Month: August 2018

Thinking about research

One of the main points that I took out of the question and answer podcasts with Dr George Veletsianos was how to stay current with your research in education and technology when technology is changing so quickly (2018a). Veletsianos stressed that it is important to focus and study the problem, not the technology. This was interesting to me as I often think we look at technology and think to ourselves

okay here is this new and greatest advancement, how can this help me?

But instead, let’s look at the bigger picture and think,

what is a current problem we are facing in education, what is causing this problem, and how can I work towards overcoming this problem?

During the second podcast, Dr. Veletsianos discussed the different tools and resources he uses in his research, and discusses how his colleagues play an integral part to his research (2018b). Thinking about how we as RRU MALAT students are about to embark on a research project or thesis soon, it makes me feel more comfortable knowing we have a strong foundation of support within our cohort. Hopefully, we can work together to support each other as colleagues as we start our own research.

References

Veletsianos, G. (2018a). Audio File #1  [Audio File]. Retrieved from https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/page/view.php?id=279463

Veletsianos, G. (2018b.) Audio File #2  [Audio File]. Retrieved from https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/page/view.php?id=279463

Learning about Copyright

Throughout our RRU courses, I feel like we have been reminded a few times ( rightfully so in my case, as I am/was a little rusty in academic writing) to make sure we had correct citations and were giving credit when credit was due.  For me, I always considered this being important as the authors do deserve the credit and it is crucial to not be plagiarizing.

As a teacher, I am use to the Copyright warning on all of out photocopies, and the 10% for text books etc. I sometimes have the Wild West Attitude that Wrobel explained, and often in my teaching life think that if I can find it I can use it.

However, I have never put to much thought into it, and how is affects me as a student.

After reviewing Melanie Wrobel’s A guide to Copyright presentation (2016), it reminded me about how Copyright is going to come into play, and the importance of remembering the specific rules around Copyright.

3 of the many things I did not know about Copyright laws here is Canada before Wrobel’s presentation were:

  • Life of copyright is life of author + 50 years, and that is different then in the USA when it is +75 years. Canadian Copyright laws differ in a few ways to American Copyright laws.
  • If writing a thesis, you will have to use Royal Roads Copyright permission letter to ask for permission when using other’s material. I am still a little unsure if this includes when you are paraphrasing, or if it is when you are using images or direct quotations. Something I will have to look into if I end up going down the thesis track.
  • Copyright laws protect most works in Canada, even if there are no copyright restrictions, and that citations may not be enough.

Overall, I feel like I still have a lot to learn about Copyright and how it is going to affect the remainder of my writing here at Royal Roads University.

Wrobel, M. (2016) A Guide to Copyright [Video file]. Retrieved from https://moodle.royalroads.ca/moodle/mod/page/view.php?id=245370