illegal and you can get in a lot of trouble. But it never really occurred to me that these rules applied when using materials in the classroom. I understand the concept of fair use but the readings for this class were the first time I have ever heard about fair use.

Playing the jeopordy was very useful for me in learning about copyrighting. The rulings of some of the court cases surprised me. I think the concept that suprised me the most was that if schools are going to show a movie in school, they must pay to get a license. I thought it was neat to learn that everytime I write something, it automatically becomes copyrighted. Which I think is really nice. I spend a lot of time and energy into writing lesson plans and it is nice to know that they are protected under the copyright law so that someone else can't take them and claim them as their own.

I have observed copyrighting being violated many times and in many ways. I know people who burn DVDs and CDs that are copyrighted. I know people that illegally download music without paying for it. I also know an organization that shows a movie a few times a year without purchasing a license.  I have not witnessed violation of copyright laws in any schools.

I believe that it is the teacher's right to teach their students about copyright. Teachers spend a lot of time teaching about plagarism and copyright goes right along side with plagarism so that is a wonderful teaching opportunity to teach students about copyright. I would not go in depth with them about all the laws and ligistics but I would give them a simple version so that they understand and take copyright law very serious. I do not think that college should be the first time copyright law is taught, emphasized and has time devoted to teaching and learning copyright law.