Blog Post 2

     As a student, I've had a great deal of experience using Microsoft Word. From typing research papers to making pamphlets for clubs I've been involved with, I have become quite acquainted with the program. My teachers have made use of Microsoft Word through the means of typing up syllabi, creating lesson outlines, and by using the program to create flyers to hand out for after school programs. The textbook gave me the idea of using Microsoft Word to create tests, puzzles, and develop organizational tools for my classroom management. As a teacher, I plan to use Microsoft Word as an aid that can help students realize their full potential within the realm of writing and creating professional documents. Fun activities such as creating a newsletter for a pretend city give students the opportunity to explore the more technical aspects of word processors, and I intend to bring activities like this into my classroom environment. Beyond assigning fun projects, I plan to show students that Microsoft Word can be used for more than just writing papers. Resumes, flyers, cover letters, and agendas are just some of the useful compositions that can be created using the word processor.

     In my educational career, I've seen nearly all of my teachers take advantage of Fair Use to present media in the classroom. Without any sort of influence from the work of others, a progression of knowledge cannot take place. This being said, it would be unethical for teachers (or anyone else) to steal the work of others without permission. Fair Use creates a vague grant of permission that allows educators to ethically use the work of others to supplement the educational process. For example, one of my teachers used to quote small portions of a textbook my school did not own. Though we technically did not one the book, because only a small portion was being used for an educational purpose, all was well. As a teacher, I would make sure I understood the guidelines of Fair Use to make sure I did not cross the boundaries of Fair Use and accidentally infringe upon copyright. I would make sure that I, and my students, did not profit from copyrighted material, made sure to make any works our own, only use a small portion of the works copied, and give credit to the original creator, among following other precautions. In creating lesson plans, I would integrate media into my presentations, allow my students to watch educational videos in class, and use images to better represent concepts I teach. I would likewise encourage students to integrate media into their own projects for any assignments I should give them. 

     Over the past couple of weeks, I've learned how important of an educational tool twitter can be. From promoting discussion outside of class, to giving students better opportunities to contact their professors, social media (Twitter especially) creates a nearly constant source for students resources. If you are following accredited accounts, Twitter and other personal learning networks can provide the latest news for any field you may be studying. Before this class, I never thought of Twitter as an educational tool. With this new knowledge, I hope that social media is further integrated into classrooms across the world. In my future as a possible educator, I will work to maintain that all my students have access to me through the means of social media and personal learning networks. Though social media is constantly changing, technology's use in the educational field will not.