Today I met Iron Man so you could say it was a good day

   Wow oh wow never in a million years did I think that I would be able to type a sentence like, "today I met Iron Man so you could say it was a good day". BUT I CAN!!!!

   Today I went to Digitech and what a cool experience! The exhibit housed an overwhelming number of presenters from all majors who had each found a way to innovatively use technology. Some of the projects included smart tables, 3-D printers, body suits for film production, safer sports helmets, and yes, even an Iron Man suit.

   One of my favorite projects was one from the archeological department. The researchers travel back and forth to Italy to dig up an archeological site. Unfortunately, the artifacts that they find are required to remain in Italy. So, rather than simply photographing all of the artifacts, the researchers scan them and 3-D print them. They are then able to sand down the prints and add texture and color so that the printed model is almost identical to the original. The goal: to help visually impaired students who can't see photos of artifacts. This way then can feel them.

   Another cool tech invention that I saw, which is arguably the coolest thing that I've ever seen, was the Iron Man suit. The creator is a graduate student who has spent three years creating a fully functioning suit out of recycled materials. The suit came with a speaker, smart phone capabilities, and yes, even a flame thrower!!! While it may not look sleek and pretty like Tony Stark's suit, this teacher by day is still a pretty cool tech super hero by night in my book!

   All in all, Digitech was a super cool experience that I would go back to in a heartbeat. It was amazing to see all of these researchers who were so passionate about using technology to revamp the world that we live in today.

#10 Last one, best one

GUYS!!! We made it to the end!!! HUZZAH!!


   I wish I could think of a super clever way to use data collection as a lawyer. Alas, I can only think of ways to report data in Excel. Evidence logs, witness statements and information, and fee records are a few ways that I might be able to use data reporting as an attorney. While the police do most of the actual evidence logging, it would be really great to organize my evidence and witnesses based on the argument that they support and the information that they provide.

   Also...I want to get paid...so I have to keep track of the number of hours I'm listening to and researching people's problems. (Sidenote: This is a sarcastic joke, I'm not that much of a jerk.)

   The topic that I found most interesting in viewing people's blogs wasn't really a "topic" at all. It was seeing everyone's individual ideas and interpretations, regardless of the topic. The ILP's were a great way to see everyone's creative side and get to know people's interests better. It's about the people, not the tools am I right or am I right?! #EMEfoLyfe

   If I lived in a perfect world and had outrageous amounts of time, I would LOVE to learn more about using Final Cut. I know the basics and a few advanced skills....enough that I was able to edit a 10 minute short film. But, there's soooooo much more that I could still learn.

   I love editing footage. I use to sit in my room and cut together B Roll just for fun. So it would be so exciting (and completely useless for my future career) to be able to do that again. To accomplish this, I would mostly just play around on the software. But, I'm sure I could also take a MOOC or other online course on Final Cut to learn advanced skills.

Survey: Sports Survey

https://fsu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0JrWYiObCdEb0sR

#9 I'm about to complain for a hot sec

   A flipped classroom is a blended delivery system that allows students to listen to lecture material outside of class and then spend their time in class actively engaging in the learning process. In other words, traditional homework becomes class work and traditional class work becomes homework.

   This method, according to the book, allows for instruction to be delivered in a different way that may reach some learners better.

   As many of us have talked about before, one fantastic source of educational videos is Crash Course. They range in subject from American History to Chemistry and Literature. Here is a link to their YouTube channel: Crash Course.

   Side Note: In high school, I took an AP European History class where the teacher recorded her lectures and posted them to Edmodo. It was our job to listen to the lectures and take notes as homework. That way, when we came in to class, we could discuss the material as a group and ask any questions that we had. I personally LOVED that style of learning.

   Ohhhhhh Power Point, how I detest you!!! While the projects that other people create on you are amazing, that's a task I'll leave to someone else.

   In the Information Dissemination project, I learned how to create a master slide and record the presentation to create a show. Pretty cool stuff! I really like how my presentation turned out in the end.

   But, I struggled trying to present information without using bullet points....like REALLY struggled. That was the part that I disliked the most. I felt like so much of the information that I wanted to present would have been more digestible, at least from a student's perspective, if it had been listed in bullet form.

Here is what a few of my slides look like:

   As far as the Interaction project is concerned, I liked it slightly better than the Information Dissemination one. I learned how to link one slide to another which resulted in a pretty cool practice game!

   In the future, I wish I could have figured out to add different audio clips. I wanted to add in a countdown audio bite on the slide that says, "Ready? Set.....GO!". However, but I couldn't figure it out. Other than that, I'm really happy with how this turned out and I like it better than the first project.

Here is what a few of my slides look like:

No Blog So You Get a Dog

In lieu of our weekly educational posts, I decided that everyone could use a little cuteness in their lives! In other words, there was no blog, so you get to see my dog.

This is Simba and yes I did name him after The Lion King. His favorite activities include chasing birds in the back yard, looking #majestic, eating peanut butter, and snuggling with mommy (aka me). 

I hope everyone had a great weekend full of adventures and that everyone has a not-so-terrible Monday. See you tomorrow :)

Diigo Activity 5

   I like Diigo as a personal tool to help organize the things that we see on the internet every day.

   In the future, I can see myself continuing to use Diigo as a personal tool to help annotate and organize case law. If I can read through briefings online, annotate them, and tag them based on their holdings or the dicta delivered by the courts, it will making finding case law to support my own arguments in court that much easier.

   I don't think that Diigo would be effective for the legal profession as a whole. Every case has so many implications and offers so many different opinions that trying to organize one Diigo woule be impossibly overwhelming. However, within a single practice, it would be a great way for paralegals to research, annotate, and organize case law for the partners of the firm.

   But, that being said, the legal profession is missing out on the most helpful aspect of Diigo: the social learning.

#8 Cool Tools, Cool Teachers, Cool School

   Last week, we toured the FSU Student Disability Resource Center. I'm very lucky to not suffer from a disability, but, they have some really cool stuff in their lab to help put them on a level playing field.

   The coolest tool that I saw at the SDRC was the smart pen. Not only did you take notes in the traditional sense by writing notes on paper, but this resource also allowed you to record the lecture. Should you miss something, you simply need to press on a word and the pen will play back the recording from that particular time in the lecture.

   In schools, I can see every student using this tool to help them take better notes and to study for exams.

   Bloom's taxonomy refers to six levels that are used to classify learning objectives. Powerpoint is a great tool that can be used to hit all six levels.

1. Create - Obviously, students are creating a way to present information simply by creating a Powerpoint.

2. Evaluate - By watching other students present Powerpoints, the rest of the class is silently evaluating and critiquing their peer's work. While they may not be writing down things that their class mates did well or could improve upon, they are still thinking critically about their work.

3. Analyze - Similar to evaluating their peer's work, if students are watching various presentations, they are undoubtedly making connections from one topic to another. Even if the presentations are totally unrelated, the students are bound to make certain connections from one presentation to another.

4. Apply - With all of the information gathered from watching and creating Powerpoint presentations,  students are preparing themselves to use this information for tests or future assignments.

5. Understand - Powerpoints create an opportunity for discussion. They allow students to ask questions at the same time that they are able to reiterate and reorganize information.

6. Remember - Powerpoints are a great learning tool because they provide both a visual and auditory source of information. This gives students two different sources for recalling and remembering information.

   A link to a page to stay on top of technological trends is this one from Study.com. It is a short video that describes teaching trends and how they apply to technology in the classroom. It discusses flipped classrooms which I think is a really great idea. I had a teacher in high school that assigned Edmodo lectures that we had to listen to outside of class. Then in the classroom, we would go more in depth and discuss the material.

   By staying on top of trends, teachers are not only going to keep up with the times, but they are going to be able to be more effective in catering to students' growing dependence on new technology.

ILP Design - Prezi

GUESS WHO'S BACK!!

That was really obnoxious, but hey, it got you to read my blog! Well, I got some great feedback on my last ILP so I decided to reuse the same information from my Animoto and make a Prezi.

As per your advice, I included some more graphic content to reflect the maturity of the audience. I also changed the format from an Animoto to a Prezi so that I could include more information. Additionally, I swapped out using still images for video clips which I think makes the presentation more powerful. Just as last time, this is directed to high school juniors and seniors*.

I also embedded video clips from three different films that perfectly show what I want to discuss.

As with all presentations, this would serve as a visual aid and an outline for a lecture. The information provided on the slides is not exhaustive, and would serve as more of an outline than an all encompassing version of the lecture.

*Based on the following standards:
          1. SS.912.A.16 - Use case studies to explore social, political, legal, and economic
              relationships in history.
          2. SS.912.A.13 - Utilize timelines to identify the time sequence of historical data.
          3. SS.912.A.1.7 - Describe various socio-cultural aspects of American life including
              art, artifacts, literature, education, and publications.

Diigo Activity 4

   This week, I learned that while assistive technologies in a broad sense are helpful for ESOL learners, the specific tools that each student uses must be individualized.

   What accelerates learning for one ESOL student may slow learning for another. Use tools, but use them wisely.

#7 So much respect for web designers.......

   Alright, alright, alright we're talking about a laws which means "I'm the captain now"!!! (Two quotes in one sentence, I'm such a movie nerd #SorryNotSorry.) In the podcast, I learned a little about how the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) applies to creating teaching materials.

   The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate against anyone based on their handicap. I knew from friends and just being in school that some students were allotted extra time on tests or given special supplemental learning accommodations.

   The podcast provided several other examples of specialized materials provided to disabled students such as brail texts, text-to-speech software, and specially colored papers. The textbook elaborated on these examples by discussing special concept mapping tools, high-interest low-level books, and specialized input/output devices like screen magnification devices.

   While certain aspects of creating specialized materials for students protected by the ADA seems straightforward, it can be extremely complicated trying to accommodate students with disabilities. Nothing in the legal world is simple, and it appears that the same is true in the teaching world.

   Okay so whoever said they "liked" this web assignment was either super tech savvy or simply delusional. Thus far, this was probably my least favorite project. Not only was the website complicated to create, but I struggled to figure out what content to put on my website.

   I have made a website before using Wix and I felt that that software was so much more user friendly for beginners. However, I think that my site turned out okay, all things considered.

   I like the simplicity of my design. I chose a theme of black and white colors which contrast nicely and make it, I think, aesthetically pleasing. #aesthetic.

   I couldn't find a way to change the font and that's the one thing that I really don't like. I'm big on continuity so the fact that my fonts don't match from page to page really irritates me. If anyone knows how to change the font, help a sista out.

   In my future career, I'm sure that whatever law firm/non-profit I work for will have a website. If I'm being totally honest, I hope that I never have to work on it or update it. I would much rather spend my time doing other things. But, if I had to, I think this assignment provided me with some design basics and a little information on how to format an easy to read website.

   Heres the link to my site and a screenshot from the "Homework" tab is included below.

Diigo Activity 3

   By looking at a bank of teacher productivity tools such as TeacherPlanet.com, I learned that there is a dramatic distinction between Web 2.0 tools and teacher productivity tools.

   Web 2.0 focus on the social interactions between students and teachers. Examples include blogs, MOOC's, and even Diigo itself.

   Teacher productivity tools on the other hand focus on the business of teaching. They are more concerned with helping teachers grade, create worksheets, and report on student progress than with social interactions.

#6 Ohhhhh nostalgia

   TBT to high school! I visited the website  of my alma mater, Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, to look at the different class pages and see the different information available. Dreyfoos caters to students grades 9-12.

   First off, there are different tabs for arts and academics which makes it easy to look for courses based on which category they fall under. Each tab offers a list of the teachers in the department and denotes which teacher is the Dean of the department. Each tab also provides a list of courses within that department and the suggested order in which to take them.

   The site also provides audition and student life information. The audition information lists both the prepared and on-site requirements for auditions and the scoring rubric for each art area.

   The website does not provide any contact information for the teachers. It also leaves out descriptions of specific courses, like what we see under the Student Central tab on Black Board. I know Palm Beach County uses Edline for students, parents, and teachers. Some more information is located there.



   Future teacher Brianna would use word processing softwares to prepare documents, handouts, tests/quizzes and so much more. The book discusses how technological tools like Microsoft Word allow for more efficient work by using spell check, being easy to convert from one file form to another, and even allowing formatting to change. I love these features as a student and would love them even more as a professional.

   Additionally, virtual tools are so much easier to share. The podcast discusses that there's nothing worse than being given a printed handout that needs one minor adjustment and having to retype the whole thing. Future teacher Brianna agrees with an, "UGH yes". Current student Brianna says, "yeah...sure, let's go with that".

   The podcast mentions using virtual calendars to easily plan out things in advance. Don't get me wrong, I love planning ahead. But, I think that I prefer paper calendars to digital ones. I've used my phone calendar before but I have just never liked that as much as having a physical agenda or calendar. Anyone else feel the same?

   The Tech Sandbox was eye opening....just don't get sand in your eye....ba dum tss!!! Sorry, I think I'm funny. Anyway, there were a few things that I can see being used in the classroom.

   As a student, I can totally see myself and others using the Apple Pencil. It wrote literally just like a normal pencil on paper. I even rested my arm against the iPad like you would on paper to see if that messed up the calibration and it had no effect.

   Josh told me that developers now sell software that will turn hand written notes from the Apple Pencil into typeface notes. How cool would it be to go to class and hand write your notes, which is better for memory anyway, and then come home and plug them into a software where they are turned into typeface?! I'm pretty stoked about the idea of that.

   As a teacher, I think the Smart Board is the most obvious tool that I can see being used in an every day classroom. Assuming future teacher Brianna was some type of social studies teacher, I would probably use the board to have students draw political cartoons, make visual aids like Venn diagrams, or even play review games like Jeopardy.

   The coolest thing about the Smart Board was that multiple people could write on it at once. So imagine playing a review game with students for a test on the American Revolution. Have the class split into two teams. Each team has a member go up to the board. Future teacher Brianna says, "on the count of three, I want each of you to draw a political cartoon about one of the major battles of the American Revolution". Not only does the student have to know what the major battles are, but they also have to know what happened in them, and how to transfer that information into a political cartoon!

   Sorry....I'm getting a little too excited. I'll stop now. Enthusiasm = done.

ILP Design - Animoto

   GUYS!!! I made a thing!!!!!!

   For my first independent learning project, I was inspired by one of the Web 2.0 tools that some of my classmates shared on Diigo. The tool is called Animoto and it allows you to make video projects with still images and videos.

   I actually had fun pretending to be a teacher and made a video that I might show at the beginning of a lesson as a brief overview of the material that will be covered.

   I made this for a high school American history or AP U.S. history class. I felt that the material that I wanted to discuss would be too heavy for middle schoolers so I think it's important that I let you know that before you watch it.

   Fun fact: I'm actually pursuing a minor in African American Studies. So, the video offers a brief introduction to the Atlantic Slave Trade*. All of the information presented has been taken from my personal notes from courses here at Florida State.

   As noted above, this is geared toward a high school audience so some images may be disturbing. Also note that the films that I say I plan to show clips of in class would require parental consent as they are rated "R".

   Anyway, I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I enjoyed making it!

*Based on the following standards:
          1. SS.912.A.16 - Use case studies to explore social, political, legal, and economic
              relationships in history.
          2. SS.912.A.13 - Utilize timelines to identify the time sequence of historical data.
          3. SS.912.A.1.7 - Describe various socio-cultural aspects of American life including  
              art, artifacts, literature, education, and publications.

Diigo Activity 2

I learned that Web 2.0 can be both useful and frightening. With an increased emphasis on social learning displayed in the Edutopia article, Web 2.0 may raise concerns that learning is becoming too social and extending too far beyond the traditional classroom and in to both students and teacher's personal lives.

#5 Don't Forget To Be Awesome

   According to the podcast, Web 2.0 tools are more complex and interactive internet tools than older Web 1.0 tools.

   One Web 2.0 I think alter ego teacher me would use in the classroom would be YouTube. As a student, I used YouTube all the time for things like tutorials on solving math problems or reviews for history tests.

   Alter ego teacher me would probably be a government or history teacher and my favorite resource has always been Crash Course, which is free on YouTube (we'll come back to Crash Course later).

   There are so many different videos on YouTube that are relevant to history/government. From videos of speeches to documentaries, YouTube offers a wide variety of resources.

   As a teacher, it would be really awesome to show these videos at the beginning of a lesson and then at the end as both a preview and summary of the material covered in class.

   As an example of a web tool, I'm going to continue my discussion of Crash Course....'cause I promised we'd come back to it. Here is a link to one of their videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szxPar0BcMo

   Not only is John Green hilarious, but the videos are always super informative and provide good overviews of the materials taught in class. This particular video series (Crash Course World History) is one that I watched countless time in my Sophomore year of high school to prepare for the AP World History Exam.

   The comment section of these YouTube courses is also great because there is a community of historians who will answer posed questions. It's a great resource that alter ego teacher me would get a lot of use from.

   The most promising future technology mentioned in the textbook are the augmented reality tools. Assuming that alter ego teacher me is a history teacher, what better way to teach students about other place in the world than by actually letting them explore them?

   My brother has a pair of Samsung Virtual Reality goggles and I have used them to skydive, cage dive with great white sharks (which is on my bucket list irl), and walk down the Champs-Élysées in Paris. While the ways in which I used them may not have been educational, it is easy to see how there is an endless possibility of educational uses.

   To sum it up, in the words of John Green, don't forget to be awesome.

Diigo Activity

   I learned that the word "software" does not strictly apply to things that are downloaded on to a computer. There are a wide variety of software available for students like Sheppard Software, Crash Course, and ABC Ya that provide interactive ways to learn and do not conform to my preexisting idea of the term "software".

#4 I Tweetin' Love Twitter

   I love Twitter. Simple as that. I've been an avid Twitter user for a couple years now so the app is very familiar to me. For the purposes of this class, Twitter has offered an interesting experience.

   So far, I have interacted with some of my classmates through liking and retweeting some of their tweets. I've also participated in one of the Twitter Challenges posted by @eme2040.

   In a professional setting, I can't see that I would see myself using Twitter much. Unless I become a mainstream civil rights advocate who used Twitter to reach mass audiences, the app doesn't really seem to meet any of the needs of a private attorney. In a personal way though, I can see myself continuing to use Twitter as a resource to stay connected to friends and things happening in the world.

   The digital divide creates a "disparity among students" in a learning environment because not all students have computers/internet access at home. Additionally, not every school is equally equipped to facilitate technological learning for all students.
 
  Causes of divide might be a student's socioeconomic status at home or even the school district for which they are zoned. Some schools have more computers and it is therefore easier for teachers in these environments to encourage technological learning in the classroom.

   As a teacher, I would need to know which students have access to technology at home and which don't. That way, I could plan lessons and at home assignments that don't exclude students who don't have access to computers or the internet at home.
 
  However, meeting state technology standards might be challenging if I work in an underfunded school. While I may want to encourage students to use technology, I may not have the tools to do it in the classroom. It is also important to know that while it's important not to leave any individual students at a disadvantage, it is also important to not leave the class as a whole at a disadvantage by not using technology at all. There is a delicate balance that would be a challenge to find.

   If I were a 7th grade Civics or American Government teacher, I would probably use a couple different types of software to help both me and my students.
 
   Some that I would use frequently would probably be an academic software like Microsoft Publisher in order to create campaign posters, political cartoons, political newspaper articles or other supplemental materials to help teach my students about government. Another might be a reference software like Brittanica that students could use to research things that relate to the formation of American government. These would be important supplemental materials that make things more interesting than just watching a powerpoint or reading a textbook.

   Software that I probably wouldn't use frequently would be things like tutorials drill-and-practice (ex. Math Analogies) because there isn't really anything that would be taught in a Government classroom that needs to be "practiced". It's not like math where there are different problems that can be practiced until the process is understood. The material is mostly history or understanding how the branches of government work together.

E-Course Reflection

Content and Relevancy:

The content was very informative, especially when it talked about project management tools. I had no clue how many cool things you could do with those online tools. As a student, while I can't see myself using the complicated project managing softwares, I can definitely see myself using Google Docs and Slides to continue getting real time feedback on collaborative work. It's SO much easier than emailing files back and forth.

Content and Future Career:

I think that the project management softwares may come in to play in a legal practice. Cases are complicated and take a lot of people and time to prepare for. Using software may help me to manage who is completing what tasks and by what days. Hopefully that will help to make case prep more efficient.

Ah-ha Moments:

The biggest ah-ha moment for me was really when I tried the sample questions at the end. A lot of the information in the videos seemed so inapplicable to me. But, when I had to apply what I had learned to the scenarios, I thought, "okay, wow. I can really use these tools."

Issues:

The only issues that I had with the course were technical. When I would answer the unit questions, the course sometimes wouldn't allow me to move on and so I would have to re-launch the entire course. Other times, I tried to keep both the my notes and the course up on a split screen and the options to pause and rewind the course would disappear. I would have to re-launch the course. While these were slightly inconvenient, it was nothing that would deter me from taking an E-course again or recommending this course to a friend.

#3 *trying to think like a teacher*

   It's no secret that I have zero intentions of being a "teacher". But that doesn't mean that I'll never have to teach anyone anything. When looking at the ELA standards, I feel like I would be very well prepared to teach the RL.7 Standard of "Compare written story/drama/poem to audio, filmed stage, or multimedia version, analyzing techniques such as lighting, sound color, camera focus/angle". 
  
  After being a Communications major for all of middle school and half of high school with a concentration in film, I'm very goon od at analyzing different aspects of film story telling. I'm also an avid reader and I love watching movie adaptations of novels....after reading the book of course. Seeing differences in the story telling always shows me more about the people creating the art because every artist values different aspects about the same pieces. 

   I don't think (as of right now) that I would be very good at teaching the RST.7 standard that "includes quantitative data, tables, charts, graphs, diagram, model, video, multimedia" simply because I'm not good with numbers. Especially when it comes to interpreting them and trying to relay their information to other people.
 
  As students, I think we all know the types of things that we enjoy and the types of things that we dislike in our learning environments. One of the things that I just recently realized that I really like to use are the chats in Google. I'm gonna play teacher here for a second, so let's just assume that I'm a high school teacher. I'm not like a regular teacher, I'm a cool teacher (Side note: if you don't get the reference we can't be friends). 
   Assuming that all of my students have devices of some sort, I would love for them to be able to engage in real time conversation in a non disruptive way during class. I know that a lot of teachers discourage phone use, but personally, I think that I work better when I can send a quick response to someone and get back to work rather than having the notification staring me in the face and wondering what it says. 
   I would also love to incorporate some sort of movie making project in to my class. Not only is it really fun to film with your friends and create a movie project, but I always love watching what my fellow students create. Using softwares like iMovie or Final Cut would allow me to incorporate technology in a fun and interesting way.
   Of course the integration of technology, especially the chats, would raise a lot of concerns when it comes to digital citizenship. We were all in high school and we know how colloquially we talk to our friends. That language and innuendo isn't always appropriate for a classroom setting. It would be important to me that my students showed "nettiquette". I would make sure that they know that their comments in the chat are monitored by me and should any inappropriate conversation take place, the student will lose the privilege to participate and have disciplinary action taken. By high school, hopefully, students have matured enough to be able to use the chat appropriately. 

   "Open" in the podcast refers to open source and open content materials. Open content materials, according to the podcast, are materials that are conceptually copyrighted but that, depending on the stipulations created by the author, can be used by teachers for certain purposes. I wanted to learn more. So, as most people would do, I googled it. One page that I found to be extremely helpful was this cite: http://opencontent.org/definition/. Something that this cite taught me was that while the podcast discusses the "4 R's", it missed one "R". The original author is able to "retain" the right to copy and redistribute their own work. It's important to remember this 5th "R" because even though the material may be an open content resource, the creator of the work still holds the rights to that work. Those rights need to be respected.

   I don't know about the rest of you, but I never knew that I could do so much on Microsoft Word. And that's coming from an AVID Apple Pages user. More than anything, I learned about the benefits and struggle of formatting on Word. I love how angular and precise things are on Word. It's simple design that is perfect for a beginner. However, in Pages, there are no restrictions to where you can place images. The best part is that it doesn't limit you to only moving images in certain increments or to certain edge points. That's something that I really missed while making this Newsletter. 
   As far as new skills go, I wasn't able to add page borders before (pathetic, I know) and now I can so the score sits Bri: 1, Word: 0. If I were to do this project again, I think the biggest change that I would make would be using Pages instead of Word. Pages is just so much more familiar and user friendly to me. So sorry, Microsoft.....*Donald Trump voice* you're fired. 
   In my future career, I think that the thing that I could really use my newly acquired skills on would be sending out weekly announcements to law associates about our current cases, important court dates, legislation up for vote to watch, and other current event type things. So if you want to see what I came up with, it's below. Hopefully it looks like it's supposed to (insert upside down smiley face here).

#2 Yo dude, what's the Word?

   As a student, I have been using Microsoft Word for as long as I can remember. Whether it was for writing papers, answering homework questions, or simply playing around with Clip Art for poster projects, Word has pretty much been my friend since day 1. As far as seeing my teachers using Word, I have seen them use it to make worksheets or note outlines. In college, I've had professors create bare-bone lecture outlines that they put on Black Board for us to fill in during class. Word is awesome because it is so easy, especially now in college, to send documents back in forth to classmates or colleges.
 
   Copyright and fair use issues have mostly affected me as a student in a research context. I often use the internet and other resources for research, especially now in my major looking at specific political science literature and research. For the most part, I have always been taught that anything that I didn't create myself must be attributed to the original author in order to avoid plagiarism. My first two years of high school were spent at arts school and when we created films for our juries, we were able to use any background music. However, if we wanted to submit our films to festivals, we would have to replace copyrighted music with generic Garage Band songs.
   In an education or professional setting (ex. teaching a presentation on mass incarceration or another civil rights issue), I would e using mostly statistics or case briefings in order to present material. Statistics won't really pose a copyright issue, but case briefings and political literature must always be attributed to the original authors. Not only does this protect against copyright infringement, but just in general, it also makes you seem more credible and reliable as a presenter/educator if you are backing up your assertions and providing credit.

   One issue that arises is the issue of academic dishonesty in the digital age. It is easier than ever to copy and paste someone else's words and try to pass them off as your own. I know that many of my teachers in the past have required that papers and projects be submitted to a plagiarism checking website like "Turn It In. If I were a teacher, this is certainly something that I would implement not only to make my life easier, but also to stress to students that academic dishonesty is a large issue.
   Another issue is the issue of free speech. While I want students to know that they do have a freedom to say what they want, I also want them to understand that there is a time and a place for every type of speech. I would want students (especially older students) to understand that the type of speech that they use colloquially at home may not be appropriate in an academic setting. I would try to simply reword student's language while still stressing that their thoughts are valuable.
   A final issue is the right to privacy. Especially when it comes to grading and student records, it is incredibly important that those documents don't fall into the wrong hands. I would absolutely use a password protected grading system to protect student's privacy rights. Another thing that I would avoid doing would be submitting grades while students are in the classroom. I know that this isn't always avoidable. But, as a student, it was always embarrassing to have a teacher accidentally put Grade Quick up on the projector or have it up on their computer screen while they were talking to other students. No one needs to see my grades but me.

#1 Digitally Native

   Essentially, teachers are forced to use technology in the classroom by the government. I wish there was a more diplomatic or delicate way to phrase that, but it is what it is. In order to receive grant money, technology must be used in some way shape or form. But, with that being said, teachers have begun to use technology for everything from attendance to presenting materials to communicating with student's parents. Students use technology to reinforce the lessons taught by teachers, address issues with the diversity of learning needs, and to foster critical thinking, creativity, and communication. Based on the variety of ways that a student learns, teachers are able to use technology to personalize lesson reinforcement for students based on their unique learning characteristics. For example, a student may learn better in groups so a teacher can put together a small group of children to work together on a powerpoint presentation to present to the class. This way, technology is being introduced to the environment with the students using it to both create and present the project. Additionally, the student's individual learning needs have been met.

   So as someone who had never even heard of ISTE until a week ago, this is all very new to me, and I'm not gonna lie, a little complicated to understand. I guess the main takeaway that I got from these lists of standards is that there seems to be a real emphasis placed on increasing both student's and teacher's personal creative expression. I like that idea a lot. Specifically, I'm referring to standard 6g on the teacher standards file to "cultivate creative student expression". I think that in a lot of ways, through standardization of testing and other aspects, creativity has been pushed to the back burner in schooling. So by using technology as a way to bring that back to the forefront, a lot of students will be able to personalize their learning experience and thrive in school. I know that for me, I went to art school in middle and high school and my favorite projects in core classes were always the ones where I was able to express myself through my art. Everyone has a talent/passion so hopefully using technology will allow more students to utilize them in school.
   As far as the "over my skill set" part of these  standards, my issue isn't with a specific standard but rather the actual implementation of these standards as a whole. I am not an education student, and I won't pretend to know squat about it. So while these standards and ideas of implementing more technology and creativity sound fantastic, I have no clue how I would actually include them in a classroom or education setting. When I think back to the projects that I did in middle and high school that utilized technology, I appreciate my teachers a lot more now knowing that those projects were crafted from a list of incredibly ambiguous standards. So shout out to Palm Beach County teachers cause y'all are the bomb.
 
   I think that the term "digital native" is a very accurate way to describe today's younger generations. Considering that I struggle to remember a time when I didn't have access to a computer or cell phone means that I grew up with a lot of technology. My little brother, who is now 12, is even more of a native than I am. He is constantly showing me different ways to do things on Snapchat or Instagram. I consider myself pretty well versed in social media tech, but somehow he always finds a way to show me up.
   In the class room, I have seen that a lot of my teachers have struggled to use document cameras. Some have even struggled to make a YouTube video full screen. While in the moment it can often be frustrating, I have to remind myself to take a step back and remember that this technology is new to them. They didn't grow up knowing that the "full screen" button is always the little box in the bottom right hand corner.
   While I would like to say that I, in any type of instructional setting, will be proficient enough in technology education to avoid these issues, it would be naive to assume that technology will stop advancing here. Despite the fact that I may know a good about computers now, that doesn't mean that I'll know anything about the computers of the future. Digital natives of the future, that is people younger than me, will most likely know things about pioneering technologies that I don't, no matter how often I try them out. This isn't to say that I won't be a little more comfortable with technology than the teachers that I had, but I do mean that kids seem to have a way of knowing stuff that I could never hope to.

#0 Getting Started

   Being a 90's baby, technology has pretty much always played a role in my life in some way or another. Whether it was Tamigachi (is that how it's spelled.....???) toys when I was a kid or getting my first computer in middle school, I have always had some type of technological device in my hands. However, the extent to which I have utilized these devices for more than just Netflix or Google has grown exponentially since starting high school. Whether it is using research databases, online literature tools, Prezi, tutorial videos or other resources, I have begun to use technological devices, and specifically my computer more and more. And, I have a feeling that technology will continue to play a role in my life, both personally and professionally.
 
   In this class, I hope to learn how to more efficiently integrate the use of technology into my academic life. Obviously I know the basics of Word and Powerpoint, but of course any useful tips and tricks would be welcome. Additionally, Political Science is very heavy in statistical analysis, especially using computing soft wares like "R". The more I can learn about technology in general, the more I can excel in my field of study. But let's be honest, I would rather be napping than trying to figure out some crazy project on the computer. Nobody has time for that nonsense or stress. So, if this class teaches me how to mitigate the time that I need to spend on research or creating presentations, I'm all about it. Tech on.
 
   Honestly, I'm not surprised at all by the results that the quiz showed me. I know that I'm a fairly balanced learner. I know that I prefer lists and seeing things done in an organized and sequential pattern. I also know that I learn best when auditory, visual, and sensory methods are utilized simultaneously. So this quiz pretty much confirmed that about my optimal learning style. Hopefully knowing this in better detail will be able to help my initial learning and study habits in the future.