Digital Citizenship, Copyright, Photography, and GIMP

Each week as I progress through the Technology-Assisted Music Teaching and Learning class, I continue to expand my knowledge about technology, and how it can best be incorporated into the music classroom. This week I discovered that there are guidelines that need to be observed when utilizing technology, as well as certain behavior that should be followed when using technology. In addition to these concepts, I was able to learn more ways that technology could benefit me as a music educator when I learned about digital photography and the program GIMP. With this information, I will be able to continue to expand my abilities with technology in order to help provide a more rewarding musical experience for my students.

Although technology is an extremely valuable tool for education, and people in general, there are appropriate behaviors and rules that need to be established, learned, and observed. With technology, information is at the fingertips of students and educators. Information can be easily and almost instantaneously accessed, as well as easily reused, which sometimes disguises the fact that the information was created by someone’s hard work and likely is even copyrighted. Therefore, as the Digital Citizenship article mentioned, certain behaviors for the use of technology must be established. When using a book, it seems that people are more aware that the information has to be cited and credit must be given to the author; however, with some information gathered through the use of technology, it seems less concrete and more vast, which possibly creates some of the difficulties in monitoring the use of technological information. In addition, the use of technology, such as cell phones and other devices such as iPods, has become so common that I believe the boundaries for when it is appropriate to use these items can be blurred for students. Therefore, with the benefits of technology, also comes a responsibility to monitor the use of technology and to establish and teach appropriate behavior for using technology. As educators, we try to shape the minds of our students and prepare them for their futures. As technology becomes a more essential part of society, I believe that educators can and should not only utilize technology to enhance education for students, but they should also incorporate appropriate behavior for the use of technology into student learning. I think that the article Digital Citizenship identifies some good areas to focus on when addressing behavior in regards to technology. For example, the areas of etiquette and communication highlighted some important issues. Through my experience, I have noticed how common it has become for students, even young students, to have technology, such as cell phones. It seems that almost every student has a cell phone, which is great for communication and other technological uses; however, the use of cell phones is often abused. Students will try to get away with using cell phones in class and are always texting each other. There are some rules in place for the use of cell phones to limit their use in inappropriate situations, such as class, and to show students when it is appropriate to have and use a phone, which I believe is great. However, I think that this needs to continue to be monitored as the capabilities of the technology continues to be advanced. I think that cell phones are just one microcosm of the technology available to students and there are many lessons for students to learn. The internet provides students with a vast amount of information and opportunities; however, just as students need to learn the appropriate behavior for cell phones, students need to learn how to properly utilize information and protect themselves when they access the internet. I believe that teachers can point out this information to students as they teach their subject curriculum, and this will help students develop an understanding about how to properly utilize technology as they advance through their educational careers.

Along with the guidelines and behaviors that are continuing to be established, and that students need to develop in order to utilize technology, it is interesting to learn about some important guidelines that have been established for the use of materials. These guidelines include copyright laws. I have known about copyright laws and that they impact the material that I can use and how I can use it. However, until reading the information about copyrights, I did not have a solid understanding of exactly what is involved with a copyright. I think that it is interesting to learn exactly what some of the guidelines are for establishing a copyright and what a copyright does. In addition, I thought that it was interesting to find that there are fair use practices that allow people to still utilize copyrighted material. For example, sections of works can be copied and used, particularly by educators for the purpose of teaching and student learning. I think that this an excellent way to help educators utilize some of the great resources that are available, while still protecting the rights of copyright holders. I also believe that by learning about copyright and fair use laws, I will be able to better utilize information in the proper manner, and therefore pass that information on to my students, helping them to become better “digital citizens.”

In addition to developing a better understanding of the appropriate behaviors for utilizing technology, and the responsibility educators have to teach students those behaviors; I think that it is interesting to continue my technological growth with the information about digital photography and the program GIMP. I think that it is interesting to discover how versatile digital photography is, and the potential it has to impact education. Digital photography provides teachers and students with photographic information that can now be accessed immediately. The information can be used by educators to do things such as display students work or performances, and it can be easily shared and disseminated. For example, our band booster newsletter uses digital photographs to display student activities. This has been an excellent way to showcase students; however, I have always had some difficulty sending photos because the files were too large. I think that it is interesting to learn how images can be altered to create smaller files can be more easily shared and better utilized for use on the internet. This will undoubtedly be beneficial in the future.

In addition, it is valuable to learn about the program GIMP. GIMP seems like a valuable tool to work with digital images and to create files that will be useable in a variety of forums, such as for print, email, and the internet. I am impressed with how many capabilities the program offers. Along with the basic photo touch-up features, the program offers a wide array of options to alter and improve photographs. For example, the program includes “paint” features, which allow users to add to photographs, as well as add text, which may be used to explain photos or provide information that may be used on a website or handout. Despite watching the videos about the features of GIMP, and learning about its value, I still found it a little challenging to use initially because there are so many options and technical terms that I must experiment with to discover their exact meanings and uses. However, even with the initial difficulty, I think that continued use of the program will help to build comfort, and make GIMP a valuable resource that will help me to more easily incorporate images into my music teaching.