Meeting Grade Level Standards...

Grades 3–5 (Ages 8–11) Standards

The following experiences with technology and digital resources are examples of learning activities in which students might engage during Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-11):
1.

Produce a media-rich digital story about a significant local event based on first-person interviews. (1,2,3,4)
2. Use digital-imaging technology to modify or create works of art for use in a digital presentation. (1,2,6)
3. Recognize bias in digital resources while researching an environmental issue with guidance from the teacher. (3,4)
4. Select and apply digital tools to collect, organize, and analyze data to evaluate theories or test hypotheses. (3,4,6)
5. Identify and investigate a global issue and generate possible solutions using digital tools and resources (3,4)
6. Conduct science experiments using digital instruments and measurement devices. (4,6)
7. Conceptualize, guide, and manage individual or group learning projects using digital planning tools with teacher support. (4,6)
8. Practice injury prevention by applying a variety of ergonomic strategies when using technology. (5)
9. Debate the effect of existing and emerging technologies on individuals, society, and the global community. (5,6)
10.

Apply previous knowledge of digital technology operations to analyze and solve current hardware and software problems. (4,6)
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I actually enjoyed reading those standards. I think part of my uplifting feeling arrived after I realized that I'm actually hitting a couple of these in the best way I can given my knowledge, skills and resources. I have done a couple of webquests with my students and saw the power of using computer resources to conceptualize and synthesize information. There is no way we could have reached a depth of knowledge and understanding had we explored this information in straight paper, pencil, text book.

I still have a long way to go. There were two key standards that caught my attention that I will focus on this year...and years to come. The first is using digital/computer resources to explore global issues. Using Google Earth, last weekend opened up so many possible learning opportunities for me and my student. One great gap in third grade social studies is getting students to understand the difference between city, state, country and continient. What an amazing way to use this new tool...

Eager to try it, I went into the computer lab and tried to download the application. I recieved what I have gotten many times over. I need a password. This means a work order needed to be placed. District Tech Support let me know it'd be about 3 months til they get to it. Sigh. Breathe deep. Sometimes that's the best we can do. Know what I mean? In the mean time, there's a whole world of wiki's and webquests to leap into.

Ask and you shall receive...

In my last posting I mentioned the need for a percentage based way of looking at how the copyright laws are reviewed and considered. After reading Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Media, I learned that these guidelines and percentages exist. "In the aggregate" was the key phrase used to consider portions of a body of work and how it applies to the copyright laws. I was surprised to learn that numerical data sets falls under the copyright laws and that only 10% or 2500 fields, the lesser of these, is what is legal to copy and use in instruction. This was a category I had never considered.
I found this reading clear and easy to follow.

2nd Look...Copyright Laws

After reading several posts I realize I may have missed the mark with my first one. So here's a second go at it.

Once I had reflected on the Fair Use Copyright Laws article more closely, it seemed the law's basic intention was to find a balance between protecting the rights of authors and inventors while still allowing the use of their works to foster learning and growth.

I learned that works published over 75 years ago fall under public domain. If I am understanding this correctly, this opens up a world of texts, scripts and music that are free to use w/out infringing on the copyright laws.

In thinking about fair use and how to use copyrighted materials in classrooms there were two gray areas that surfaced. First, was the length of text that may be used. Excerpts may be used that are "short in relationship to the work". Short was not qualified other than to say a paragraph was alright, but possibly not a chapter. Percentages of a work might help to clarify matters here. Does this exist? The second, unclear topic is a bit more difficult to gauge. Under fair use, segments that do not "reflect the essence of the work" may be used. I find this very difficult to measure. Who is to judge this? Once this judgement is made...who and how does it get enforced. Seems to be an extremely daunting task.

Fair Use and Copyright for Teachers

Situation: Marty teaches 3rd grade at a very low income public school. Her two colleagues copy 60 multiplication music Cd's for their classes. They charge $1 per CD. They put the money into a field trip fund to help get their classes on a field trip because the funding has been cut.

Fantastic results! Marty's colleague's classes are humming away multiplication facts. Also, $60 closer to a field trip to the SF symphony.

Marty had recently taken an ITEC class where she learned about fair use copy right laws. She knew that making multiple copies of the CD for her class was clearly illegal. So she charged $9 per copy of the CD with integrity. None of her students purchased the CD. She raised no money for a her field trip.

She thought to herself...how "fair" is this fair use law. In a world where ethics, and equity seem so off balance. Two wrongs don't make a right, but here we are...

A Million Dollars...

I'm a bit of a do gooder. As are most who are probably reading this blog. But truth be told. If I won a chunck of change I would first...take a vacation. I'd visit my family in Brasil. After relaxing in a hammock near a beach while sipping on an exotic drink that had a colorful umbrella in it, then I'd begin my work.

I'd probably put much of it towards an orphanage...