Blog #3

Copyright is the owner’s right to his/her creation whether it be a poem, photograph, song, or novel. The right to have the voice to say how the property can be used and by whom. Essentially, they have the final say over how their creation can be utilized. The owner is the parent of the creation and has dominion over that creation.

Fair use is a set of guidelines that were established in 1976 under 17 U.S.C. ,107. This allows the user to utilize the creation within a set of parameters. This is more acceptable if utilized in education and schoolwork, by news reporting, in comedies or parodies and when criticizing or commenting on a published work. Fair use has four factors to consider: amount, purpose, nature, and effect.

When I was in high school, my Chorus teacher, Carolyn Glenn NEVER photocopied sheet music. She had a choral library of hundreds of songs, hymns and cantatas that the school paid for. For me, she was an example of the importance of honoring the person who wrote those songs, hymns, and cantatas. She/ the school, paid for each and every copy and we recognized this and from that point on, I have never pirated any music. I understand the premise and it is important to me and of course to the artist or lyricists.

                           Bilingual Messiah

                          By: Maasaak 

                          "File:Bilingual Messiah.jpg" by Maasaak is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

To illustrate these two concepts, I would let the students view the following video. This would be an example of unauthorized usage in a real-world scenario. I would explain that Steven Tyler, of the rock band Aerosmith, wrote the songs that President Trump was playing during his campaign rallies in2015 and 2018.  The usage of the songs “Dream On” and “Livin on the Edge” create a false impression that the band supports Trump. Tyler did not authorize Trump to play his songs and through his attorneys, sent cease and desist letters to stop.

Steven Tyler threatens Trump with legal action for playing Aerosmith music at rallies - ABC News (go.com)

I would ask the students the following questions:

1.       Is there any harm in playing a popular song to promote a worthy cause?

2.       If yes, who is it harming? If no, what is your reasoning?

3.       If you downloaded and paid for the song from a streaming service and played it at home during your birthday party, what is the difference between the two scenarios?

As a teacher, I would explain some of the social, ethical, and legal consequences. To make this concept relatable to my high school students, I would explain academic dishonesty and the consequences of copying another’s work without citing the source. This will get them into big trouble, an “F” o the paper, failing the class and/or being expelled from school as the result of this violation. This would be the one point that I think they would understand.  

For technology implementation issues, I would select decreased productivity as one topic to discuss. I would ask for 2 volunteers to come up to the front of the classroom to role play. One student would be the student that limits the amount of time they are on social media. We will call him Student A. Student A sets certain times of the day and then turns off all devices and finishes homework. The second student, Student B, would role play and be on the social media, internet, play real time gamer games until 2:00 in the morning. At this point, I would ask the students, what they think the outcomes were for both Student A and B were the following day. This role play while fun and light-hearted depicts a real scenario that many students in the class may have encountered. The lack of discipline to limit the time playing will have a negative effect o the student in numerous ways, sleep deprivation, lack of concentration the following day, get behind on assignments and maybe a form a bad habit that is very difficult to break.

Cyberbullying would be the next topic to discuss. I would start the lesson by asking the students if they had any experience with this issue or knew of someone who had. I would ask the students if it is o.k. to fight and call others names if they were in person? Would they think it is o.k. to do that behind an anonymous social media profile? What is the harm if any? Does that degradation effect the recipient? What are the unintended consequences of bullying someone? I would have the students give examples such as self-esteem diminishes, missing school because the person may think the bullying is one of their classmates and sometimes suicide can occur. Cyberbullying is becoming more and more prevalent, and students need to become good stewards in the on-line community. I would explain that meaning in detail to them.

Regarding the Newsletter, I really enjoy learning new things. That is why I am in college and am a non-traditional student, trying to live my best life. I did learn how to use many shortcuts which cut down on the time during the assignment. That is the good news! Honestly, I struggled with a few of the steps such as setting up the columns and making the color selections. My lines, margins and shapes eventually got all messed up. I enjoy being creative and wanted the Newsletter to be perfect and one that I would be using soon. I understand the basics and want to utilize the concepts each month when I start to make my own real Newsletter. I know that I can use more practice and the easy way out is to use a template at that time. However, I want to learn how to do this the manual way and to learn each step like the back of my hand as the assignment was designed.

 I was able to ask Ms. Jaesung Hur for help. She was patient, kind and made me feel like I could do it. She was the encouragement that I needed. This is what we all need, someone to help us along. She did that for me in a wonderful way.