Blog Journal 2

As a student I use word at least once a week. Every time an essay is assigned I always write it on word. I have used word since I can remember from middle school projects all the way into college. I usually do not see professors or teachers use word but I assume when teachers and professors hand out papers to students with instructions that are typed they used word. I have also used word to write up resumes, type paragraphs before putting them on applications or blogs and I have used word as a word count for certain surveys. I think Word is very popular to use but many people I know use Pages on their MacBook. I as well have a Mac but I prefer Word to Pages.

Copyright is a very important subject to go over in educational environments especially as students get older.  I think it is important for people to learn how to take in information and then be able to reword it their own way and give proper recognition to the source. If everyone always took other’s ideas and words and used them as their own, it would be extremely difficult to know what was true or false and what information was reliable. When teachers use copyrighted material in their classroom to teach students subject matter it is so important that teachers say who or where the information came from. This can help students later on know that it is acceptable to use someone else’s work as long as they can refer to other’s that it is not their own. With regard to teaching techniques taken from one person and used by another, that doesn’t necessarily need to be said. So if a teacher changes their style based on a video they watched that encourages another way of teaching, this does not need to be spoken to the students. Rather it should be practiced with respect to who came up with that style and if someone else asks where those ideas came from the proper recognition should be taken to give credit to the video.

As a teacher myself I would try to research different ways to teach material to multiple students multiple different ways. I would learn from professionals and if another teacher asked me where I came up with ideas I would refer them to the base of the research. With students, if they were not properly giving credit to their sources and sites I would have to deal with that in a discipline manner. First with a reprimand and then possibly a dropping of grades. I would spend time with my students explaining copyright and plagiarism and telling them that using work from someone else and not properly recognizing them is not okay. I would explain the ethical side of it and also explain the fact that copy and paste or not trying to branch of with their own ideas means that they aren’t learning anything. Or if they are learning they are not applying their own knowledge.  

As a teacher one of the issues that I would implement strongly in my classroom is cyberbullying. I do not think kids understand that other peers can be strongly hurt by words said on the internet. Especially since everything nowadays goes viral immediately it is important for young people to know what is not accepted anywhere and that even means online. Another issue I would implement is freedom of speech. I believe a lot of respect is taught and learned through freedom of speech. Young adults can learn when to speak, how to word their opinions without hurting others but still getting a strong point across and it teaches people to respect other's views too. Freedom of speech is important for younger generations because it teaches them to be leaders and to think critically in their own way. The final issue I would implement would be academic honesty. This is important because for our entire lives we read, watch and hear other people's ideas and views. When used academically those people should be recognized with respect. Also, cheating doesn't help any pupil in any situation. Maybe they will be able to get a higher quiz or test grade but they did not learn the material therefore being dishonest it only hurts them. I do not think a lot of young people understand that but I would strongly implement that because I believe everyone is capable of much more than they think as long as they put hard work forward.