Copyright and fair use are two very important concepts that apply to education, media (music, film, television), and product creation and innovation. Copyright is what protects online and in-person creations such as art, literature, products, logos, etc. When something is copyrighted, permission must be granted prior to using the creation and credit must be given if one uses the creation. On the other hand, fair use is when others' creations can be used but must be used in addition to one “new work”. Fair use also requires that the creator is not gaining monetary benefit from adding to somebody else's work. While dealing with the concepts in regard to education, teachers and students must be very careful about the sources and media types used in a classroom. For example, if a copyrighted worksheet is online, I must gain permission from the owner before using it in my classroom, or else I would be subject to legal troubles. These concepts need to be taught in the classroom so that students can understand the implications of stealing and plagiarizing the work of others.
Academic dishonesty is a major problem in the classroom, and ever since COVID-19, has worsened. Academic dishonestly is when a student copies, cheats or plagiarizes assignments. With school moving online, it is easier to find ways to be “academically dishonest”, such as looking up answers online while taking an online test. Some solutions to preventing academic dishonestly would be to implement “Honorlock” tests and quizzes, which monitors student activity while taking assessments. Additionally, all homework and writing assignments must be submitted through “turn-it-in” in order to check for copying and plagiarism. Academic honestly can never be completely stopped, but it can be massively prevented.
Additionally, decreased productivity can be an issue when implementing technology in the classroom. If students are given computer time or phone time in the classroom to be used in an educational way, they may use the technology for other reasons besides their assigned task. One way to stop decreased productivity is to make online assignments that are administered in class come with “pop-up quizzes” that ask one simple question every 5 minutes to ensure that the student is engaged. Furthermore, the teacher could ask students to “share their screens” if the class is over zoom so that the instructor can monitor the student's productivity.
While working on the newsletter design, I used new skills in MS Word that I had not used before. For example, I did not know that the “column” feature existed, and I was glad to learn about it. I figured out many different features in MS Word that I never used in traditional word assignments such as essays or research papers. I was surprised that MS Word could be used so creatively. I also believe that I need much more practice with MS Word. I have been using google docs for so long now, so I think I got a bit rusty with my MS Word skills. I know all of the basics, but some of the more intricate commands were a bit difficult for me. Overall, I believe that a refresh on my MS Word skills will help me with my future career because MS Word is the “default” for word processing systems that employers expect to be used.
The banner on your newsletter looks so nice! It looks like you spent a lot of time on it. I also learned about the column feature with this assignment. It's definitely useful but I found it tricky to figure out.
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