Week 4 - Publishing_Leadership Project

I have found two conference that I would like to present at. The ISTE 2012 conference is intriguing because of their expanding horizons motto that catches the spirit of the EMDT program. I saw that SMART technologies was one of the larger booths at the exhibit hall and a supporter of the conference. Since my AR project used SMART technology, I think it would be good to communicate with them on a professional level. Maybe they would have some insight into how I could develop the progression of my project even more into the use of SMART technologies to develop PLE's for student engagement.



The second conference I would like to present at would be the EDUcause Midwest regional conference. The proximity of its location in Chicago (hour and a half a way) gives me a good chance of actually being able to go if accepted. This conference also is asking for proposals at this time.


Think out loud post 1

http://mathmediamentor.blogspot.com/2011/08/publishingleadership-thinking-outloud.html

Think out loud post 2

http://mathmediamentor.blogspot.com/2011/08/week-4-publishingleadership-thinking.html

Here is the link to my Keynote presentation:

Kramer_Bruce_PubLeadProject

Week 4 Blog Comment #2 - Marcos

Marcos post

Sometimes people feel the need to have everybody agree with them. This especially happens to people in authority who are accustomed to having everything go their way. The problem with this is that even though people do what you say they do not do it willingly and it is demonstrated in their attitude and demeanor. If you truly want somebody to participate actively in anything you do you cannot make him or her do it; you have to have them want to do it. The only way to do this is by enrolling them and making them feel like they are an essential part of what is going on and that without them things would not be the same.

If this does not work then we have to begin to assume responsibility for our actions and we have to take control of the situation. The only way that we can control the situation is by becoming the board. When we become the board, we no longer point fingers or put excuses. We do not let the circumstances dictate our actions but we use the circumstances to further our purpose.

We have to not only be open to possibilities but also inspire others to do the same. When we change our frame of mind others can be inspired by what we are doing. Like Nelson Mandela said, what we fear most is what we are truly capable of. Many times we underestimate ourselves and close the doors of possibility because we are afraid of what might happen. We are scared of the success or the responsibility of achieving something could bring to us. If we would take down our barriers and strive for everything possible then maybe we would be in awe of ourselves instead of scared.

When we do this we have to be aware that we are not a one-person army and that we do depend on others to help us along the way. Whether we are the leaders or we are not we depend on each other to make our collaborative dreams possible. When we fight on our own our strength wanes quickly, but when we have others working together with us we can make miracles possible.


My response

Your post reminds me of the night and day difference of what our district is going through from last year to this year. We have a new interim superintendent that in his start of the school year keynote invited us into enrolling our selves in to the interdependence of working together to make our schools the best we possibly can make them. He called us out of the past that we can not change. The past two years of bullying that the past superintendent was known for and lost her lock on the school board majority because of a monumental election process that had the whole community get involved because it became quite obvious that if something didn't happen fast the district would have suffered terrible damage that would take a decade to over come. As for right now we can turn things around in five years now if we work together hard for those gains.

Week 4 Blog Comment #1 - Sabrina Vega

Sabrina Vega's post

Have you had the pleasure of lifting a teammate, student, stranger up enabling them to realize their dreams and exceed anything that you could have imagined?

“Sometimes the road we take in the Universe of Possibility leads us in unexpected directions and to unimagined destinations.” A few years ago I had the pleasure of lifting my friend up and enabling him to realize his dream of becoming an educator. I was offered a position to teach at a school in South Korea. It turns out, through sharing experiences in my day to day, my friend realized parts of himself and his love for teaching during our conversations. A few months later, he landed a job with my same company and he is still teaching in Korea to this day. It’s really great catching up and hearing how fulfilling the experience has been for him and his growth as a teacher. Sometimes it is hard to see what others see in you. It’s a great feeling to have people around you who support you and offer a sense of accountability to be a better version of yourself and realized your talents. I am glad I could be there for him as he had been there for me over the years.



My response

This has always been the draw to education and it is the sustaining power of staying in education. To help colleagues or students to reach their full potential by giving them a hand up. It is where all the possibilities lie. All of the inspiring stories in this book have been about people and how they have broken through and grown. It is best to be accountable to that kind of change in your life.

Week 4 Reading – Art of Possibility Chap 9-12

The two concepts of chapters 9 and 10 really intrigue me as to how they could be utilized in my classroom. They seem to me to come from opposite ends of the spectrum but are trying to achieve the same goal. The approach of enrollment instead of persuasion seems to be a more effective approach because it invites the student into the process of education where they walk in freely. Of course when this doesn’t happen then the practice of being the board where all the rules are changed for the purpose letting things happen by taking a new approach. I am not sure how this will happen but having these two approaches available in creating the educational environment for my students will create new possibilities. Much more thought will have to go into the implementation of the practices.

Week 4 - Publishing/Leadership Thinking Outloud Blog #2

I have found two conference that I would like to present at. The ISTE 2012 conference is intriguing because of their expanding horizons motto that catches the spirit of the EMDT program. I saw that SMART technologies was one of the larger booths at the exhibit hall and a supporter of the conference. Since my AR project used SMART technology, I think it would be good to communicate with them on a professional level. Maybe they would have some insight into how I could develop the progression of my project even more into the use of SMART technologies to develop PLE's for student engagement.

The second conference I would like to present at would be the EDUcause Midwest regional conference. The proximity of its location in Chicago (hour and a half a way) gives me a good chance of actually being able to go if accepted. This conference also is asking for proposals at this time.

Publishing/Leadership Thinking Outloud Blog #1

To publish in a journal or present at a conference that is the question. Tis it nobler to suffer the typing and editing of outrageous writing or to go forward and speak to my colleagues in hopes of helpful critique. I would say to prepare a keynote of engaging content to support the findings of my AR project is the way to go for me. To search for the right conference is the task at hand now. So off to the websites of conferences I go on a quest is where I will take my stand. Onward I go.

Week 3 – Free Post

Spent a week in Romania at a youth camp. We had plenty of fun with the 65 campers playing soccer and games, hiking and other activities. A good amount of the time was spent singing, listening to messages and discussing in small groups. They would sit attentively for about two and a half hours in the morning and two hours at night. What struck me about this was how well behaved they were because they were engaged and not easily distracted to talk or text or anything else. Oh they had their cell phones and music but didn’t always need to be using it. They were able to show restraint.

Why I am bringing this up is because it was eye opening to me to see youth be engaged in activities and relationship without a constant need for technological support even though it was present. Much of what we are trying to achieve at Full Sail EMDT program is to better train ourselves to design education that utilizes technology more and more to present curriculum. As much as I see this as being necessary in our culture here in America I am not too sure it is necessary in other areas in the world.

With this in mind, I ask the question what if we are becoming too dependent on technology to present an engaging learning environment. What might be some of the down sides to that in the future? Will we create a large gap between our youth and the youth of the rest of the world in their ability to relate to each other? Or will there be ways found to use the technology to bridge the gap? We will need to keep an eye on this and see what develops. Now to look at it from another perspective, four American youths went on the trip also (one being my son) and two of them were able to interact very well with the Romanian youth without the use of technology. The other two stuck together early on and didn’t venture out of their comfort zone until much later in the week after a stern directive by their parents to interact.

So with this said, I think as we pursue the integration of technology to enhance more and more the delivery of education we should make sure that we incorporated a focus of basic human interaction as an underlying goal of the technology use. Making sure we use technology to bring people together instead moving people into seclusion bubbles while people are available around them to interact. We can’t forget this and I think Full Sail’s program does a good job of doing this, but more could be done.

Week 3 Blog Comment #2 - Richard Stemple

Rick Stemple’s Post

I have thoroughly enjoyed the book “Art of Possibility” by Roz and Ben Zander. I would like to discuss chapters five through eight, but I'll mostly talk about chapters five and six because they were my favorite. There is a great story in chapter 5 about American orchestra going to play with a Cuban orchestra in Cuba. I have not only had personal experience with teaching music from other cultures to students, but have also performed in choruses that have had difficulty learning complex ethnic rhythms. I love that the conductor told the orchestra players/students “Your job is to teach these rhythms to your stand partner.” This not only made the students responsible for teaching the music but also made the students responsible for whether they would perform the concert or not. This usually becomes a great learning experience for everyone involved.

I of course love music, and the music section in this book brings back so many memories for me. I have many fond memories of sitting in the dorms at the Conservatory or in the practice rooms listening to the various instrument players complain about who got first chair or second chair and how they are better player than all of them. All I can think of was how lucky they were to play in the orchestra because I would only play in chamber music. Does it really matter where you sit because the audience really only hears each section, strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion not first chair, second chair, third chair. I wish I could read them this quote from a youth orchestra student to the classically trained conservatory musician. “… I have the force of personality to power the section from where ever I sit and I believe that I led that concert from the 11th chair”

I currently play in a rock band, but over the years I have sung in chorus, played in chamber music ensembles, and it played in various types of musical groups. When you play with any group long enough not only know the music, you begin to know how each musician plays their part. I am always more impressed with the group or performance when someone does forget a part or has a memory lapse how the rest of the group or performers react and continue with the show. Great performers go on with the show, good performers will stop and do it again or fumble for while, bad performers just quit. Really great performances you never know there was a mistake much like in the Art of Possibility when he describes how the first violin had a memory lapse and the second violinist picked up in the next beat. They asked him at the end of the performance how could you possibly known what to play, he answered “ I could see your third finger was poised over the wrong string, so I knew you must’ve forgotten what came next.” Amazing.

Response to Rick Stemple

Amazing is right when people are not so self centered that they are aware of the big picture going on around them and everybody’s role within it that they are able to help out when someone stumbles. That is what I like about music so much is that as a listener or player, one can work together with others to create something great together or with listening you have a shared experience that you can bring any amount you want to bring into it… singing, dancing, emotions, thinking, etc. This is why I like the metaphors about life is like a dance or song or orchestra because when you look at life in these terms you have to think about what it takes to work together to create good music and understanding what every body’s role in that is. Keep on humming.

Week 3 Blog Comment #1 - Christina Schraeder

Christina Schraeder’s post

I was intrigued by the author’s hypothesis that our long childhood and the personality that develops in defense can get us out of childhood in one piece, but underneath wreaks havoc with our adult psyche. As I’m currently at a workshop where we are learning to teach children to write about the “small moments” in their lives, I decided to see if I could pull up one of my own early introductions the calculating self. The act of writing this story about a time when the spiral into a dim situation with the "calculating self" was cathartic. Recalling rule number 6, I lightened up trying for humor and read it to my peers here at the workshop hoping that the "central self" of those around me would hear the transformation seeking whispers of my own small moment.

“Tra la la boomsi eh…I got my tits today” he sang, chanted, taunted as he dodged before and away from the beeline I was making from the school exit to the playground. “You think you’re so funny, don’t you?” I yelled back while the tears threatened. Why me? I thought, why do I have to be the only girl in third grade with boobies. It isn’t fair. I was itchy and hot despite the temperate weather, it was only April in Kansas and the horsetail clouds easily beckoned the others to a game of kickball. If only they would swat at Chris Ridder like the nasty horsefly he was. Kooite-ridden knat! Oh, why me? I needed to get away from Chris so he wouldn’t see me pulling at the bras already two sizes too small. Those, my feeble attempt to disguise my womanly demeanor. When at last, he ran to the field to join the others in the footie version of baseball, I surreptitiously snuck a hand under one of the two bras that I’d strapped on that morning to hide behind and relieve the pain. In that brief moment, I could tell that the skin under my enormous bosoms at the end of the day would look like the tops of my calves at the end of gym class. You remember, when we would all pull off those elastic-man tube socks and sigh in unison? Why is it that they say, those lines are caused by water retention? Did we actually retain water in grade three? Yet another thing that was unfair about grade school!

Being present to the way things are, what is happening and present to our reactions, no matter how intense is probably the most challenging thing that our transformative selves attempt. If I had a dollar for every time I said, I was going to try and live more in the moment, well let's just say, I'd be rolling in it. I love the author's advice that the simple question, What do we want to do from here? be our new mantra when faced with adversity (as was the case with the rained out golf vacation.) I imagine such a query would open up a world of possibly. Following the week's reading, I will endeavor to be satisfied with the few dollars already in my pocket as I picnic in the present.

Response to Christina

Writing about our life is a great release. We should do it more as a practice because I think it is the natural way of bringing our calculating and central selves together and resolving the conflict within us. Good job being brave enough to go there and to share. I recently watched the movie “Soul Surfer” with my family. It is about a young surfing girl who is moving towards being professional when a shark attack takes her arm. She has to learn to surf all over and does a pretty good job of coming back but when she has a bad competition she gives up. She becomes involved in the Tsunami relief effort and realizes that as tough as she has it the people she meets in Thailand have many more struggles. While there she helps people overcome their fear of going back into the water. So being satisfied with the few dollars we have in our pocket is a great attitude.

Week 3 Reading – Art of Possibility Chap 5-8

I am in a season of the year that always comes back to haunt me (not in a bad way), but rather in reminding me how far I have come. Nine years ago on August 14, I was reading from the book “How Now Shall We Live” by Charles Colson. I was finishing up the section dealing with sin and evil with all the questions that are connected to those issues. One of the questions in particular is why would God even make the world if he being all knowing knew that evil and suffering would come into the world. The conclusion the author came to was that God judged that it was better to bring good out of evil then to suffer no evil at all. That the mystery of God wanting to be in relationship with us made it better to endure the pain of redeeming us than to never make us at all. Why would He do that? The only answer! Love. His desire to be in relationship with us was worth it to him to endure the pain of separation and see the suffering we, his created, would go through knowing that he would pay the price for us. After reading that I had to spend time worshipping the God who loves me.

Little did I know that I would have to hold onto that thought because the next morning when my fourth child was born my family and I would be entering into a time of great desperation, pain and suffering. The chapter in “The Art of Possibility” that reminds me of this time the most was “The Way Things Are”. My daughter was born with a heart defect that required surgery but required her to be a month older so that she would have a better chance of surviving due to her strength factor. But we couldn’t wait too long or complications of her condition would then begin to weaken her. We had to work through this balance because that was just the way things are when fighting for her life. The day finally came for her surgery, September 11, 2002, one year after. Oh well, that’s just the way things are. Maybe we could redeem the day. All went well with the surgery and she was in recovery but as we moved into the next day it became evident that her little body wasn’t able to with stand the shock that happen to her. Even though everything was tried, the balances needed inside her body could not be maintained and she died.

How now should we live is the question we faced! It was at this time that all the paths, highlighted in the chapter, one could go down when faced with a desire for wanting things the way they “should” have been or the strong impulse to escape, live in denial or blame started to present themselves. I tried all those but none of them lead me to the exit of my pain and that of my wife and children’s. We were like dry bones in the desert longing for water. Then the battles with second-guessing came. Should we have gone to another doctor even though he was the best (94% success rate with the condition that Sophia had)? Was there something we forgot to do or could have done better? These battles with all the conceptual realities were dangerous. They are a great example of the tension between the calculating self and the central self outlined in the chapter of “The Rule of Six” and elaborated in “The Way Things Are”. Instead of beating myself up with the calculating self by examining all of the endless conceptual realities I should have put my belief in trusting the physical reality of she was just too frail to withstand a shock that severe to her body. That is just the way things are. But the complete release of all that pain didn’t happen until my wife and I would read to each other passages from the bible that would speak deep to deep and soothe the soul because the word would speak to the central self of who we really are and the calculating self would have to take a back seat. One of our favorite passages was Isaiah 35 where it talks about streams in the desert that burst forth and brings the desert to blooming. That thought that answered why God would allow such suffering because he judged it better to bring good out of such pain then to never have had it at all makes me think I would rather have had one month with Sophia then to never had met her at all. I can now understand that kind of love. This is the flower that is blooming out of that is “the way things are” desert.

Week 2 – Free Post Blog – Wimba lessons on copyright

The wimba session for the second week stayed focused on the copy right issues while taking them to a deeper level. Surveying was done to see if recall of the general facts were remembered. Mostly the discussion stayed on the black and white of the concept because going down the road of the grey is really the domain of the lawyers and so often those arguments are so case specific the discussion could last forever. The most pertinent point was that copyright is about permission and not so much about what you do. If you have time to get permission for everything you want to use and it is granted and you pay whatever they might ask for using it and you have that agreement well documented, then you are good. The problem is no one has that kind of time or resource to pull that off. And who is to say you will obtain the permission you are seeking. In some cases you don't have to worry about that permission because you actually buy the permission when you buy the media.

There are also other situations when you can take your chances with the defensible position of fair use. No guarantees, however, if you stick closely to the fair use guidelines you shouldn't have to worry about legal action. Push the boundaries though and you might have to sweat some pressure from legal communication.

Now we all live in the "give it to me now" era so the creative commons solution allows conscientious creators to give the permission to use their work and to what extent by tagging the work with levels of permissions as it is published. This helps speed up the permission process and also relieves the headaches of managing requests of permission. I think it is a good idea and should be promoted by use creators of educational media.

So get ready to publish our AR projects and take our place in the educational leadership efforts to bring the educational institutions into the 21st century.

Week 2 Blog Comment #2 - Heidi Faber

Your blog post is refreshing because it shows how you are working through the reading and applying it to your situations. I had to laugh at your reaction to your neighbors being loud. I have a house full of 4 children ranging from 6 to 20 and I am glad we live in a house far enough from our neighbors due to the decibels that are created by them. So that is why I continue to push their education, challenge them to refinement and try to break them from selfish actions.

I hope the journey you are on right now brings possibilities that will enrich and benefit your life. Many times it is staying on the road less traveled to very end that makes the whole difference.

Heidi Faber’s post

Chapter 1. It's All Invented: How can we think outside the box we live in? What assumptions are we making that we're not aware that we are making? What might we invent that would give us other choices?

Chapter 1 seems to be talking about perspectives and how those perspectives vary from person to person. To answer the question how we can think outside the box we live in, I think a person must first leave their box. To think outside the box calls for a person to look at a situation from different perspectives. You can look at something and get an initial opinion, but to think outside the box you have to but yourself in the place of other people. But in order to look at a situation from another’s perspective, you need to have empathy and understanding of other people, opinions, situations, beliefs, etc… This opinion is demonstrated by the example in the text about the Me’en People who did not understand the purpose of a photograph. They did not have enough experience to understand the purpose from other’s perspectives. When it comes to assumptions, the books example of how even in science we sometimes have to look beyond the current “truth” and look at it from a different perspective to arrive at an all new truth.

When I read the practice questions, my thoughts ran to the people in my apartment complex. The assumptions I am making right now about these people revolve around how uneducated, unrefined, and selfish these people are for how little they care about their neighbors, their complex, and their own apartments. Yet, if I look beyond the fact they were particularly loud tonight, they are probably the same as anyone one else in any other neighborhood. Their habits main just seem worse because we leave so much closer than, say people who have their own homes.

Chapter 2. Stepping into a Universe of Possibility: We live in a world of measurements. The Zanders recommend that when we look at how different things appear we can see them as possibilities. How are your thoughts and actions a reflection of the measurement world?

My thoughts and actions, lately, seem to resemble a choose-your-own-adventure book. This past year, I had to measure my life and my career. I hated my job and where I lived; I wanted out. But, I had to measure the possible outcomes if I quit my job and moved away. I had limited money and no job lined up and no health insurance. The other addition to this equation was that I was single with 2 young kids. So I had to weight the positive and negative impacts of staying or going. Staying meant security with misery and more limited possibilities and leaving meant a whole world of possibilities. A bigger city with more art, culture, and career options, as well as a community with quite different perspectives than my old town could mean more success than I was finding back in Florida or it could wind up being an epic failure. Since choosing to move, and losing my security and giving up the life I hated (but was fairly set and predictable) I don’t know what the future holds, whether it be a year from now or even a week from now. Every new development forces me to measure the good verses the bad. I try to hypothesis possible outcomes of what would happen if I chose this way or that. For me, right now, all my options seem to be like Robert Frost’s less taken road.

Chapter 3. Giving an A: Giving Yourself an A.

The concept of giving student an A right from the start is intriguing and makes sense in certain circumstances, however, in reality the average student in an average public school would do absolutely nothing when told they had already received an A. The students in the example in the text wanted to be in that class and wanted to improve.

I can see how taking the anxiety out of assignments by giving A’s could increase student thought, but what about those that don’t care?

Chapter 4. Being a Contribution: Over the years, I’ve observed how people handle various situations in their lives. People who succeed do not have fewer problems than people who fail. It is how they perceive issues and how they react to situations that makes a difference. The purpose of this chapter was to help us look at how we can contribute in order to make a difference in the lives of others even if it’s only one person. How will I be a contribution today?

I loved this chapter! I have never been one who was on the competitive ladder of success and failure. As I have embarked on my new personal journey across the country in search of a new start, I am not looking for success in money or material possessions. I want to make a difference, a contribution, to my community. That is all I have ever wanted to do. That was why I got into this program. That is why I focus on the passions I do. I want to contribute by enhancing local communities and help bring the together. I loved this chapter because it put a name to what I have been doing most of my life. It is hard to be contributor in a success/failure world.

Week 2 Blog Comment #1 - Edwin Moy

Edwin Moy did a video blog that took him outside his comfort zone. Watch it below by following the link and then read my comments.


http://mindmemoy.blogspot.com/2011/08/wk-2-art-of-possibilities.html

@ Edwin Moy

Good job modeling what you learned. Even though you were outside your comfort zone you were focused on getting right to the important message you had to say. The way you delivered it gave clout to what you were saying. Your video blog stands as an example of finding new ways to push the boundaries of educating our students. When we show ourselves to be vulnerable and uneasy in how we present the course material but are making the statement that we are trying to connect through media they are comfortable with, we will be surprised at how they will be more likely to participate when we ask them to go outside their comfort zone and learn in a new way themselves. Keep stepping out. I think I might follow your lead and try something new on the next blog covering the 5-8 chapters in the “Art of Possibillity”. By the way, I noticed you didn’t have to do any editing. You were able to stream right on through the whole message. I might have to do more editing when I do it.

Week 2 Reading – Art of Possibility Chap 1-4

This book is dangerous! Why? Because, it does an excellent job of defining and inspiring the uses of creative practices. So why is that so dangerous? Well the focus is so much on the practice of creativity and how to do it and do it better that the purpose of creativity is put aside or takes a back seat to just the practice of it. So the danger of this book is its potential to be taken out of context of the bigger picture of life. Let me clarify with an example we EMDT students can understand. We are learning great techniques at Full Sail on how to use state of the art media to improve our delivery of education. The danger of focusing so much on the techniques is that we can miss out of the purpose of why we are educating in the first place and what is it that we want our students to learn. So it is with this book, when the practices of creativity become more of the priority then the purposes, the proper order of approach gets turned around.

For instance, the first chapter “It’s all invented” is a great way to examine your presuppositions to your outlook on life and prepare yourself to change, that which is only your ideas or your culture’s. The danger is that believing “ALL” is invented and treating it as such will undermine the truth of that which is created and the reason for which it was created. Of course the solution to this dilemma is quite simple. Just remember to place the context of this book’s teaching in it proper place as a tool for learning the process of examining our concept of the truth instead of elevating the process as the truth itself. It is in that way we can work with the idea that “It’s all Invented” and protect the truth that some things are created for a purpose.

With this approach it become beneficial to examine the measurement systems we use and determine which are healthy and which need to be removed. That choice can be made having the understanding that some measurement systems are in place for a reason. So when we have the grace to give ourselves and others an A, we can see it is something to live up to and live into, instead of saying I am an A now… I don’t have to do anything since I already have it. From this line of reasoning, we can now make it possible to become contributors to the life we live around us.

Week 1 – Free Post Blog – Wimba lessons

The first wimba session is helpful at presenting the whole course and all that is required. From the copyright issues, Lit review, AR website, abstract and leadership project, the information is very thorough in explaining the extent of the course work. What I took away from the session is that I need to jump on all the assignments very quick because you don't want to get behind in this month. I really liked the explanation of the difference between a research paper and a lit review. I wish it was explained as clearly the first time I heard about it. It would have save me some time with dealing with confusion. I would have had better focus in creating the synthesis early on.

I also like the focus of the leadership project and how it gets us to prepare our AR projects for presentations. This really prepares us for leadership positions in education. Of course the extra step of applying to present also present the challenge of taking it to the farthest point.

The one confusion I did have was the grading break down of percentages within percentages. I wonder if it would be simpler to just work out the percentages for each item as it pertains to the overall grade instead of the subcategories

Week 1 Blog Comment #2 - Christina Schraeder

Your post clearly shows the clash of the cultures with your question of what happens when you put technology into other cultures that don’t see commerce the way we do. The concept of copyright doesn’t settle well with certain cultures and in the end is ignored. Even the concept in this country was to protect people creative work for only a short time and then grew into protecting it into the next generation. I wonder what our country founder’s would think of how copyright has been extended out so far to benefit heirs or people that have even bought the rights. This to me would seem to be a clash of cultures itself only through time. As the world becomes smaller and smaller these clash will become more and more evident. Will this idea of copyright be one that is excepted world wide as the Western culture is sought after in developing countries or will it be lessened with the dominance of a country like China and its culture having a greater influence world wide. Time will tell.

Christina Schraeder’s post

After read-watching the plethora of information about copyright laws, sampling, fair-use policies and creative commons, I was was left with a much better understanding of the arguments au courant, but also a couple of questions of my own.

What happens when you put technology in the hands of cultures for which the concept of sharing and commerce is other than our own? I'm imaging the possible mindset of an individual in the culture that I was previously a part of and trying to empathize. In Papuan Amungme culture, not only do men have as many as 10 wives, but, at one time in their not so distant past, Amungme women lived in honai sharing men and breast-feeding the children of their "sisters". They lived communally in every sense of the word. It would have made no sense to them neither to request a fee for nursing nor to lay claim to a particular man of the tribe. Fast forward to today, when several Dani, 'Me and Komoro (Papuan tribes) are in possession of cellular phones. If someone in the “tribe” has music, then why not share it with everyone? And if for some reason, someone in the "tribe" happens to find a way to extract money from others for their recorded music, then they would be considered to have “good mojo/luck/sorte” and therefore their neighbor would likely open the very same music selling business right next door to them. Soon after, it would not be surprising to find fifteen others who've all set up shop in the same area. However, it is unlikely that any money would be made in the end. In Papuan culture, all distant "brothers" of the shop owner would be allowed to take their recordings for free. You can see how this issue would be compounded when your father may have nine other wives. The aforementioned being one of the reasons that most shops are owned by the settling cultures of Papua. Anyway, this is the way of the “developing world” I’ve had the great fortune to visit. I'm simply trying to empathize and can see that if the Papuan's had the voice that the Pirate Bay was afforded, that they might also be saying, "*&$% off!"

I saw the magnitude of the issue firsthand in the Blok M area of Jakarta and Plaza Azul market in Lima; that is, literally blocks of vendors selling bootleg merchandise. Their culture, not like that of the Amungme, did turn a profit despite the overrun market. This speaks volumes to the demand of cheap available, film and music. So, when I overheard someone in the film Good Copy, Bad Copy say something like, Everyone knows the only ones making any money here are the street vendors, I could totally relate. Furthermore, I concur that there is no easy way to put an end to the flagrant disregard for copyright law in other countries.

Could we charge a flat fee for Internet, mobile, or data plans, accepting that downloading would be happening? Sure, here in the States that might work. In some other countries, like Indonesia, only a few would have enough money to have their own connection and most are unlikely to fork-out the extra for unlimited downloading. So someone would still be sharing via USB swapping or hacking into corporate bandwidth and the problem would continue. Perhaps this is another issue for the gamers mentioned on Jane McGonigal’s Ted Talk titled Gaming can make a better world. If enough hours and minds were thrown at this dilemma, it might be solved. Still it is not an easy fix. "Who can compete with free?"

Week 1 Blog Comment #1 - Marcos Alvarez

This is a well laid out progression of why copyright has changed over the years. However, the creative commons solution only works for those who participate. The length of time that continues to be added on to an original work create too much of a distance between the time something becomes part of the culture and when the culture can use it to express thoughts of reflection. Basically, the copyright laws are becoming more of a protection for the greedy and the next generation who are profiting from their predecessor without having a creative effort themselves. Creative Commons helps with the community minded creators but something else has to happen with the strangle hold the users (and their suits) of the creative have on our culture.

Marcos Alvarez’s Post

For this week we had to watch some videos and read an article on the Obama picture of Hope. The first topic that we were presented with was copyright. This applies to everything that is produced whether it be books, plays, films, movies, dance and music. The copyright license lasts for the lifetime of its creator plus and additional 70 years. If it is a company owned copyright it lasts for 100 years. Because this is such a long time, the Faire Use concept entered into the picture. This brings us to the second topic of this week. Fair Use was developed so that material that is copyrighted can be used to a certain extent. It states that any copyrighted material can be used under four specific purposes. These are teaching, news report, parody and critical comment. This is not a right a person has but it can be utilized as a defensible position when and if a person is sued in court. The only conditions that are applied to fair use are that it be used under one o the four purposes previously stated, that the amount used is relatively short in comparison to the total, and that it have a commercial effect. This produces an outlet for creativity but it is flimsy at best since these parameters are not defined in specific terms and are open to interpretation. For this purpose Creative Commons, the third topic, was created. Creative Commons is a site in the Internet where you can publish whatever you want and you as the artist can define the parameters that will determine what can and cannot be done with your creation. They give the artist four option that they can apply to whatever they upload. The first option is Attribution, where if anybody wishes to use it they have to give credit to the artist. The second option is Non-Commercial, where the person can use it as long as they do not make a profit off of it. The third is No Derivates, which means that the creation has to remain exactly the same. Finally they have Share Alike, which states that you can make changes to the work but you have to keep the same options as the original artist.

Week 1 Reading - Copyright Issues - Creative Commons Solution

Creative Commons Experiment

I am intrigued by the creative commons movement and how one might compare it to the American Revolution and the similarities that can be found within. In Larry Lessig’s TED talk, he mentioned that there is no revolt but rather a movement to extremes in the response to copyright concepts. As in the early days of the American Revolution the extremes were being defined by the loyalists and the patriots but if it were not for the defining document of the Declaration of Independence and the leadership of Washington and other founding fathers the potential of our revolution looking more like the French’s was a possibility much like the lawlessness that we are incubating in our youth with the lack of common sense being applied to the constraints of current copyright practices. The thought I have about the Creative Commons approach is whether it is capable to bringing about the necessary balancing effect to the copyright battleground as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution did to the American Experiment.

How much does the Creative Commons approach depend upon the character of the people involved to relinquish the greed that feeds the current extension of the copyright termination to be extended further and further into the future? Will the involved see the needs of the culture taking precedence over the financial gain they could continue to have if they hold firm to reaping from the current copyright laws. Does the 11 possible choices of Creative Commons structuring allow for an effective strategy to balance the personal gain and preserving the culture for healthy growth in both areas? This is yet to be determined but is worth a try since it is obvious the current status quo is destructive.

Week 1 – Free Post Blog – Teachable Moments

Teachable Moments

Some of the most powerful and unforgettable lessons in life come from the times when teachable moments present themselves and we are able to recognize the moment and capitalize on it. What a great moment in a teacher’s life when a student asks a deep and thought provoking question and in minutes you can search and acquire the media that will craft your powerful guiding response that will lead to in-depth discussion that leave the whole classroom with a lasting impression and life lesson learned. Now imagine when this moment comes and your use of technology doesn’t deliver in the process but hinders it through blocked access or the media acquired make one hesitate in crafting a synthesized response because your are not sure of the copyright laws allow you to use it. My fear is the current situation with censorship in the form of technology blocking and copyright paralysis, the teachable moment will not bear the fruit we long for since the item we would want to use to shed light on the learning need would have blocked access or the fear of copyright infringement would cause hesitation in using beneficial material in a manner of enlightenment. Will our culture be so inhibited by access denial and usage paralysis that opportunities to use teachable moments to learn the important lessons in life will be lost? Lets hope not because too many moments have slipped by already.

Week 1 Blog Comment #2 - Meghan Bassett

My response to Meghan Bassett:

Your blog really shows the push and pull of the struggle of how much to allow and where to draw the line. My six-year-old daughter is a great artist and some of the projects we do with her utilize copying the master’s such as van Gogh. You talk about emulating the technique of artists and I know that is important for developing artists. In the Renaissance I remember learning that the master would teach their students to copy them exactly so that the artist and their students would do big works of art and no one could tell the difference. The best students would then branch out and make a name for themselves when the timing was right. Of course we want the students to be creative on their own and not get into a habit of getting their ideas from other places instead of reflecting and bring it out of them. But sometimes the expression we are looking for depends on using something borrowed. Much like you expressed when it comes to saying just the right thing with music. This struggle of course will always be present in the creative process and is good for it. The hope though is that it will not hinder the process as it seems the current copyright practices are starting to do.

Meghan Bassett's blog link and copy of content:

http://meghanbassett.blogspot.com/

Being an Art Teacher, I always worry about my students copying work. In fact, one of my 4 rules in my classroom is no copying or ‘borrowing’ previously created characters. I do allow my students one project where they can use what they want, but that doesn’t get published anywhere.
The film brought up a great point when it comes to music. I sometimes hear a song and could swear I had heard it before. At times I have taken the time to think about it, at pinpoint what part of the song I recognized in the other song. They use such similar elements that it has to be so complicated to make a copyright infringement decision.
That being said, how much more recognizable would our work be, and how more into our work would our students be, if we could use samples of music that they can relate to? Not saying we should or could use them, but I think as far as education goes, it would be extremely useful if we could. For my screenflow videos, I use the tools taught to me in Music Theory and try to create my own music. In theory this is a great idea, but it’s time consuming and not always what I want.
I have to look a little more into artwork copyright laws at least for my students sake. My students aren’t obviously trying to steal anything from other artists, but are trying to emulate them to learn their techniques.