Blog #2

     As a student I have used Microsoft Word a lot. I have used the program to type essays, speeches, and a great variety of other assignments. Word has assisted me in being able to create things to print to decorate projects such as my poster boards and presentations. My teachers have used word a lot as well. They have often used it to type up print outs for the students or to create a page to project that helps with their lesson. Overall, Microsoft Word has had a great impact on my educational career and I know it will continue to be useful throughout the rest of my schooling. After school, I hope that I can help my future students learn to operate Microsoft Word in ways that will be helpful to their educational careers as well.

     Throughout school I have seen examples of copyright and fair use of materials. One example is using it in my own work. When writing papers, I have cited things such as copyrighted quotes and excerpts. Teachers often give assignments that require you to find outside sources to defend your claims, and this is where this took place a lot. As a teacher, I would do my best to properly instruct my students on how to use copyrighted materials. Whether it is the material I have created or that they find somewhere else, they need to know how to properly use the information. I would want them to know how to use these sources correctly before I give them assignments requiring to use copyrighted material. I feel my teachers prepared me properly for citing sources and knowing when it is fair to use materials and I feel it will be my place to do it for future students.

     From our reading, we have learned that there are a lot of issues with implementation of technology. One issue is academic honesty. A solution I would try to use for this in my classroom is to teach the students the importance of academic honesty and to enforce rules when it comes to it. If they break the rules, they will be punished for their academic dishonesty. Another issue is cyberbullying, and my solution to this would be to first have a presentation on cyberbullying. I would teach the students what can occur from it and why they should not partake in it. Following this, they would be punished if they chose to cyberbully any of their fellow classmates. A third issue that I would try to find a solution to in my classroom is freedom of speech. I feel this is important to establish a guideline of freedom of speech and how it should be used in school. While they will have the right to express themselves, it is a school environment and their will be strict rules as to what can and cannot be posted. By trying to find solutions to these issues, it will greatly benefit the implementation of technology in the classroom.