Blog #3

 As a teacher developing my own instructional materials, I would make sure that if there is any doubt about the material I am planning on using, I would first ask permission from the owner to prevent issues with copyright. When it comes to materials that fall under fair use, I would still ask the owner to be sure, but I would also look for material that falls under the fair use agreements such as being only for educational, non commercial environments. When students are ready to create their own works, I would do my best to inform them about copyright and fair use procedures to prevent any issues. Most of this information isn't very new to me as I have had a class in the past that covered this but it was interesting to see it again in a more educational setting.

There can be a lot of issues with technology implementation but when it comes to student privacy, a lot of the issues are due to poor upkeep or awareness of technology. A general solution for a lot of technological privacy issues is being better educated about technology. Students will commonly and unknowingly share a lot of personal information. Providing a mandatory course on technological safety that extends to privacy security could be very helpful.

When working on the Newsletter Design assignment, I learned a lot of new skills, a lot of which that I've seen before but never learned how to do on my own. I learned how to create my own margins as well as numbering my pages and creating my own banner. I can use these skills in the future to design my own informational pamphlets whether that be for teaching or general workplace activities. It's always helpful to be able to better organize and hand out information. 

Blog Post #2

 

    My experience using MS Word is mostly due to my own personal projects and writings. In educational settings I have been mostly led to use Google Docs. Having used both softwares a decent amount, there is not one that I really prefer. Both of these word processing softwares have different strengths. Google docs excels when it comes to collaborative work but Word is great for more flexibility in personal writing. 

    The standard that is most meaningful to me in the ISTE standards for educators would be the learner. I think that some of the most effective educators are those who are constantly being educated. People who are continuously learning and changing area amazing at adapting to new students and situations. This adaptability opens up new pathways for improvement and relatability with students.

    I don't fully agree with the label of "digital native" for today's youth. Being a digital native is projected as being born within a time that technology has already been normalized and growing up around it enough to be fluent in its workings. However, there are many factors that limit one's understanding of technology and the time that one is born does not determine understanding but there is a tangible difference in some of the ways that digital natives and digital immigrants interact with technology with digital natives being a little faster in their reliance and ability to problem solve. Hopefully with this class and other learning opportunities like it, the gap will not be so large between my future student's and I's tech knowledge. 

                                        "classroom" by isaacbowen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Blog Post #1

I hope to learn all about the ways technology is able to assist in learning. I am not aiming to be a teacher but I am curious as to how I can better utilize technology. My dad is very adept in technology and I know that there are so many possibilities for learning, I was hoping this class can help me understand some of these possibilities. In the future, I plan to apply what I learn in this class to my future graduate studies and collaborative work environments. 

My prior experience with technology in an educational setting mostly pertains to high school. Technology was used commonly for presentations by the teacher for the class and also by students for assignments. These usually helped me to compile information and interpret it in newer ways. Most of school resources and assignments can be found online now so I have gotten used to how technology has become a necessary tool for accessing education. 

My learning experience has been varied however some of the more interesting topics for me include many forms and styles of storytelling. With this being the case, I have a hobby of writing and consuming many different forms of stories such as books, movies, video games and so on. Online resources such as Youtube, and community help like my family and friends, help me to connect and involve myself in many different forms of learning. I learn best through trial and error and these resources allow my to feel encouraged and informed of the ways in which I am able to test my skills and achieve my goals.