Week 3: Web Technology

This week we began discussing Web technology and Web 2.0 concepts, as well as setting up our Blogger accounts and adding them to our class Wiki. As one of the articles we read states, Web 2.0 "allows for information presentation and participation in creating information." Web 2.0 tools include web sites like Blogger, Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, Flickr, and one of my personal favorites, Pandora. These sites allow individuals to share information, pictures, videos, and much more.

As a teacher, Web 2.0 tools will be resourceful in every aspect of the job. I can use a wiki or blog account to keep parents up to date about classroom progress and personal information. These tools will also be useful in sharing and learning from fellow educators.

The following video is explanation of one popular Web 2.0 tool, Twitter. Simple tools like this one are used by almost everyone; therefore, they are the best way to stay connected to all the different groups of people: family, friends, co-workers, employers, employees, etc. I find it important to be able to use a tool such as twitter in order to be better connected with people that are important. This will be especially useful when I am in charge of a classroom of students and need to be in contact with their parents, who will most likely be connected to Twitter or something similar.

Week 4: Copyright Law, Plagiarism, & Ethical Issues

This week we discussed copyright laws and ethical issues. One of the presentations we were provided with gave a detailed description of copyright laws. Copyright provides protection for the author. Items that are copyrighted include works that are: literary, dramatic, musical, choreography, artistic, video, text, pictorial, architectural, and other particular works. According to the government, "the safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material."

One of the benefits of being in the teaching field is the exemptions for copyright laws that are provided. These exemptions are given through the Fair Use Act, which gives limitations for libraries and education purposes. Unlike marketing or advertisement, this makes my future career much less complicated. However, teachers are responsible for the material they use. I will still need to check myself and stay within the legal limits.

This link gives more information about copyright laws and Fair use. It also highlights some challenges that teachers may face, including, "educators, without regard to or knowledge of copyright restrictions, sometimes duplicate materials illegally or load software without license." I hope to avoid this act, which is basically stealing, when I am an educator.

Week 2: Educational Technology

This week we dove into what "Educational Technology" really means. First we covered a few important necessisities, such as how to use the Mac OS X (operating system) and creating a Google mail (Gmail) account. In class, we discussed the "Did You Know?" videos that feature facts about technology and the "changing media landscape." The most recent video was from 2009 and featured interesting facts such as: "The number of unique visitors to MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube every month, collectively, is 250 million" and "The mobile device will be the world's primary connection tool to the Internet in 2020." All of this change and technological development is termed "convergence."

This class in general is important to the field I plan on going into, Education, for numerous reasons. In order to be competitive and have the skills necessary for teaching, I must be able to adapt to the changing technological world. The College of Education is centered around the Mac step up, so it is important for me to learn how to operate a Mac system even though I own a PC. Also, I have come to find out that many schools and companies run their email through a Gmail type account. Personally, I have had a Gmail account for several years and find it to be useful in organizing and connecting to other web tools, such as Blogger.

The picture I posted above serves to highlight that "educational technology" is a growing idea and it is important to take notice. In order to stay in tune with the world and just day to day life, it is necessary to learn about technology and how to adapt to the constant change. In teaching, I will need to be aware of the changes in technology and students, and how they interact with each other.

Needless to say, I am excited to learn more this semester!