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Podcasting

Podcasting is a relatively new addition to the wonderful world of the internet.  Podcasts are essentially online radio shows that offer people a way to discuss and listen to world issues.  Most students are fascinated by the internet and look for any excuse to use it.  I think that integrating podcasting into the classroom will be useful in making lessons more informative and interesting for students.  Also, students have a variety of learning styles.  Podcasts, about any subject, can be found to help those who are auditory learners best learn and experience a new subject.

Mass Media Law

There is a limitless amount of information to be found on the internet.  Because this information is at our fingertips and so easily accessible, it is effortless to take information, without permission, and use it as any way we please.   If it’s posted on the internet, for all to see, then it is easy to feel as if it’s there for the taking.  This, however, is not the case and copyright laws apply, even though they are easy to ignore, to information posted on the internet as it would if it were printed in a book or journal.  Before reading this article, I had never given much thought copyright laws.  I have downloaded free music, movies, and pictures to use in class assignments.  I think that it is important that a person’s work is protected, especially on the internet, and that internet copy right laws be made more aware to the public.

Birth of the Internet

My mother was an education major here at Plattsburgh State University in 1972.  This was before the internet was born and I have absolutely no idea how she, or anyone else for that matter, survived without it.  The internet allowed to us to access an infinite amount of information about every topic imaginable.  For a teacher, millions of lessons plans perfected by other teachers are a click away.  For doctors, information about rare or new diseases allows them to diagnose patients sooner.  I now use the internet every day of my life.  I use it to research school assignments, find better ways to teach children, read news articles about what is happening in the world, shop at stores not available in my small town, and keep in touch with friends in different parts the world.

Adaptive and Assistive Technology

In 1990, the ADA made it the law to make our country accessible to persons with disabilities.  The internet is no different.  The internet has been the perfect tool for assisting those with disabilities such as hearing and seeing impairments.  Section 508 requires that electronic and information technologies be accessible to people with disabilities.  This law has made information available to people with such impairments that they otherwise would not have gotten.  Adaptive technology allows those with seeing impairments the ability to listen to written information and those with hearing impairments the ability to see spoken information in front of them on a computer.  Technology has made it so easy for us as special educators to enlarge text, access books on tape, and print books in Braille for our students.  It is amazing how much technology has improved the lives for persons with disabilities and has allowed them to realize their potential in education and life.

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Haley Baker
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Last Updated: May 14, 2009