Blog Post 2

     My experience with Microsoft Word has been that of a typical student. I have used the program to write thousands of essays, create advertisements, and to write letters. Most teachers, I have witnessed, use Microsoft Word to create syllabi, tests, quizzes, and worksheets. While these are relatively basic uses of Microsoft Word, I believe that they are crucial in helping students to be successful in the classroom.
     My experience with copyright and the fair use of educational materials has been extremely limited because I was simply not aware that it was going on. As a student in high school I simply followed my teacher's instruction and used the materials that were provided for me. Now, however, after reading the Center for Social Media's, "Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education", I have a better understanding of how I can use copyrighted materials in my classroom for educational purposes. To avoid any kind of violations I would educate my students on the principles of fair use and how copyright violations are more of an obscure concept and judgement has to be used in all cases.
     Using videos in the classroom can enhance a student's learning experience if it is done with careful consideration and planning. If it is not, students can become distracted, uninterested, or even restless if the video is long. In order to try to prevent this from happening I would make sure that I did three specific things before incorporating a video into the classroom experience:
                    1. I would test the video beforehand to ensure all students had a good view and were able      to hear the audio properly. Though this seems like a small action, it can drastically change a student's experience. Nothing is worse than not being able to see or hear a video and being too shy to speak up about it.
                    2. I would give the students a small synopsis of the video beforehand and ask them to discuss what they think the main ideas, importance, and purpose of the video are before they have viewed it. This way students will be more invested in the video because they know some of the background and have talked about their thoughts on it.
                    3. I would pause the video at certain spots and ask the students their simple opinions on events or storylines of the video. This way, if students missed certain symbolisms or important events, they would have a chance to hear their classmates discuss the video and hopefully gain more knowledge that they did not necessarily pick up.