I learned a lot more then what I thought I would have been capable of learning. I have a better understanding of what copyright law is, the difference between copyright and plagiarism, and have a grasp on transformative. I also got to dive into cyberbullying and how it is the ongoing act of bullying online, on social media, through email and text message.
Looking at those that have been impacted took a great toll on me, but I think I’m better prepared to handle any cyberbulling/bullying situations because I know now that when I see something, I say something. I know better ways to get students, teachers, and parents involved when it comes to bullying and how as an educator, we are obligated to step in and help those in need.
My biggest accomplishment was creating the presentation videos because I usually do a Power Point presentation. This time, I used WeVideo which has way more features. Once I played around with it though and utilized the tools, it was easier to use. I was so proud of it that when it was done, I felt a wave of joy as if I were a little kid and discovered something amazing. I shared it with my wife and even shared it with some of my co-workers to use for our upcoming digital citizenship lesson. Some things I struggled with were the copyright cases because there are a lot of laws, jargon and gray areas when it comes to copyright use, but overall, I think I handled them effectively after I stepped back, looked at the definitions, and saw how resources were being used. It even led me to questions proper use in my classroom and campus.
There is a lot to take from this course and apply to my own teachings. Specifically the cyberbullying, proper use of materials and giving proper attribution, the idea of failing, and succeeding and working to create a positive climate so students feel safe and secure. These are things I will continue to work on to ensure that we are learning and being respectful to one another, and hopefully we’ll create positive social change to where it’s second nature.
What I liked most about this course was that we got to play with a variety of tools while putting everything together. Essentially, there was a little bit of everything involved in this course. Working on the reflections, creating digital presentations, blog posts, and discussions all played a crucial part in helping our learning. Everything that we did wasn’t something simple, but instead required deeper-level thinking and applying to real-life situations.
I would tell others going through the course to work on something daily and take their time, do not wait until the last minute because they will get overwhelmed. It did take some time to adjust to the workload, but once you get used to it, it isn’t so bad. It was interesting reading the two books about digital citizenship and bullying. They were easy reads, just required a bit of thinking and applying. So as long as you stay on top of the readings, assignments and discussions and not let them pile up, you’ll be fine. You will however learn a lot.
While the course was informative, something I would change is the mini-reflections that seemed as if they could have been compiled with either the discussions or the weekly reflections. Rather than doing a 3-4 paragraph essay, it would have made more sense to apply those questions to the weekly reflections. But again, now that we are at the end of this course, and although I struggled at first, this has probably been my top 3 favorite classes in the DLL program. As we get one step closer to graduation, it all seems surreal.
Let Them Learn 