Copyright

The article Copyright and Fair Use in the UMUC Online or Face-To-Face Classroom was beneficial for me as a teacher.  The article was informative in that it provided very specific guidelines for how to use different copyrighted materials.  It also explicitly defined what exactly copyright is – “copyright is a legal device that provides the creator of a work of art or literature, or a work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the work is used”.

As a teacher, I use many different forms of media.  The article clearly defined permissible amounts of material that may be copyrighted. With my area of teaching being Pre-K/K it is unlikely that I will be copying large quantities of text material to use with my students.  If I were to find it necessary to copy text over the limit of “fair use” the article explains when permission is required – “when you intend to use the material for commercial purposes, when you want to use the materials repeatedly, and when you want to use a work in its entirety, especially when it’s longer than 2,500 words."http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/copyright.cfm

To obtain permission to use copyrighted material the article offers assistance if you are UMUC faculty as well as providing a sample letter as a guide if you are not faculty at UMUC.  I found the sample letter to be very simple however it is geared toward college/university level use.  Additionally, the article goes on to explain Open Educational Resources and T.E.A.C.H {Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act). OER’s are “teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others."  I found the information in this article to be useful in my career as a teacher.

To obtain permission to use copyrighted material the article offers assistance if you are UMUC faculty as well as providing a sample letter as a guide if you are not faculty at UMUC.  I found the sample letter to be very simple however it is geared toward college/university level use.  Additionally, the article goes on to explain Open Educational Resources and T.E.A.C.H {Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization Act). OER’s are “teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been released under intellectual property license that permits their free use or re-purposing by others” (Atkins, Brown, and Hammond, 2007, p.4).  I found the information in this article to be useful in my career as a teacher.

Wiki's

Providing a central location for meaningful information makes referring or gaining information easy.  Wiki’s work by including members of a group with similar interests.  The members of the group then find resources or information they believe would benefit the group or are of interest to themselves.  The member of the wiki group then copies the web link and write a short, informative paragraph describing the information and their name.  This allows the other members to look over the description to decide of the information provided would be in their interest and consider the website further or rather, more specifically.

Wiki's are a central place for placing and using information about information that the users have in common.  In the case of our class we are compiling information important to teaching to share with other educators (http://etec486classresources.pbworks.com/w/page/115499239/ETEC%20486%20Resource%20Wiki).  Wiki's organize information and material in a central location, including links to websites and articles.  

This is a very interesting way of sharing information that I had not known about previously.  The benefits of using a wiki would be that similar minded people could share information that is relevant to others in the group, making looking for specific and reliable articles or websites quicker and easier.  The drawback to wiki’s is that the creator of the wiki must know the recipients to share the wiki with or invite them to use the wiki, otherwise wikis would be something that was searched for over a vast internet of information.  Another challenge is that only one wiki participant can be on the site at the same time, making the sharing of information challenging if another has the same idea at the same time.  I could see a grade level of teachers creating a wiki or a school having a common area for the wiki, thus making it a school community resource.

Wikis are an new way of sharing information for me and I will be interested in how the use of the wiki in our class will play out.

Interactive White Boards

White boards are a new instrument in my teaching.  Through the exploration of the book, Engaging Learners with Interactive Whiteboards by Blanche O'Bannon, I have realized that "Interactive whiteboards have great potential as a tool to enhance pedagogical practices".  I can see first hand the potential to really get the children up from their tables or desk and involved in experiences rather than static sitting and listening in my internship in a kindergarten classroom.

I myself have needed hands on teacher training to use the whiteboard in my classroom.  My mentor teacher uses it fluidly and the children are experts at knowing the potential of the the whiteboards capabilities.  I picked up a few cues from watching her demonstrate the features of the SMART board, but as stated by the author, continued professional development, including webinars and sharing with peers about tips or tricks they have used in their classrooms.  As a teacher, using peer resources can sometimes be the best professional development to learn about how teachers choose to use technology or even be able to step into their classroom to see the teacher using the whiteboard with the children present to see new engaging ideas and get inspiration.  I can completely see if that if a teacher was only taught to use the interactive white board in certain ways and certain times then the "technical proficiency" for anything more than a projector.

I was surprised to learn about using student response systems in classrooms.  My focus is on early childhood education and I have only been exposed to student response systems in my college classes.  I had never even considered student response systems in a primary or secondary classrooms.  The evidence does exist that confirms the gains of children in classrooms that include this technology.

Technology definitely has it's place in the current classroom and even more so in future classrooms, but teachers need to be equipped with the tools to get the most use out of the technology at their fingertips.
   

Award winning Teacher Blog

"I’m becoming more curious about curiosity. I’m beginning to think it’s the only “C” that truly matters" The award winning teacher blog that I read by Will Richardson, (http://willrichardson.com/blog/) really hit home with me.  The most recent blog was "Curiosity is the Cat".  I immediately noticed his most recent posts were off to the right of the main post.  What caught my eye was the titles, "Zen and the Art of School Change

• Playing at “Agency”The Future (and Present) of Expertise."  After reading through the curiosity post I realized that Will Richardson's  focus on the teacher itself., My teaching journey has allowed me to expand exploring the age range of children in a classroom setting.  The more I read about Will,  I found that many of his words and points really pertained to all children, no matter what age.  He focused on three realities; 1.  Kids are curious when they are young and that school may be the one that takes their curiosity away because of the way we teach. 2. The most successful people and children are the ones that are curious.  3. Connections foster curiosity.  I felt that I made a connection through Mr. Richardson's blog.  I knew what he was saying and knew that I have had and continue to have the same ideas.  It was refreshing and exciting to hear that others are moving toward personal connections with children and teaching on their own as I have.
•  "It’s about culture and about a mission and vision that focuses as much if not more on the “immeasurable” as on the easy to measure stuff." I believe in this immeasurably.  Children are capable, competent and smart.  They have every right to be experts or learn to be.  I believe in giving the children the opportunity, like Will, to really find out how learning works best for them and dig deep into that learning.  This will allow a real investment with meaning in to the work that children do!
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Integrating Technology in the Classroom

The article Integrating Technology in the Classroom discussed the background of technology in the classroom, motivation for using technology in the classroom, concerns about technology in the classroom and finally recommendations for good practice for using technology with your students.

The background of technology was an interesting but short paragraph.  I thought the quote by Thomas Edison was interesting when he predicted that the use of books would soon end.  He predicted that movies, not knowing that there was to be a computer, would take over teaching.  Over the decades the use of technology was really minimal, it was only with the invention of high speed internet that schools began to be over run with the bombardment of the use of computers in various forms within the classroom.

Motivation really focused on constructivists and more traditional teaching methods.  Constructionists believe that technology can be built upon.  They believe that the use of technology can bring students closer to information in a better way than books or just talking can.  Technology allowed the United States to become more competitive with other countries when it came to teaching and learning in a more effective way.  Traditional teachers argue that that technology can be incorporated in the classroom environment, but that it should be used with intention and specifically focused on the discussions after using technology.  Learning with the computer will teach children to use the information that have learned in social settings.  Teaching can take on many modalities.  Technology offers students the opportunity to learn how to learn and then the classroom becomes the environment to learn how to create questions and have collaborative interests that create even more ideas.

Technology comes in many forms in the classroom.  Many teachers use an interactive white board in replacement of chalk boards and white boards.  Teachers use classroom management, student response systems or clickers.  Webblogs for teachers which allow the teacher to send out information and thoughts in real time.  Wikki allows interactive collaborative webpage to share information.  RSS is real simple syndication allows web readers to subscribe to just news feeds that interest them.  Next, multimedia publishing is pod casts and screencasts.  Lastly, their are robots that do a range of abilities from real life problem solving to alternative assessment.  All of these options allow classrooms to share learning on different grade levels at different ranges.


Concerns about the classroom include reluctance to change, a culture that values independent iconoclasts, cost of ownership, utilization, and increased workload (with increased use of technology), Time and energy, Role of faculty: Vulcan mind melder, creator of knowledge, evidence of success, accountability, recognition, and reward for technological innovation and utilization.  These are valid concerns and must be intentionally considered when using technology in the classroom.

The end of the article included recommendations.  The over arching goal for me and my biggest take away was using "integrated technology in the classroom" to help students to visualize, simulate, solve real-world problems, collaborate, research, and design whenever possible.  Staying informed of technological changes in education and makes informed decisions based on the best interests of the students.

http://www.usma.edu/cfe/Literature/Chung_07.pdf

Bio

I am in my final semester before graduating with a teaching license that is focused on preschool, 

kindergarten and special education.  I have interned at Sam E. Hill School in a special education 
classroom and in a preschool classroom at Lenoir City Elementary School.  Currently I am placed in a kindergarten classroom in Lenoir City.  I have worked with children over the last decade as a preschool teacher in the Knoxville Head Start program.  During this time, I have come to truly love learning alongside children.  

I look to develop my abilities to create a learning environment that is not only engaging to children, but creates meaningful lifelong learning.  I look forward to this chance to acquire many skills and knowledge from my internships.Later in life I was given the opportunity to teach young children.  It was never my intentional goal “when I grew up”, but it is now my passion.  I want to be able to teach children to the best of my ability.  I have worked with children in many settings, but by working at Head Start I knew that I wanted to do more than relate my degree to be a teacher there.  I have learned that my professional development not only involved me, but I can see the direct reflection of the children in my classrooms.

My hobbies include traveling and reading.  I love the opportunity to fly or drive to a new location.  It is refreshing to get away from home and out into the world.  Being someplace new makes you look at life from a different perspective and makes you appreciate your home life.  I also believe that traveling allows you to learn more about yourself and gives you the opportunity to learn more about people that are different from you.  Reading also brings the same advantages.  Books can allow the reader to really step back from their life and enter a new world.  I enjoy taking a break from all the agendas of everyday life to distress by experiencing something new.