Group items tagged

The purpose of this study was to address cyber ethics to fifth and sixth graders to get to know their knowledge and understanding on fair use and copyright. This study started with a lesson to a homeroom class. The lesson addressed the concerns of making copies of a CD and distributing it to others. The purpose of the lesson was to introduce to students how to Play it Safe in Cyberspace lessons. Parents participated in this study; and a survey was provided to them asking how they feel about students learning cyber safety copyright and fair use laws. The survey produced positive feedback from the parents. Further, in the study students were asked to write a letter to the principal or to someone other than the principal about what they had learned about software theft. In these letters, students wrote about the cyber ethics of what you should do and not do and how to take precautions when using certain websites.

Great article. 5th and 6th grade seems so young to even be able to grasp all of this! It is great to start them out young while they are just really starting to use the web for school. That way when they start doing more complicated projects when they are older they will know how to do it right.

This article talks about how computers affect kids. It discusses how the use of computers and video games affect children by spending less time with family members. This article also points out some precautions that parents should take before their child uses computers.

This website basically breaks down all the information that student athletes need in order to be awarded an athletic scholarship. It shows how parents can get involved and help as well as how students can prepare themselves academically and athletically.

Once again, this article explains inquiry based learning. In addition, it discusses the "art of the question". In other words, it explains how teachers must learn how to ask the right questions.

I was interested in reading this article because we are having discussions about our approach to teaching. It seems to be coming up often that teaching is no longer " the sage on the stage". We are in the process to becoming more "guides" to student learning. Questioning is an important part. We need good questioning in order to have our students access the higher order thinking skills.

This article discusses how interactive notebooks can enhance student learning. It also gives several good examples of how they can be used to assess student progress and understanding.

In this article, examples are given from teachers about their experiences with their opinions about copyright and teaching practices. It discusses how copyright laws are provided for educational use. Insight is given to how teachers can misunderstand fair use and how teachers cope. According to the interviews in this study, teachers are not impressed with copyright rules.

This article is more "user friendly" than reading the copyright law. It also includes a section about liablility for the district and the teacher.

This article gives more information on how educators can use the internet and not break any rules while doing so. Educators are always looking for new ways to help educate their students and many times use the internet for it, so here they can see how to protect themselves from getting into any trouble. Plus we our teaching in the 21st century which requires teachers to be more technology savvy and incorporate technology in their classrooms.

This video shows the importance of cameras on school buses and how they hold everyone accountable, help the driver focus more on driving rather than constantly having to monitor children through the mirror and how the cameras act as a silent witness in observing and reporting student behavior on the bus.

I think it is an awesome idea to put cameras on school buses because just like the driver said in the video, it is impossible to properly monitor the students while trying to watch traffic as well. As a child, there was always something going on in the back of the bus and when the driver asked what happened, no one saw anything! Therefore, I think cameras on the bus is a great idea to help ensure student's safety.

You can't go wrong with cameras on a school bus. The summer following my freshmen year in high school, I would ride the bus to summer school everyday. The bus picked us up from what was considered to be one of the worst neighborhoods in the community. Everyone that rode that bus got along with one another very well, however there was still bullying going on. The bullying was not student to student, it was student to bus driver. That poor man endured so much harassment from the students that after about 2 weeks he quit. Students would throw things at him while he was driving (paper, candy, you name it). I don't see how he got us to school and back alive with so many distractions. No one got in trouble for the way the bus driver was treated because there were no cameras on that bus. After he quit they sent a new bus to pick us up, it did have cameras. That was the end of that. I think this video was short and straight to the point. It is much more safe for everyone to have cameras on the bus.

In this article, Lawrence Lessing, a professor of law at the Harvard law school looks at how the idea of copyright has evolved over the past century and implicates much copyright issues attributed to advancement in technology, particularly the internet. He suggests changing the law on how copyrighting is viewed and points out copyrighting laws must evolve as the digital age we live in keeps evolving.

As a history teacher, I love how Professor Lessing connects something like copyright law to the Constitution, and weaves us through the decades and centuries of change and development. I am always looking for ways to connect history, such as the passages and amendments of the Constitution, to areas that affect my students' daily lives. Copyright law is just such a thing for these kids, with all the electronics, technologies, and downloading they do. They will see the relevance immediately, and therefore focus better and and up learning more!

This is an Article written by Wendy L. Werner about the importance of mentoring programs. The article discusses the effects that a good mentor can have on an individual. It also discusses how to be a good mentor as well as a good mentee. 

I've seen several mentor programs in which the mentor only wore the title but never actually played an active role in the student's life. So what I liked most about the article is the keypoint that stated that a mentor should "take initiative and make time". I think that if someone is going to be a mentor they must be actively involved in the mentee's life in order for progression to occur. A student is not going to feel that they can confide in their mentor until they have established a relationship. Just like in the classroom, students need to know that educators care. They need to feel a sense of belonging. When educators as well as mentors create a warm, caring environment students are more likely to open up or accomplish task to meet their mentor's or teacher's expectations!

Very good point, Jessica. That is well-said and very important! Because the teachers I liked were the ones I knew and ones who made a difference in my life by the time they gave.

In a research done by Sarah Thuele Lubienski and her husband Christopher, they found that once they controlled for a family's socioeconomic background, students who attended public school actually outperformed private school slightly.

I enjoyed this article! I enjoy the debates of whether public or private schools are better. I like that the writers pointed out that many public schools are doing better than private schools. There are so many factors that come into play when dealing with topics such as these. For instance, parental involvement. There's more than what meets the eye, many people need to see that rather than set their hearts on one type of school that is "correct". Good stuff!

I totally agree with ending of this article and how children do in school.(its truly up to if students like their teachers). What happened to that parental support so that with any teacher a student can be successsful. Every time the debate comes up I really wonder how much control the students have over US teachers.

This article discusses the role that computers play in the school and in children's social, emotional, and physical development. Technology is on the rise and as the year's progress, computers are being provided for students in the classroom. The question is does using technology in school raise students achievement. For the younger students computers were most effective on student learning when the teacher would use them for high thinking skills. Computers used in 12th grade history reported the more that students used computers outside the classroom their performances were higher on test scores. This study suggests that schools that provide technology applications should provide training for students to use these applications. In conjunction, schools should provide basic computer skills for students so that they can improve in their content areas.

I like the idea of providing technology training to students. It amazes me how many of my students don't have basic computer skills. I usually spend a lot of time just teaching them how to use a program.

This article talks about the characteristics of pbl, the reasons to use pbl, examples of pbl, and more. It serves a a great framework on how to get started.

I just took on the position of a 7th/8th grade math lab teacher and the person before me spent a lot of time using packets to teach the students material. I very quickly realized that this method only left the material in the students' mind for a day or two. So for the past week i've been trying to figure out exactly how to use methods of instruction like project-based learning. PLB is an amazing method that more teachers should be aware of, the only issue is that there seems to be a lot of planning up front for this to be a success. I've decided though, that if all that time of planning up front would help my students to KNOW mathematics, then it's worth it.

Reading the article and being a 7th grade math teacher I have realized that their are alot of teaching stratgies that could work if we had more time to actually focus on mastery and understanding. Alot of teachers are placed on calenders on what has to be taught. With the Texas curriculum being so data driven it has become hard for us to really use those fun teaching stratigies.

This article is amazing! It talks about how pbl can be used in the 21st century and what the benefits of it will be. It is a true introduction. It talks about how a project is usually an extra piece of a lesson...but in a pbl classroom the project is at the center of the lesson.

This article talks about project-based learning and how engaging the students in learning they actually gain wider and deeper knowledge of the topic. It talks about how project-based learning is also a great way to incorporate technology.

This article provides an overview of how computers affect a child's development. The study shows that continuous use of computers has children spending more time in front of a television rather than doing activities making them overweight. In this study, the findings show that increased use of the computer leads to depression and loneliness.

This article focuses on how students fare when taking history courses from coaches or persons who might not have a strong history background. After one college student does poorly in a coach taught college history course, the author points out ways coaches can improve teaching history and become more effective teachers. The implementation of the Coaching History playbook was established to help Texas coaches who teach history improve their instruction.

Sounds neat. Learning how to coach coaches to teach is a good idea. After they can apply their craft to teaching, they can improve.

Web video created and narrated by educational maverick Sir Ken Robinson. In it, he explains, in a student-centered way, why it is crucial for teachers to embrace technology in the classroom.

I think Sir Ken Robinson's ideas about the curriculum were right! One thing he mentioned that stuck out to me was about the divergent thinking being the essential capacity for creativity. He stated that there were several possible answers instead of just one. He used the example of the ways to use a paper cup to support his ideas. He explained how knowledge deteriorates over time when students become "educated". He says that what is considered as copying or cheating is referred to as collaboration in the environment. I think society is constantly changing and some aspects of the curriculum may need to be modified to meet those needs but not completely. I think with the changing curriculum, students and teachers are so overwhelmed by the emphasis placed on standardized testing that it is difficult for learning to occur in a fun, relaxed environment, except in lower grade levels where the students are still excited about learning. I agree with Sir Ken Robinson in saying that we can meet the future by doing the past, when the stakes weren't so high and so many students weren't being medicated, learning could occur in an environment that wasn't divided!

Joshua, I am so glad you posted this video! I think that all educators need to watch this video simply because it is real. Technology should be essential in the classrooms today's simply because it is what the students see and use when they are not in school. Think about how many students have cell phones, Ipad's, Ipods and video games, we should be taking into consideration these things to strengthn education. I agree with Jessica on the divergent thinking--we sometimes forget that no 2 students are the same so their perspectives on learning and life will be totally different. I think a lot of times we do want the "perfect" classroom but the truth of the matter is we have to consider all learning styles. Students learn best from each other and group work is something that Sir Ken made a point in his presentation. In this course we talk a lot with each other SO that we can learn from each other so why not implement this same learning style into the classrooms?

This is an article written by Mary Anne Hess about the Pros of differentiated instruction. This Article reviews the benefits of differentiated instruction and how to effectively implement it. 

This is an animoto that provides an example of how technology can be used in the classroom. It also briefly shows that teachers should know how and when to use technology to get students involved and/or engaged in the learning process.

Interesting animoto I might add. Teachers should utilize every resource that is available to them in the classroom. Sometimes discussions can be dry and boring when you utilize the same chalk or blackboard. The only problem is that you have to monitor student's use of the computer on a regular basis. Do not get me wrong I enjoy having computers in my classroom. You just need to make sure that students are constantly following the AUP policy in the district that you teach.

I really liked that animoto. It is one that I think that should start off the school year at a faulity meeting. There are so many ways to use technology and keep students engaged. I wish that some of people at my school would stop being so scared to use it.