Blog Post Number 3

Lesson plans using technology are something with which teachers of this up and coming generation have been blessed. Teachers of the past struggled to create lesson plans by hand, using whatever paper and classic resources such as research by-hand in libraries with dusty old volumes and such. Teachers of this generation have so much more available at hand with not only computers, but all the other technology that is useful in today's world. An example of a lesson plan utilizing technology that I could create as a middle school English teacher is a project using blogs. If I was teaching a novel, let's use Romeo and Juliet as an example, I could have my students create a type of blog project where they portray what either Romeo and/or Juliet would have written in their personal blogs at the time. The students could create several blog posts showing knowledge of the storyline, as well as character development, but in a modern setting.

The website that I chose to review is a website for young students filled with educational games and resources for math and reading. The website is called FunBrain.com and the section of the website with the games is known as the “Kids Center.” The first rule presented in Chapter 6 is the “general design principle” and the site seems to meet these requirements considering multimedia, spatial contiguity, temporal contiguity, coherence, modality, redundancy, and individual differences. Otherwise, the rest of the rules are very well represented on the website. The website’s greatest strength rule-wise is perhaps knowing it’s audience as all of the colors, styles, and navigation seem extremely well-suited to the age group the site is clearly geared toward. Lists are utilized extremely well, and size, placement and emphasis are always clear-cut and well-organized.

Most teachers that I have had in the past have not seemed to have much trouble with copyright issues, and I have even noticed several breaking expressly stated copyright rules by making copies, such as copies of pages of books in order to pass them out to the class. However, I have not once heard of a teacher getting in any serious trouble for this type of offense. As a teacher, I will try to avoid this issue at all costs. Most books can be either shared between students, or enough copies can be purchased in order for each student to have his or her own copy. Otherwise, as for videos and DVDs, showing them in a classroom setting is usually considered acceptable as it is considered an educational or "home viewing" environment in which no profit is being garnered and it is simply for entertainment and/or educational purposes. Furthermore, teachers can, as stated, get creative so that they do not need to violate copyright by creating their own handouts, tests and other teaching materials. As for students violating copyright rules, I plan to educate my students on the issue and constitute a strict policy as for something such as plagiarism.