Blog Post #3

In the field of education, copyright and fair use are considered legal concepts that apply to teachers when designing instructional materials and assigning students to curate their own work. Copyright functions as a legal protection permitting the creator of a work to determine how others can utilize it. Thus, the owner possesses the sole and exclusive right to allow others or themselves to reproduce, adapt, distribute, perform, and display their works. Immediately following the creation or recording of a work, copyright is automatically applied regardless of being registered for protection. Despite instant application, only certain works are guaranteed this legal right such as visual/audiovisual, audio, and literary works. Copyright does not protect works that are not in tangible form for example, ideas and concepts. Likewise, copyright does not apply to titles, familiar symbols/designs, and listings of ingredients. Meanwhile, fair use is a legal concept that authorizes the usage of copyrighted works for specific purposes without acquiring permission or payment. Fair use exists as a mechanism to safeguard our first amendment right to freedom of expression for products designated as important to society. As a teacher, I would ensure that fully comprehended both concepts as well as only employ published sources when formulating the course materials. Also, I would collect all my educational materials from government websites, creative common websites, and books that I purchased. To outside limit exposure, I will only upload course materials, assignments, and announcements to learning management systems such as Canvas or Google Classroom. Therefore, only my current students will have access. In order to teach my students the importance of copyright, I plan to emphasize their comprehension of the different citation forms and having them cite everything from which they borrow ideas, quotes, or evidence. 

As every aspect of life becomes more technologically dependent, teachers are required to become more digitally competent and to consider its ethical as well as privacy implications. Two prominent issues related to the implementation of technology in education environments are lack of funding and decreased productivity. First, the amount of funding granted to schools significantly impacts teacher's ability to embrace and employ technology in the classroom. Unfortunately, most academic institutions and their employees are faced with restrictive decreasing budgets that hinder technology implementation. The cost of bringing new technology such as iPads and laptops in large enough quantities for each student to individually use one. Also, the introduction to technology in the classroom requires the allocation of funds for teachers to undergo training sessions. A solution to the lack of funding is to purchase the devices directly from the manufacturer which often provide education discounts as well as prioritize apps and software's that are free of cost but still effective learning mechanisms. Second, decreased productivity is a prevalent issue when implementing technology in academic settings. Outside of school, most students are accustomed to utilizing devices for social media, video games, internet surfing, and communicating. Thus, laptops and iPads in the classroom pose a continuous threat of distraction as students will be tempted to transfer their focus from learning to extracurricular activities. Also, there is a possibility of increased negotiations with students related to them not putting the screens down or insufficiently charging them. All of these possibilities can affect lesson time and flow which inherently decreases productivity. A solution to decreased productivity is to institute specific technology use times during the day as well as limiting or blocking screen time/usage of devices. In addition, there are software systems such as distraction free mode for Google Classroom. 

Our first assignment of creating a newsletter on microsoft word provided me with the opportunity to obtain a better understanding of the tools and capabilities offered by the software. Prior to this assignment, my knowledge of microsoft word was restricted to its basic functions like adding a header/footer, note-taking, changing the font or size of text, and inserting various elements to the template. In the future, I could improve my newsletter by focusing more on aligning the text-boxes and graphics before actually typing in the articles. If I focus on the actual formatting before the content it would increase my productivity and the overall flow of the newsletter. For my next newsletter, I plan to emphasize contrast more as my first attempt was too cohesive in color and font which does not allow for the illumination of important points. The skills I have learned from completing my first newsletter will translate well during my future career as I know to put into practice the C.R.A.P principle. By using this method, I will have the ability to communicate with others more effectively and maintain reader's attention.