Word Clouds & Powtoon

I really appreciated being introduced to these websites. Creating a word cloud was fun and I would like to use it as a lesson by having students use adjectives to discuss a character in a story. This will not only increase students vocabulary but also help with reading comprehension. As for Powtoon I thought it was a great tool to create fun powerpoint presentations for teachers and students. With that being said, I did however experience technical difficulties using the site. My presentation crashed three times and I became very frustrated with the entire project. I was able to post a link on my blog, but when I click on it the site crashes. If I could get any advice to avoid this that would be great! I was using the computers at NHU.

Powtoon

http://www.powtoon.com/presentoons/f6yQUTvzegn/edit/

Word_Cloud

Lip Dub Video- Fair Use?

I feel that the Lip Dub video is not covered under Fair Use laws because the class did not give credit to Hall and Oats for their song that was played throughout the video. Also, many corporations were displayed such as Pepsi and Gatorade that were not cited. In addition, posters were shown yet the images were not distorted and the photographers had no mention in the credits.

Fair Use- Blog Prompt

The four factors that comprise measuring fair use consists of: the purpose of your character of use, the nature of copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of portion taken, and the effect of the use upon the potential market. It allows the students to use copyrighted work at a certain extent. Students may use information or ideas of authors to educate themselves but must site the source whenever they use information that is not their own. After reading this I found that using and presenting information from the web is acceptable but copyright issues tend to arise when another person profits off of the original owners work. Though students may not be profiting off of the intellectual property of an individual it is important to teach students how to properly cite sources and teach students about academic integrity. Students need to understand the consequences of plagiarism but more importantly the teacher needs to familiarize him/herself with the rules and regulations in order to educate students. Based on the article I feel my future students and I can use the web to communicate information or ideas but we must give the author recognition for the work that they have done.

Digital Native VS Digital Immigrant

   Based on Prensky's article I could not agree more with the concept of digital natives and digital immigrants. Growing up my family was fortunate enough to always have a computer and television in the home. We have grown up using technology and always looked to the web for answers rather than a textbook. Comparing my knowledge of using the web in comparison to my parents I believe that I am a digital native in comparison to my parents who would be classified as digital immigrants. I often hear my parents ask if someone received an email or have trouble navigating through the web. Just the other day I had showed my mother how to share contacts on the iphone and she was blown away. Mind you she has had her phone for two years now!

After reading Hertz's article I understand her dismay with the terms digital immigrants and digital native. As I mentioned above I was fortunate to always have a computer in my home where as many students are not. I believe that labeling people into two groups is not the best approach but I feel that Prensky was trying to explain that we as educators need to catch up to the digital age. Further segregating our students based on particular labels is not the correct way to go about the situation. As opposed to calling our students digital natives, digital immigrants, or digital citizens which all carry negative connotations because they are all binaries I feel that the real issue at hand is to educate ALL students on how to properly use technology. Whether a student uses technology everyday or has never used a computer we need to teach them the proper skills that will contribute to their lifelong success and ability to function in society.

I think as a  future classroom teacher I may have a slight advantage because I was born in the age of technology and understand what an important role technology plays in our everyday lives. In five to ten years the advancement of technology may even surpass my experience. With that being said, we as educators need to continue to educate ourselves when it comes to learning about and using technology. How can we as educators expect out students to learn about new information if we refuse to learn how to use and understand technology? I feel that in order to connect with our students we must incorporate tools that students use in their everyday lives.

What Role Will you as a Teacher Play?

In the article Beyond the Book: A New Role for Your Students discusses how a school in Chicago will be using the web to cultivate student creativity and thought. I found that teaching students how to use the web properly and learn how to distinguish between reliable and unreliable sources is a vital skill to have. When I was working towards my bachelors degree I had to write endless academic research papers and often times found myself having trouble locating information. If I had acquired the knowledge to properly conduct research using the web prior to attending college it would have made my life a whole lot easier!I also found that the purpose of implementing the web into the classroom aligns with common core standards. Students will be taught to take other perspectives into account rather than taking what is read in the textbook as truth. They will also be able to compare and contrast sources which will help strengthen the writing and reading skills. Many educators may cringe at this idea because it may interfere with what is being taught but I disagree. I feel allowing students to formulate their own ideas by using multiple web sources will not only strengthen their comprehension of material but will also invoke discussion among other students. The teacher's role will be to act as a facilitator and also add to discussion or address any misinterpretations. I feel that the web is a great way to involve all students, but I do find a flaw in this program and that is which students have access. The article stated that this will take place at schools in the suburbs but what about the teachers working in inner-city schools. What role can those teacher play with limited access to the web? How can they incorporate the same techniques as the school in the suburbs?