Blog Post #2

      In the classroom, Microsoft Word is unavoidable. We have been using Word to submit any form of typed assignment since elementary school, and continue to use it nearly every day in college. Due to its heavy usage it is critical to know how to use it, and format within it. Especially in college professors expect you to follow all MLA or APA guidelines to a tee and sometimes it can take longer to format the document than it does to actually write the paper, if you do not know how to use Word proficiently. Teachers use Word to write their syllabus, any assignment rubrics, and so much more.

     As students we deal with Fair Use laws based on the amount that our teachers can and cannot post on Canvas for us to use. This can become annoying when teachers make you purchase an expensive textbook just to find out that you are only going to use a few pages. If a teacher could just post PDF scans of the book, then no one would have to buy it, but this isn't allowed under fair use laws, and University Policy. According to the guidelines, you can only use a portion of someone else's work, and you have to give it your own meaning in order to make it more of an original piece of work.  Many teachers will create many of their own assignments in order to avoid dealing with all of these media use laws. I think as a teacher it is your responsibility to understand and follow the Fair use guidelines in order to maximize the supplementary learning media that you can bring to the classroom, while still being cautious not to break any rules.

     

    There are many benefits to the use of technology in the classroom, but it can also cause many issues that we were not used to dealing with in a less technological age. Due to the fact that most teachers use the internet for assignments a huge problem can be controlling freedom of speech of not only the students, but everyone else on the web. As a teacher if you have your students watch a video that is controversial or even one that doesn't seem to be, they can read any and every comment that is being said about that video, which can expose children to things that they shouldn't see. At the same time it is your responsibility to maintain a classroom environment that remains respectful, civil, and professional, so a solution to this would be to check the website before assigning anything. Another problem that is similar to this previous one is the social issue or cyber-bullying. This is a critical issue in many classrooms and it can be difficult for teachers to know how to play a positive role. A solution to this problem is to make clear expectations for your students to understand, for example they need to know that it will not at all be tolerated, and that they can always anonymously come to you with any issues and that they will not be dealt with lightly. This is where students' legal privacy can come into play as an issue. Due to the public nature of social media students do not have privacy to the things that they are posting, especially if it negatively impacts other students. However teachers need to maintain students privacy by keeping all of their grades private, as outlined by FERPA.