blog post #3!

     Copyright is an important aspect of technology utilized within the classroom, but many may not fully understand the term, despite how much it is often spoken about in the media. In short, having a copyright/something being copyrighted means that it's someone else's intellectual property---thus, if you purchase a design on Etsy, you aren't owning the actual design itself, but paying the creator to use it. Many things that we see in everyday media are copyrighted, but you might not even know it: Coke, Disney, or Dyson, to name a few. Fair use is often a subset of copyright, so they're often seen together. Fair use means that as long as you follow the perimeters set by the copyright owner, you're allowed to utilize the copyright without their knowledge or acknowledgement. Technology in the classroom, for example, is often within the lines of fair use, but others are somewhat surprising: YouTube criticism videos and commentary pieces are often also under fair use. 

   Speaking of technology in the classroom and what people often don't consider is the topic of technology implementation issues. These issues are often harmful and unseen, such as academic dishonesty and cyberbullying. Academic dishonesty is a large issue, coming to a head during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many students chose to look up the answers on their computers due to there being no real consequences, and when using a tool such as Chromebooks in the classroom to administer an exam, it cannot be expected of the teacher to monitor every student's device at once. In mention of students, another important issue lies: cyberbullying. The act of cyberbullying is carrying harassment and cruel behavior onto the internet, going into subspaces from Instagram all the way to Google Classroom and Canvas. It's often seen as easier to bully online due to the anonymous factor that comes with it, and there have been many discussions within the media on whether cyberbullying on social media sites is something that can be punished by school. 

    In spite of the negatives that come with technology, it cannot be disputed that it is a fantastic teaching tool. I learned of this realization this week when we made our own newsletters. Beforehand, I thought that Word was truly just for writing essays and narratives or whatever else, but the thought that there are so many features is exciting and interesting. I loved being creative and utilizing my graphic design skills to create something that was aesthetically pleasing and informational, which typically hardly go together. I believe that this could best segway into my career by teaching me that many things can be utilized with word, such as cover letters, resumes and headshot bios, repertoires, and many other things. I think the only thing that I could improve on my newsletter was learning more about the line and shape tools in order to create a prettier looking permission slip. However, when I looked at the example students' work after I had finished, I was pleased
that the design aspects that I chose were definitely age-appropriate for my class. 

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