Blog Journal 2

My experience using Microsoft Word as a student started very young. I remember using my mother's computer at the elementary school she taught at to type nonsense with the keyboard that made no sense. Eventually this evolved into college level work that is composed on MS Word and formatted correctly for each different professor of mine. During elementary school I began working with MS Word in 4th grade to compose small writing pieces about what my future career dreams looked like. These minuscule activities turned into upper level typing on MS Word in high school for essays, term papers and college admittance essays. Being proficient in MS Word is highly important and necessary for anyone hoping to excel at the collegiate level because I use MS Word everyday in and out of the classroom.

The copyright and fair use of materials in an educational environment is very important. Most of the materials that teachers use in the classroom such as textbooks and videos are copyrighted which means they are protected by the creator. People who use these materials need to use citations for the work to be acknowledged. If teachers do not understand copyright laws and use a copied program without a license from the owner, they could end up in prison. The fair use is a set of guidelines that allow users such as teachers to copy materials for educational purposes. This is all dependent on the amount of work that is used and how it is used in an educational manner. In order for educators to be safe in the classroom, they should look further into materials with a copyright symbol and use caution when browsing the Internet for potential educational material. As a teacher, if you wanted to develop your own instructional materials you would have to designate ownership of intellectual and creative material by using Creative Commons licenses. Educators are also responsible for addressing copyright issues by acknowledging the use of proper citations and modeling respect for the property of others.

There are several technology implementation issues in today's society. Academic dishonesty is extremely serious at the University level and is not taken lightly. In each course at FSU students are reminded of the Academic Honor Policy which includes plagiarism as one of the highest offenses. A solution in the classroom to cut down on academic dishonesty is to create a strike system. If there were to be any traces of plagiarism in a student's paper I would first bring it up to the student, then get the parents involved. If the dishonesty persisted again I would have to get the administration involved and if it were to occur a third time, the student could stand grounds for expulsion from the school. Cyberbullying is also a major technology implementation issue because almost every child has access to a cellular device or computer of some sort. When children bully and say offensive phrases to others, this is considered cyberbullying and it is unacceptable. To lessen the effects of cyberbullying I would ask my students to not use their cell phones during class and refrain from negative talk towards their peers. If a student of mine did engage in cyberbullying I would confront them and bring up this issue with their parents, and also require a written apology to the other students affected.