This week's main topics included copyright issues and keeping our students safe on the internet (in addition to ourselves. As the state of things exists right now, there is a lot of unknowns when it comes to copyrights and their use. This is especially true in education as it seems that some exceptions are made when things are used for educational purposes. Not everyone's intentions are clear, however. I'm referring to both the originator and the user when I say that. That's why something like Creative Commons was created. Creative Commons exists to help clear up any confusion when it pertains to what exactly the owner is willing to share. Creative Commons provides an infrastructure of choices while allowing the creators to also customize the conditions of sharing their property. Even with something like this trying to take hold around the world there is still a lot of gray area. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I'll always err on the side of caution when using electronic content by giving credit to the original source and using other's work in an acceptable manner to the best of my knowledge.
Internet Safety has really come to the forefront lately and rightfully so. As proven by even high profile individuals, not being careful of what you share online can have some disastrous results. Last year was the first year that I put together a unit strictly dedicated to Internet safety and it will be a hot topic as long as the Internet maintains its status as a social networking venue. The more that people use the Internet to communicate and do everyday activities, the more likely that people will exploit that whichever way they can. Staying up to date with social networking sites and demonstrating safe computing practices to students when it comes to using the Internet will help keep students safe but it will ultimately depend on parental assistance. Parents cannot ignore what their kids are doing on the Internet anymore. Just like my parents probably checked my dresser drawers or bedroom closets from time to time, parents of today need to be knowledgeable about what their kids are doing online. Maybe that means they take a few classes to help them figure out how to check the browser history or they make their children show them their Facebook page from time to time. Regardless, add that to the many parenting responsibilities that already exist.
As this class comes to a close I can't help but notice the similarities between this one and the previous class (can't remember the title off the top of my head). This class seemed like a lighter, less in-depth version of it. In fact they were so alike that I even found myself tempted to use some of the assignments that I had created in my prior class for this one. I can't help but think that this class would've been more beneficial later on in the grad program considering that resources change so quickly. The separation between the two classes might have helped...having these two classes back to back just felt redundant at times. Just my humble opinion...
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