Copyright Laws...

Most people understand the concept of copyrights on things such as movies, music, and other creations, to protect the creator and control distribution of the product. I get the basic drift of copyrights and protection, like the fact that it is illegal to copy and redistribute videos, download music, and using another person's work without giving them due credit. These are the obvious things to avoid, however, there are so many different situations where unintentional copyright infringement takes place on a daily basis. 

I was completely unaware, for example, that it was technically illegal to show a video in your classroom that you purchased or rented for viewing. Teachers do this on a regular basis, and while it seems harmless, rules are rules I suppose. 

It will be important as an educator to make sure that students really understand the importance of copyright laws and how to abide by them. Extra attention will have to be applied to lessons in order to make sure that students fully understand how to cite their sources, and how to do the appropriate research to make sure the sources and materials they are using in their own works are being used in the appropriate manor. This will make  certain things more time consuming certainly, but once the students get a firm understanding of how to locate licensing terms of a source and what the different licenses allow or don't allow, it will make their work legitimate  and properly documented. 

As trivial as this lesson first seemed to me, I understand the importance and am actually glad it was addressed. I had no idea something as simple as showing a video from home in class shouldn't be done, as I have seen it done on a regular basis. Understanding licensing and copyright terms will help me teach my future students, but also educate myself and benefit my own work. 

The flipped classroom...

The concept of a flipped classroom is an interesting one. Giving students the opportunity to watch and listen to their lectures at home, while doing their homework in class is a unique idea to me. By using the flipped classroom, students can get the extra help they need when doing their homework as they would be in class with their peers and teacher. I think that it is a great idea, however, I also think that it may be an unrealistic one. In order for the flipped classroom to work well, students would have to do the prep work at home, on their own. They would have to listen to the lectures, take notes, and come to class prepared. I feel that it might be counterproductive to use the flipped classroom if students are unprepared for class and unable to do their work in class. 

As far as the technology assignment goes, I must admit I'm pretty intimidated by it. Not only am I unfamiliar with the technology that I will be teaching, but I have also never created a tutorial video of any kind. I think that the idea to have us teach a technology is a good one, as it will really push us to learn it well enough to explain it to others. I guess the only negative thing that I can think of is if we don't do a good job teaching it, or don't really have a firm concept of the technology ourselves, our fellow students may not get as much out of it as they might like. Other than that, I think that assignment should be interesting to see what each of thinks will be useful in our classrooms.