Week 6: Copyright

I personally feel that some of the copyright laws are a little ridiculous. For example, if I want to make a copy of a CD I bought onto a recordable CD I bought and give it to a friend, that is a violation of copyright law. If I decide to upload the contents of that CD I bought to the Internet onto a web server I paid for and make it freely available to anyone who wishes to download it, that is also in violation of copyright law. Showing a copyrighted video / movie in the classroom is also a violation of the copyright law. We all copy and distribute information that is copyrighted without permission whether it is via email or handing out relevant information in classrooms to enhance knowledge; those are copyright infringement and are technically violations unless permission was granted by the author / creator. With technology today, there are so many ways in which people actually download music, movies, software etc. for free whether they are aware of copyright infringement laws or not. I was in class the other day and when the professor distributed handouts, I chuckled and couldn’t help but think that she was stealing someone else’s information.
I know that copyright is to help promote arts and science and help people create their own ideas- but it all boils down to making the dollars and cents. There is a gray area of what is allowed and not allowed to be copied. As an educator, I don’t that I would be teach copyright laws because it is too complex and there is much information on the legal side. However, I think I would have a lawyer come in to educate my students- after all they need to know the rights of copyright.

There were some interesting statistical analysis in chapter 7 of Educause. It is no surprise that there is a trend among college students who own (93.4%) some kind of technology and have access to technology. Females tend to own cell phones (84.7%) than males (7.7%). It was fascinating that the Net Generation students actually had mixed feelings about the use of technology in teaching and learning in the classroom. I think that technology in the classroom depends on the individual’s needs and personal experience. Some students may like just taking classes online, while others prefer going to class and having face to face interaction with peers and teachers; and then there are those students would rather have both interaction and technology. I personally prefer going to class and having face to face interaction along with using technology as a tool for better understanding. Since I’ve been out of school for over 10 years, everything is new and exciting to me. I love the fact that we can incorporate technology in every facet of life including language.
If I were giving a similar survey, I would ask the following questions:
Would you like technology to be incorporated in every subject area of the classroom?
What subject would benefit you most if you were to use technology?
How do you benefit from the use of technology in the classroom?
On a scale of one to five, with one being the least important and five being the most important, how would you rate teachers who use technology in the classroom?
Teachers who use technology all the time -
Teachers who use technology periodically-
Teachers who do not use technology at all-