Copyright Issues

My list of copyright and violation issues consist of:

1.  Teachers copying materials from workbooks for students to use- Teachers frequently make hundreds of copies daily from workbooks for students to do activities in the classroom.  Some teachers will also pass out worksheets copied from workbooks and give to students as homework assignments.

2.  Home Use Videos-Teachers will bring movies from home and students are allowed to occasionally watch movies especially on Fridays as a reward for excellent class participation during the week.

3.  Teachers allow students to do research on computers as a part of a project.  Some teachers do not teach students about plagiarism especially younger students.  Students are allowed to do copy and paste without putting the copied materials in their own words.

I consider the first two to be the most important "must know" guidelines and facts for educators.  Educators are only allowed to copy 10% of materials for class use.  Educators should only allow students to watch movies from home for 3 minutes only.  I feel that educators serve as role models for their students and they should be careful when following any type of guidelines.

Open Source Goes to High School

I thought that this was a wonderful video.  I definately feel like the needs of the students were being met as 21st century learners.  It appeared that students were taking control and being responsible teenagers.  The students were very interested in using computers and it seemed to be a big deal for teachers to incorporate the use of technology in their classrooms.  I was amazed that even math teachers were excited to be using the computers.  My views on this is that it is a wonderful approach to the learning and meeting the needs of students.  I do not have any concerns.

Protection for Your Computer

Placing an anti-virus on your computer may be one of the best things you can do,  The purpose of an anti-virus is to protect your computer system from different malware. Malware is just a fancy term for computer virus.  The most common types of viruses include worms, trojans and spyware.  Worms invade your computer by spreading themselves automatically, but a trojan is usually downloaded, yet it seems harmless and they hide harmful functions.  For example, when the human body is attacked by a virus, the immune system suffers greatly.  This same concept applies with the computer and its data.  In most cases, a computer virus will slow down its processor or cause it to completely shut down.  Anti-viruses also keep cybercriminals from hacking into your computer and stealing your personal information.  Cybercriminals surf the internet frequently looking for ways to get into bank accounts.  This gives criminals access to a persons hard earned money.  Protection really is the best policy.