Blog Post 2

     I have used MS Word more times in my life than I could possibly count. MS Word is what I write all my papers and essays on and I love using it because it is so easy to use. MS Word allows easy editing -  you can just log back in and change whatever you had written which is a great tool when revising and editing homework. My teachers have used MS Word when writing out tests, syllabi, and homework. MS Word is a great tool for projects as well as papers. It is easy to create well-organized charts, surveys, etc. in MS Word for any projects that may be needed.
    Throughout my educational career, I have dealt with copyright issues plenty of times. When writing a research paper, I always had to be careful when citing my sources and fact checking my bibliography. Giving credit to a source's owner is important when writing a paper or doing any project because that is their intellectual property and they deserve credit for their work. It is also important to make sure that you don't copy material word for word because that is plagiarizing and it is illegal; you must always be sure to summarize or paraphrase, never plagiarize. As a teacher I would encourage my students to look into outside resources beyond what I make available to them in the classroom. But I would make sure that they understand the importance of checking copyright and fair use, as well as citing the sources that they do end up using. That way, not only would they be using legitimate sources, but they would be using sources that is legal for them to utilize.
     Twitter allows instant communication between student and teacher and I think that it is a great tool to have when you're an educator. Twitter is not the only form of social media that can be adapted into an educational environment though. There are plenty of education focused social media sites, such as Edmodo. Edmodo allows online communication between teachers and students and is an easy platform for submitting assignments, posting homework, and taking quizzes. Social media can be adapted to nearly any lesson plan and allows students to have a teacher's help, even once home from school. If I were a teacher, I would use social media because it would be more efficient both in and out of the classroom and it also provides a learning platform that can appeal to kids more effectively than the traditional classroom setting.