2- Word and Copyright

As a student I have used Microsoft Word over many years. I have used it as a way to write essays for all my classes. I typically only used it when I needed to write an essay or create a project that requires clip art. Because it comes with many different fonts, font sizes, and shows how many words you've written, it makes it the ideal tool to write your essay. Also because it has clipart it makes it an ideal tool to use when creating a project such as a brochure, flyer, etc. I've seen teachers use it to make tests, flyers, or write up instructions for a paper or project. Both teachers and students use it often because it is an easy tool when typing up something for class.

Copyright is "a form of intellectual property that gives the creator exclusive right for a period of time"(Lever-Duffy 242). Because of copyright, a work can only be copied if the owner of the copyright gives permission. I've been taught at a young age from many teachers that copying another person's work is wrong and unethical and if you do you must quote and cite the source you used. I have seen many of my classmates get in trouble because they forgot to cite sources that they used so I have learned not to after watching them get zeros on papers and such. As a teacher I would too take off points for students that forget to cite their work because as an adult it becomes even more important that we don't. Legal action can be taken and teaching kids at a young age that it's not okay to plagiarize is important.

Learning how to use Twitter and other social networks allow me to present myself so that it's easy for employers to find me and understand better who I am. Twitter specifically I learned how to write a brief summary of what I want to say because it only allows me to type 140 characters at a time. In my future career this allows me to get my point across in less words which will help because kids typically zone out if a teacher talks too long or too much at a time. Or if there are too many words on a paper they feel overwhelmed usually.

Works Cited:
Lever-Duffy, J., & McDonald, J. B. (2003). Teaching and learning with technology (5th ed.). Boston: Pearson.

1- Computers and Education

Technology has become a key part in society today because it has made things easier for us. We can now find information first hand via the internet, pay our bills, interact with people across the world, and so much more without leaving our house. By having teachers use technology it allows them to make their professional work easier as well as learning more effective. Also because educators are the ones that must ensure "the next generation is prepared for its place in our technology-rich society-technology literacy becomes even more vital" (Lever-Duffy 2). All these reasons are why educational technology has become so important in todays world. Educational technology is defined by Teaching and Learning with Technology as including "all real, analog, and digital technologies and media that can be used to support teaching and learning" (Lever-Duffy 2). Critical concerns related to teachers and students using computers are the finances associated with having technology in the classroom, time to integrate educational technology as part of instruction, cultural bias that is disinclined to support technology, and shifting the instructional paradigm. "For most classrooms, schools, and districts, lack of economic resources is the first critical challenge" (Lever-Duffy 16). I agree that this is a major concern with having technology in schools as well as the cultural bias and shifting the instructional paradigm. "Sometimes the culture of the school and the community it serves may not recognize the critical role of technology in classrooms" (Lever-Duffy 17). I agree that some schools value other interests, such as sports, before enrichment programs. I disagree however with it being a time challenge to learn and integrate classroom technologies because it just takes simple time management and the end result will be more beneficial.
The ISTE is the International Society for Technology in Education and they have led a federally funded initiative to develop standards for technology for teachers, students, and other educational professionals. This project is called the National Educational Technology Standards (NETs). One ISTE standard that gladdens my heart is "facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity". This makes me happy because I believe it is a teacher's responsibility to inspire their students to want to know more and help them keep their creativity up. As a teacher I want my students to grow and learn more while also enjoying learning. One standard that seems outside my current skill set is the "design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments". This requires teachers to "design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the StandardsS". I'm not sure exactly what this means and how I would accomplish this. I would need to learn more technology skills before I could be confident I could do this.
I agree with the term "digital native" as well as "digital immigrant". To be a "digital native" means growing up with technology all around you which is how today's youth have grown up. Because I grew up with technology all around me I consider myself a "digital native" and have noticed differences on how I use technology than how "digital immigrants" such as some of my teachers use it. My teachers and other "digital immigrants" usually don't use shortcuts and take awhile to get computers up and running how they want. They spend more extra time than they need to trying to turn up volume or minimize a window or such which meant less time for learning and caused me frustration because they wouldn't accept help. Some of my teachers even refused to use technology which caused me to not absorb everything as easily as I should have been able to. I anticipate my future students to even more dependent on technology than I am. Technology will be a key part in learning for most students in the future I believe and they will know more than me just like I am with my teachers now.

0-Learning Styles

   My prior experience with technology is mainly through stuff I have done in the classroom over the last couple of years. In my high school we had to take a computer class that taught us to use the basics including Blogger, Google Drive, and more. I am happy I took that class because I have continued to use much of the stuff I've learned in this class in other classes including in college. I also knew of the keyboard shortcuts because of the computer class also. One thing I never fully learned to use was Prezi however.
   Because I never learned to use Prezi, I hope to possibly learn how to use that. And if not Prezi, I hope to learn something similar because many classes I take involve the use of power points. I also hope to learn more shortcuts like the keyboard shortcuts we talked about in the beginning of class.
   I learned today that I am more of a sensory learner. This means that I like problem solving and facts which surprised me because going in I expected to be an intuitive learner. After reading more about sensory learning, however, I do agree that I am a sensory learner because I am practical and careful. I also learned that I have a well balance between being an active and reflective learner as well as a balance between being a visual and verbal learner which didn't surprise me because I learn differently based on different subjects usually. Finally I learned I am more of a sequential learner rather than global which I agree with.