Assistive Technology Prezi

Assitive Technology... a place to start

The Techo Life of a New Teacher: Assitive Tech. and Special Needs Student

A Prezi featuring some beginner steps for introducing Assistive Technology to programming for Special Needs students, and all students.

Click the title link above to find my Prezi.

Fair Use and Canadian Copyright Law

What does 'fair' really mean in the eyes of the law?  Trying to understand Canadian copyright law and the workings of the legal system.

Check out more videos from The Social Media Ref and Cision Canada concerning this topic on youtube.

Starting my Livebinder!

Livebinder!

I am starting my first Livebinder! I am collecting resources that deal with Mental Health Issues and Education.

Digital Data and Copyright

Deliberating Legal Directives and Digital Technologies

The world of technology is spinning at warp speed.  New applications and programs are introduced hourly to make lives easier and the world more efficient….or at least more fun.  It is a challenge for an individual to remain ‘current’ in this ever-advancing techno-culture, but it can be even more problematic for large organizations to implement various advancements and recognize the evolutions/revolutions that are occurring around them. 

One such establishment is the profession of education.  School boards are faced with the challenge of deciding what technologies are best suited for the needs of students, teaching staff and administrators, and making purchases and implementing strategies before the technology they have decided upon become obsolete.  They must then ‘roll out’ the technology across the board and provide adequate support to ensure the effective use of the devices and applications. It is a difficult and ongoing process, but one that is imperative to success of educational programming and student achievement.

Another social establishment that is dealing with the demands of the evolutionary world of technology and the internet is our legal system.  Laws are not usually quick to change. Even though some amendments are being made in copyright law and intellectual property law, there are many challenges being faced by the legal system today initiated by the speed and vastness with which material can be reproduced and distributed via the internet and current and developing technologies.

Changes to Canada’s copyright legislation were proposed in 2011 in order to protect and create jobs in the country’s digital economy as well as balance the needs of creator and users. (Balanced Copyright:  http://www.balancedcopyright.gc.ca/eic/site/crp-prda.nsf/eng/home). After political wrangling and a dissolution of parliament, the amendments received Royal assent in June of 2012.  Some of the issues addressed by Bill C-11 / Copyright Modernization Act are to:

·         implement the rights and protections of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Internet treaties;

·         give copyright owners the tools they need to combat piracy;

·         clarify the roles and responsibilities of ISPs and search engines;

·         promote creativity and new methods of teaching in the classroom by providing greatly expanded exceptions for education;

·         encourage innovation in the private sector through exceptions for technical computer processes;

·         provide legal protection for businesses that choose to use technological protection measures or "digital locks" to protect their work as part of their business models; and,

·         give consumers the ability to, among other things, record their favourite TV shows for later viewing, transfer music from a CD to a digital device, and create a mash-up to post via social media.

(http://www.balancedcopyright.gc.ca/eic/site/crp-prda.nsf/eng/h_rp01153.html#amend)

These changes will enhance the ability of copyright owners to benefit from their work. They also offer Internet service providers (ISPs), educators, students and businesses the tools they need to use new technologies in innovative ways.

Even with amendments to the policies and law, there is the question of interpretation and intent.  Laws have been made that will impact the use of technology and digital capabilities that are not invented yet.  This is why the intent of the law is important, and must be rebalanced in respect to the introduction of new technologies in order for a ruling to be reasonable when all things are considered. (C. Hutchinson, Professor of Law:  University of Alberta). The internet has previously been treated like any other technology, but it is imperative that courts need to look at both internal and external perspectives when looking into such cases.  When the internet can provided such a wide forum for the delivery of information, the intent of distribution must be considered when looking into copyright laws and digital technology.

If the intent of an internet contribution was to inform then it should be viewed differently than a submission made for profit.  There is also the question of revision and adaptation when reproducing intent content.  The intent of the sharing or reproduction of digital data is also to be considered.  This is where amendments to copyright legislation benefit educators. 

Bill C-11 expands the notion of ‘fair dealing’ and provides exceptions permitting educators to use publicly available material from the Internet. Bill C-11 expands the notion of ‘fair dealing’ and provides exceptions permitting educators to use publicly available material from the Internet. It also allows for the distribution of electronic sharing of texts by libraries.  Because ‘fair dealing’ is concerned with the distribution of information for research, study and review, it allows for a broader range of use and sharing of digital data for educators. (http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/crp-prda.nsf/eng/h_rp01153.html#fair).

The reforms also protect educators by limiting any fines for non-commercial copyright infringements and provide exemptions for ‘public performances in schools…and the reproduction of material for display purposes’.  (Michael Geist:  The Supreme Court of Canada Speaks).  These amendments support education goals, but are still open to interpretation of intent.

It is important that individuals, corporations and social establishments are willing to review and revise when contemplating any decisions that involve the internet and digital technologies.  As the game keeps changing, the rules must also adapt.

Life in Grade Two

This week in Grade Two…..

It was busy week in Grade Two as we tried to finish up a few tasks and prepare for open house.  Not everything went as smoothly as planned though. 

                                   

As we are coming to the end of our Fairy Tale unit, students were typing up their good copies of their twisted version of The Three Little Pigs and completing the finishing touches on their Storybird picture books.  So guess what happened?  Board-wide internet issues on the day we had time in the computer lab!

The next day the lab was booked all day so we borrowed netbooks from where-ever possible and snuck students into the lab whenever there was an empty seat. Although not everyone had both stories finished, each student had at least one completed to put on display for open house. 

The internet issues concerned me for another reason, as I had registered the class for the Peter Reynolds webcast (Teacher Appreciation Week Celebrations through Discovery Education).  I was already nervous about the endeavour as it was my first attempt at using a live broadcast with the kids.  Everything ran smoothly in the set up for the event, but there were some glitches in the actual experience.

First of all, I didn’t prepare the students well enough for what we were about to watch.  I think I was hesitant to talk too much about it beforehand in case it didn’t work out.  Even though we did discuss what a webcast is and what we would be watching, I’m not sure that all of the students understood that it was a live broadcast rather than a video.

The second problem was in the set up.  The sound quality was a bit off and at times it was difficult to understand what the author was saying.  I found a time lag that caused the audio and the visual to be out of sync compounded this problem.  Most of the time the action took place in a small percentage of the screen space, and although I tried to adjust this I could not find a way to do so.  The full screen was used for a demonstration of Animation-ish and during a story reading and that was much more engaging for students.  Overall, I would give the experience a 4 out of 10.  Using videos has an advantage over live broadcasts as you know what you will be seeing ahead of time, but I am willing to try live streaming again.

Our Open House exhibit, by comparison, was very low tech but filled with inquiry learning, experimentation and a whole lot of fun.  The students have been studying three-dimensional figure in mathematics. They were given a variety of figures, excluding rectangular prisms, and were faced with the task of describing the figures using mathematical language and then investigating whether or not they would work to build a domino run.  They were required to explain their thinking using picture and words.  Next they were given the rectangular prisms and given the same task.  This was followed up with inquiries concerning the size of the prisms and the distance between prisms necessary to create a successful domino run.  Students discovered that if you hit the dominos too low they could fall in the wrong direction.  They also used the information they gathered to attempt setting dominos going up and down inclines.  All of their data was put on display for Open House…..but that wasn’t the fun part.

The class had asked the entire school to contribute boxes of Kraft Dinner for their exhibit, stipulating that the macaroni and cheese would be donated to the local food bank after Open House.  Ninety-six boxes were collected.  That night we pushed all of the desks to the perimeter of the room to create a large open floor space and the fun began.  Those KD boxes were made into some awesome domino runs!