Principal’s Feedback on Fair Use Guidelines

My principal was very excited to see the Fair Use Guidelines. He thought the brochure was a great idea and that it was colourful and appealing. He requested that we make copies and distribute them to all the teachers.

After reading the brochure he was confident that teachers were generally making fair use of photocopied materials but he realized that the burning of cds and dvds was an area where we would have to be more careful as well as how we used movies and shows such as ‘Sesame Street’. He expressed the view that in Trinidad and Tobago that it was very easy to get away with copyright infringement especially in terms of piracy of dvds which was rampant.

He agreed that it was against the law and that teachers ought to be aware of the laws concerning the use of copyrighted materials. He said that he felt most teachers took the photocopying of materials for granted and that they would be surprised at the limitations placed on them with regards to photocopying workbooks especially. Although our school did not have internet access, many of the teachers had internet access at home so he felt that teachers still ought to be aware of the correct and legal use of the internet as a source of information for use in the classroom.

He therefore thought it was necessary for the staff to discuss the guidelines at a staff meeting or in smaller meetings with the different departments to get feedback and to come up with the school’s own policy regarding fair use as well as copyright rules for students.

Media Product

I have not made a final decision yet on my multimedia product. I am still trying to decide between doing an powerpoint presentation or a webquest. I like the idea of a web quest but I do not know if I can actually create one with the different kinds of links such as video clips or music.



I know I will not be doing a digital video.



In terms of the content, I would like to focus on reading, maybe, create or retell a story with links to various language skills such as phonics, comprehension, writing and incorporate music, graphics and whatever new things I learn in class.



I know its not very original but I would be doing it for the first time and it is exciting prospect for me!

Lesson from ALI - Chasing Metaphors

I looked at quite a few lessons and projects on ALI. Some of them were very good and some of them were not so great. I thought maybe a few could have been better taught without trying to integrate the technology to such a large extent. Those seemed time consuming without any overwhelming advantage over simpler methods to teach the same content and skills.

Having said that, there is one lesson that I particularly would particularly like to share with everyone.

Its a language arts lesson that could be used for a standard 3 to 5 class in the primary school. It is entitled, CHASING METAPHORS and can be accessed using the following hyperlink:-

http://edcommunity.apple.com/ali/story.php?itemID=152

It's about students students exploring "the figurative language of metaphors by turning a series of objects, concepts, events, or characters into metaphors, first in written form and then by creating a video with images, text, and sound."

The teacher would have had to consider -

• the kinds of objects to be used
• whether they could be photographed, videoed, scanned or drawn
• how to make students make the connections between the 2 things being compared
• whether to use a preset format initially to create metaphors to scaffold student learning eg. A(n) ______ is a ______ to/for a _______. (A flower is a soda shop to a bee)

The students would be using mainly project management, organisation and representation skills as well as presentation skills. They would also use research and reflection skills to a lesser extent.

The technlolgy skills would be -using word processor, digital cameras, video cameras, scanners, iPhoto, iMovie