C4T weekly summary for February

For the first week, I was assigned a blog that spoke about people's right to privacy and copyright laws, my response was this:

Hi, my name is Leslie and I am a student that has been assigned to comment on your blog.  Recently we learned about certain copyright laws and what is “fair use”.  This post really makes an impression, because as technology has developed (at a more than exponential rate), I believe that we as educators are becoming increasingly aware of what we can/cannot use.  I remember creating things and adding pictures to projects and never thinking to ask permission for images that would not be considered copyright.  Pictures of family and friends are so readily available, especially now with social media.  It always helps to have a good reminder (like this post) that we always need to ask permission, as the things we produce can indeed linger for years.

For the second week, the blog was about neuroplasticity and the ability for students to actually alter their physiology by the way they learn.  I posted:

It is interesting that we teach students everyday, but neglect to teach them how they change through learning.  The fact that years of remembering can actually physiologically change a brain is amazing!  I especially like the fact that when dealing with students that have been labeled “special needs”, we can emphasize that fact that they are in charge of their learning and brain development and no one can influence them as much as they can.

The third week's assignment was a blog discussing the protocol of permission to share photos and copyright laws pertaining to blog posts and presentations.  I replied:

Hi, my name is Leslie and I am a student that has been assigned to comment on your blog.  Recently we learned about certain copyright laws and what is “fair use”.  This post really makes an impression, because as technology has developed (at a more than exponential rate), I believe that we as educators are becoming increasingly aware of what we can/cannot use.  I remember creating things and adding pictures to projects and never thinking to ask permission for images that would not be considered copyright.  Pictures of family and friends are so readily available, especially now with social media.  It always helps to have a good reminder (like this post) that we always need to ask permission, as the things we produce can indeed linger for years.

For the fourth week, I read a blog about "cold calling", which is the process of abruptly asking students what the next step in a discussion is, or what the answer to a question is.  I said:  

Hi, my name is Leslie Cazeaux and I am a student at the University of South Alabama.  I am taking a graduate level course focused on technology in the classroom, and we have been assigned certain blogs to read and comment on.  I had never heard the term “cold calling” before, but understand your point of view with underutilizing it in the classroom, especially to prove a point or put a student on the spot.  I like the idea of garnering different responses from the students, which could open up discussion not previously though of.  Also, students are bright individuals and can bring a different tone and view to the subject matter.