Blog Journal #3

 Hey guys!

    As a future educator, the topic of copyright, fair use, and plagiarism is very important to me. I would combat these issues by discussing the issue with my students frequently and making sure that they understand what plagiarism and copyright are and the consequences associated with them. I would also teach my students how to cite their sources correctly, since this may encourage them to identify where they got their information from, rather than to plagiarize. I would also like to lead by example, so I would cite any material that I used in developing my instructional material and point out the need to cite your sources. 

    A big issue that I have heard about recently when it comes to the increased use of technology in the classroom is decreased productivity. I have heard this discussed amongst teachers and it seems that as the students use their personal devices and classroom technology, they are navigating to online games or social media. This is obviously a big problem that needs to be addressed since the students are not able to complete their work when they are distracted by these sites. To combat this issue, I would be sure to monitor the classroom by walking around to check that everyone is doing what they are supposed to be doing. I would also use the application available to teachers where you can see the activity of each student's device to ensure that everyone is on task. I would offer reinforcement to those who are consistently on task, such as candy or a treasure box. 

    Another challenge that teachers are facing in the classroom is the current surge of generative AI. Applications that use AI such as ChatGPT are capable of solving math problems, writing essays, and answering difficult questions. I think that this can be beneficial for some students, as it can provide examples and offer explanations for confusing topics. At the same time, I think that this has the opportunity to be very hurtful to students, as they can rely on these applications to do their work for them. If this is the case, the students will not understand the material and will have no true practice in it, leading them to perform poorly on their tests and exams despite "completing" their work. I am concerned about this issue, as I do not see how we as educators can prevent the use of generative AI. While we may be able to limit it in the classroom, it would likely be hard to completely prevent students from using it at home or on their own time. 

    The newsletter assignment was a lot of fun for me. While I have used Word reliably for quite some time, this was the first time that I used it to create something cute and aesthetic. I definitely learned that Word has some cool functions that can be used to make things look nice and presentable, such as icons and WordArt. I also learned that you can change the margins on the paper to limit the amount of blank space on the page. In the future, I definitely could work on trying new functions that I am unfamiliar with and switching up the font and size of letters. I think that this activity is going to be very helpful for me in the future, as I will be using similar functions to create posters, newsletters, and so many other unique visuals for the classroom. I'll add photos of my newsletter below!