EDUC 286

I think that EDUC 286 is a very helpful course that I have learned alot in. Before this class, I did not know anything about blogs or wikis. I heard of blogs in the past because some of my friends from school had made one, but for the most part, I did not understand their use and I definitely did not think that they could be used in the classroom. However, after taking this class, I now know that it is possible.

My favorite lesson was probably the group assignment we had. I enjoyed coming up with a lesson plan for my potential class. It provided a sense of realism, since that is what I strive to do one day. Also, it was interesting to see how with such a simple lesson plan, so many different techonological aspects could be incorporated.

Searching the Web

When searching the web for a specific topic, one may always run into problems. Many times you can get a million responses, but only a quarter of them are actually helpful. Search tips can help you navigate through the web for efficiently and essentially save you alot of time. Many times, you are required to use specific commands to narrow your search. Most search engines except many of the symbols required, such as +, -, "", and OR. If you don't include one of these symbols, the search engine will pull up any website that contains any of the words within your search.
For example, I am researching about World War II. If I just type World War II into the search engine, it will pull up any website that has the words "world," "war," and "II" in them. This poses a problem because many of the time those websites are useless. If you include "World War II" in quotes, it will automatically narrow down your search because it will only pull up the websites that have the phrase in it.

The Use of PowerPoint

PowerPoint has become a craze in the schools over the years. It is used as a multimedia tool for children to interact and learn to the best of their ability. The program can include images, links, video, and audio. The good thing about PowerPoint is that not only is it updated every year, supplying even more uses, but teachers can manipulate it to carry out many different lesson plans. In the past, teachers have used PowerPoint for tutoring, lesson reviews, simple presentations, reports, autobiographies, and quizzes.

Within my high school, every teacher used PowerPoint; it was an essential. I even took a course my sophomore year to teach me all about the program. Many times, my research papers or book reports would be linked to a PowerPoint presentation. The students themselves had to learn how to use the program too. Luckily, it is easy to use and there are many different ways to make it unique and your own. My favorite way of using PowerPoint was reviews before tests. Many teachers would set up a jeopardy or some kind of game using PowerPoint not only make it fun and interesting, but collaborating with the class and learning as well.

Copyright Laws

Copyright laws have become more of an issue now a days because of the illegal downloading of music, plaigarism, and so on. The United States has very strict laws that will surely punish anyone that goes against them. Copyright laws secure the individual to have all rights to their work, how it is copied, how it is contributed, and who is allowed to receive it. Some authors or artists sell this right, which means that someone had hired you to do the work. Usually, you establish this before hand.

The reason copyright laws have come to my attention over the past several years is because of illegal downloadin. Ipods have become a huge trend and many do not want to purchase the many movies and songs legally. If purchased on iTunes, it could come to quite a bit of money. Therefore, most kids resort to illegally downloading. Overtime, people have had to receive consequences for their actions. However, now there is a new music website where iPod users can download music for free, and it is legal.