Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Blog Post #3 - Internet Safety & Copyright

Internet Safety:

I learned the importance of internet safety not only in the home but in the classroom as well. There are online predators always out there looking for any information they can use from others. I learned it is important not to just download everything available to you on the internet. Offers that seem to good to be true often are and have viruses included in them that could cause serious damage to your computer. It is also important to be cautious in giving out personal information over the internet especially one's credit card number or social security number. There are certain sites where it is safe to disclose this private information and those sites should have a symbol at the top of their web address notifying you that they are in fact safe. As educators we can help our students remain safe on the internet by installing a reliable internet filter and including a password to that filter that only we have access to. We can also link the many computers in the classroom to our own where we can view all individual screens to ensure that students are remaining on task and receive the help that they need.

Copyright:

I learned that copyright is the government protected ownership of an individual or firm over the specific product they have created. In other words, individuals with copyrights have the exclusive rights to their products and have control over how their products are used and distributed by others. However, there are some government policies in place like fair use that allow individuals to use the works of others for various purposes like education or parody. Copyleft is like the opposite of copyright as it is an effort to make privately owned works and materials free for public use. Creative commons is a lot like this principle with individuals seeking to extend the use of copyrighted material to more people. Creative commons is just like a more flexible version of copyright as it allows more people to use private works for educational purposes. I thought a fun way to teach students about copyright was the Disney movie we watched in class. However, it could also be beneficial to show students examples of individuals who might have violated copyright laws and received serious punishments for their actions. That way students are better able to recognize the gravity of copyright laws and the implications they entail.

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