MAC_Week2_Blog4_Free_Choice_Ashley_May

Attribution Some rights reserved by JD Hancock


Ashley

http://web.me.com/ashleybmay/MAC-May/Week_1/Entries/2011/4/2_Week_1-_Free_Choice.html

"So, Friday of this past week, I reluctantly decided to have lunch with a group of my students. Don’t get me wrong; they are a wonderful group of girls! I say reluctantly because that 30 minutes is sometimes the only time of the day that I have to myself! I mean, really…think about it! I start the day with twenty-two (22) twelve-year olds. I spend my planning time prepping for two different grade levels or attending mundane meetings, and then I end my day with seventy-eight (78) 14 year olds. Now, it’s not that I’m complaining or anything like that. I just wanted to paint a clear picture for you about why I so value my 30-minute lunch break.


Now, let’s get to the point. While eating pizza and drinking root beer, my students showed me a series of videos that they found on the Internet. I had never seen any of them before, but they were the funniest thing I think I may have ever seen! Okay, maybe not the funniest, but it was very close. The series is called “How It Should Have Ended” and can be found by following this link: www.howitshouldhaveended.com . It can take a while to load depending on your internet speed, but you can also watch all of their videos on their You Tube channel by clicking here. The entire site is dedicating to remaking endings to famous movies. Most of them with make you sides hurt with laughter. Watch this next one, and see for yourself!


Now that you are done laughing, think about this: Are they violating copyright? It would seem to me that in some way they have to be. They use the same names of the characters; they model they actors in their likeness, and obviously use the same storylines just with alternate endings. In our discussion this week, we have been taking a closer look at copyright laws. To my understanding, parody is soon becoming one of the lost arts that will no longer be protected by copyright. If that is the case, what will happen to media outlets such as these? How we will get our daily dose of classroom laughs?


While I was thinking about this and checking out this morning’s headlines, I ran across another interesting article. This article talks about copyright on the smallest level. Apparently, using any amount of another person’s music can get you caught, even decades later. And there are some pretty serious dollars that are going to change hands as a result. So how is it that Men At Work can into big trouble for plagiarism, and How It Should Have Ended is not? Any thoughts? I would love to hear from you!



Sources:

BBC News. March 31, 2011 “Men at Work Lose Plagiarism Appeal” http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-12918397

How It Should Have Ended. October 2010. “How Inception Should Have Ended” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBAuMpOpSnA"


Sorry, nothing pithy or academic!
Just a thank you for the HISHE website!!
It was just too funny!
It really made my day to just watch something so silly!
I love parody's and satire especially of Sci-Fi!
Loved the one about Star Trek!!!
Thank you!

MAC_Week2_Blog3_Response_Dena_Moncrief

Attribution Some rights reserved by derekskey


Dena Moncrief


http://dmoncrief.blogspot.com/


"Now that I’ve read, I want to give everybody an “A” including myself. The hard part is how do you give yourself an “A”? We are our own worst critic, basher, friend, and sometimes even enemy. When you’ve always thought of yourself as one way how do you turn it around? When things did not go as you thought they should have, how can you think positive? Well…it comes through positive thinking and prayer. Instead of always thinking that something bad is always happening to you, turn it around and say that it wasn’t for you to have, do, see, be, and so on.

I remember one day I was having a birthday party for my oldest daughter. I could not find my keys. We looked and looked and looked. Still there were no keys. The birthday party had started without the birthday girl. I was really upset. Eventually we found the keys in my youngest daughter’s toy car. As we were leaving to go to the party, there was a news flash on TV telling everyone to not use the interstate. There was a bad car accident where a car hit a gas truck and blew up the interstate. No cars could pass. Several people were hurt. At that moment I realized that if we had left when I wanted to leave then we would have been in the mist of the accident. Everything happens for a reason. That day changed how I thought about everything.

Changing the way I think. Optimistic, that’s the key."

Dena
I so wish that I were as optimistic as you! You already see the A’s in yourself and in the people and world around you! You have truly been blessed! I found your blog very uplifting and enjoyable to share a piece of your world! It was a really, really a gift! Thank you!

MAC_Week2_Blog2_Response_Trina_Dralus

Attribution Some rights reserved by easylocum

Trina Dralus

http://bloggingforedm613.blogspot.com/2011/04/found-on-morguefile.html?showComment=1302487263682#c2436684799350506386


"After this weeks reading, I feel inspired and motivated to see the possiblities in myself and in everyone around me. I am in love with this book. I have so many favorite quotes and pages that I could write forever. So I will try to be concise in my feelings and inspirations from the Art of Possibility.

The first thing that inspired me was from the TED video when Benjamin Zander said, “I’ll never say anything that couldn’t stand as the last thing that I ever say. It is a possibility to live into.”

I mean wow! I know this will be a quote I have to remind myself of daily possibly hourly, but what a way to live your life.

The next thought that struck me was the whole idea of the book, that being to think beyond the constraints of today and imagine the possibilities. Thinking outside of the box and allowing the possibility of recreating your paradigm often leads us to the perfect solution. Life really is all about how we invent it. Each new paradigm gives us the opportunity to see things that we may not have seen before. Exposure to different ideas and mind-sets allow us to see other ways of doing things, which can be very powerful.

My next moment of clarity occurred while reading the comments made on competition. So as good as competition can be to motivate one to push harder, it can be a strain on friendships and lead to a solitary journey. This makes me think of Race to the Top, a program that bases teachers’ pay on test scores. The new Govenor of Florida says healthy competition will improve our school systems, but is this the type of competition we want? Is our ultimate goal for teachers to retreat from collaboration and work alone? Won’t this lead to thinking of our children as liabilities and of each other as an obstacle to overcome? Will this lead to more effective practices in teaching? What kind of example will we be setting for our children? This seems to me like the opposite of seeing the possibilities in each other, which makes me very sad.

Giving an A was a very moving chapter for me. When we look for the beauty within or give an A to ourselves or to others, we see the possibilities that exist in all of us. The measurement world often gets in the way with Standardize testing and curriculum maps and so forth. Chipping away at the stone to find the passion and the brilliance in each of us will add beauty where none was seen before. This giving an A comes from a place of respect, not from how others or myself measure up to arbitrary standards. This acceptance or A gives us room to realize who we really are. I feel this program at Full Sail has done that for me. Sometimes I feel like my work may not be A work if you compared me to other students in this class, but somehow I get an A as well. This has allowed me to realize things about myself that I did not realize before. I grew up feeling stupid because I struggled while learning to read. I was diagnosed with Dyslexia, which I thought meant that I was dumb and couldn’t learn like everyone else. As I have grown and become more educated on Dyslexia and on myself I realize that only half of that is true. I do learn differently then others, but I am not dumb. Seeing many of those A’s has helped me to realize this- finally. I can finally see the possibilities in myself.

One of my favorite parts of this book is where Zander (2000) stated “The freely granted A lifts you off the success/failure ladder and spirits you away from the world of measurement into the universe of possibility. It is a framework that allows you to see all of who you are and be all of who you are, without having to resist or deny any part of yourself” (pg. 46). This is life changing.

The starfish story found in chapter 4 is a type of inspirational story that we focus on at my school. During our Professional Learning Communities, which is where my team of 2nd grade teachers meet monthly to reflect and learn from a book we are reading together, our mantra is based on the starfish story. Our Literacy Coach has given each of us a starfish as a reminder of the importance of reaching each child.

This is just another reminder that I want to be a contribution to my life and to others. I firmly believe in this, and I need to remind myself that the how’s and whys are not as important as just showing up and giving my all. I can’t wait to read the rest of this book!"

Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000). The art of possibility. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press


Trina
You are so right on the mark when it comes to what you said about the current situation in Florida with our Governor attempting to single-handedly shut down the public schools of our state by implementing what he is calling reform and restructuring of the state's budget by eliminating the state's retirement system, going to merit pay, and negating "tenure" if you will.

The chapter on giving the A's was also very moving for me as well. Our world needs more A-givers! People who give out the A's, find that people actually work harder and are happier to work harder because they are valued!

I had heard the story about the starfish many years ago. That starfish that was thrown back into the ocean got an unconditional A! May we be so lucky!

MAC_Week2_Blog1_Readings_Ch 1-4

© 2011 Jolee K Rinick
Made Possible By http://weavesilk.com/


Reading “The Art of Possibility” by the Zander’s could not have come at a more meaningful place in my life. First I found it a bit strange that we were assigned to read a book, which was not about technology or education, but about life! My life is very complicated right now; I’m at a crossroads in my journey. In a few weeks like all of you I hope to be graduating from full Sail. However, I cannot see beyond that point as to what may lie ahead for me. I have had to make the incredibly difficult decision to retire from my teaching job.

I started a digital arts program at my school 14 years ago with three computers in an art classroom with 25-30 kids. In those early years I had to put two kids on each computer and rotate the students through them on a cycle so they all had a chance to create art digitally. Currently, I am on leave from work until the end of the academic year. I will retire! I will be leaving behind a brand new 23-station computer lab solely dedicated to a digital arts program. I built that program from my successes over the past 14 years; my success is why the school system built that lab.

However, for the past 14 years I had a principal who “gave out A’s” to everyone from kids, faculty, staff, parents and community. She always saw the human-ness of people and brought out the best in them. Our school flourished as a place of great collaboration and creative growth! She gave people around her not just A’s but she gave them wings and power to become more than what they were before. People worked hard for her because they felt empowered and were respected. She made the impossible happen, because everyone made it so!

Last June she was transferred to another school in the district; we got a new principal. The new principal views the world very differently than the previous one. Hers is a world of perfection! She proudly proclaims that she is a perfectionist, and demands all those around her to be so as well. She views the world and our school, our kids, our teachers as failures. We are not perfect, yet this is what she demands. She does not give out A’s nor even sees A’s in the people around her, not even the students are given the hope of making the impossible happen. As the founder, if you will, of my school district’s only full-time, elementary digital arts program; my wings of creativity have been not just clipped, but brutally torn off! So with 25 years teaching, 19 at my current school, and the person who brought art into the 21st century for my district; I am retiring(before my time!).

I have found that most administrators in my district now are not the type that gives out the A’s (they used to be). Most of them are like the one who just moved in. The Zander’s practice of giving everyone A’s whether they earned them or not, is revolutionary for contemporary American culture. We have been taught/programmed from childhood that we have to earn absolutely everything we get in life. We are taught to get the A no matter who or what gets in our way.

A’s are perfection, but we don’t live in a perfect world! People are not perfect! The world around us is not perfect. But, if we give out A’s to the people around us, just because they are “the perfect them” in all their worldly imperfection, the world would be a better place!

Give out the A’s! Give out wings!! Let people fly and soar!! Then sit back and watch the magic happen, when the impossible becomes possible!

Zander, R. S., & Zander, B. (2000). The art of possibility. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press

MAC_Week1_Blog4_Wimba_Session

Wimba Session Week One



In response to Week 1 Wimba Session, I found your information about the literature review very interesting. I was one of those that had a very difficult time synthesizing the information. What I had in my head like you said made sense of the various sources, but my paper looked like an annotated bibliography. I also like what you said about giving our writing to someone else to read through to make sure that you got across what you intended. I also felt more secure about my literature review because you said that on our Lit Review Resource Page that we could put all of our sources on the page, if we so choose. I have a lot of sources which helped me to put together my thoughts, but that did not necessarily make it into the Lit Review.

The information about the web format was very helpful; I could have missed it had you not mentioned it.

Your mention about the three learning domains was extremely useful. As an elementary art teacher teaching digital art to kindergarten children, using a mouse validates the use of the psycho-motor domain, as they learn to use the mouse for the first time (for many). You also mentioned that it was necessary to mention in our AR Project to identify our target audience very precisely. For example, many of you who just read that my kindergarten students do not know how to use a mouse probably believe this is untrue, because your child may have learned how to use a mouse at three years old.

My school is a Title I school with a free/reduced price lunch level at about 85%. In other words approximately 85% of my students come from impoverished families and have not had the same experiences as children who have played with technology at a very young age. They need to learn how to mouse; it’s something new! Therefore it is very necessary for me to identify that the target audience of my ARP are from a Title I school with an impoverished population at approximately 85% of the school population as a whole.

Knowing that you need information about the target audience to be that exacting, was very helpful.

Wayne: In addition...

@ Wayne

http://web.me.com/waynebriantodd/Site_3/Week_1/Entries/2011/3/28_Week_1_Reading_-_Copyright.html#

In addition: How many authentically important pieces of media, historical or artistic, have been taken from the eyes of the public due to licensing issues or rather censorship? For example the Disney film "Song of the South". Although it captures the racism of the "Jim Crow" era and I do not believe it should be shown to young children because of this issue. I do believe that it could be used as an effective teaching tool in either a film history class or in a class about media portrayal of the Black-American, and civil rights. Just as films about the Jewish Holocaust portray the evils of the Nazi regime. These films could be used as records of what we do not want to happen again, ie negative examples. George Santayana d.1952 said" Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."

Retrieved from: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070427065606AAmLiKj

MAC_Week1_Blog3_Response_Wayne_Todd

Still Photo From "Its A Wonderful Life", by Frank Capra
Retrieved from:
Frank Capra’s examination of failure.
http://failuremag.com/index.php/feature/article/its_a_wonderful_life/#ixzz1IUrucjzG





Wayne Todd
http://web.me.com/waynebriantodd/Site_3/Week_1/Entries/2011/3/28_Week_1_Reading_-_Copyright.html#

"I found this weeks reading about copyright interesting on many levels. I went into this topic with some ambiguity and perhaps leaning slightly towards the point of view of the rights holder. I suppose this comes from spending many years either creating media for myself or as works for hire. I was always rather leery of remix culture but this gave me much to think about. I began to think about how it has really always been around me and that I just hadn’t looked closely enough. I remembered Bonzo Goes to Washington from the mid 80s. Ronald Reagan had uttered the words “I’m pleased to tell you today that I’ve signed legislation that outlaws Russia forever – the bombing begins in five minutes.” Bootsy Collins used Reagan’s words in interesting combinations with cold war footage and his own unique bass line to make the powerful political piece “5 minutes.” Of course Bootsy Collins had both the staff & funds to clear the right to what he was using (although, I wonder if the open mic broadcast was considered public domain as I can’t imagine Reagan’s people clearing it unless unintentionally). He also had the equipment and ability to actually do the mix.


Now, I’m still on the fence when it comes to Girl Talk. I think this may just be more a case of unwillingness to do what’s necessary to be compliant. What he does isn’t political nor parody and claiming fair use probably wouldn’t work in court for him. To me he’s living off of the bones of the bloated corpse of the record industry. To me it’s just not art. But should what he does be labeled as criminal? I suppose that copyright law enforcement as we know it is not possible in the digital age. The music industry is the first to feel their traditional revenue stream dry up. Like so many other industries such as oil, health and military, the music industry relies on a business model that’s no longer valid and those who have benefitted from this model will do anything to protect their revenue, including the willful alienation of their consumer base. One interesting point that I gleaned from Good Copy, Bad Copy was the reversal of this traditional business model. The music industry used to use touring to support CD sales. Touring used to be a break-even proposition. The Brazilian re-mixers use CD’s to promote their live shows, which are the primary money makers. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the recording industry and live music by big acts is now a very pricey proposition.


I like the idea of democratization offered by Creative Commons licensing. This is something that was mostly off the radar for me as I am so conditioned to think in traditional terms when it comes to copyright. But I remember when Eyes on the Prize came out (I was working at a PBS television at the time) and the fact that it’s out of circulation due to the copyright permissions being so expensive is indeed a form of censorship. There needs to be a way to declare such intellectual property as abandoned and placed into the public domain.


I found Larry Lessing’s talk to be the most persuasive. He really struck a nerve when he talked about the one-way “read only” nature of creativity that has been the way my entire life. This would certainly explain my ill ease with remix culture. It’s been my experience that media companies are more of a threat to artists than any so-called pirates. Like much of the economy, control of media revenue is being consolidated into the hands of a few powerful interests. And those interests also control the message. But the fact is that the ability to create the message is reverting back into the hands of the people and that can only be a good thing. I will use Creative Commons to share my work.


Overall I see all of this as part of the overall struggle today between openness and censorship. It’s a struggle between the concept of an open and free society and a tightly controlled one. It’s all about education vs. indoctrination. And of course, it’s about power and wealth and holding onto it at all costs."


@Wayne
Your comment about the PBS production "Eyes on the Prize" makes me remember a few years ago when seemingly every TV station, cable and local were all showing "Its a Wonderful Life" on Christmas Eve. It was almost impossible to find a channel which was not or had not shown it over and over again. Because the movie was literally on just about every station, it made this great movie a characature of itself. It cheapened it.

I remember that the reason this happened was that the copyright had lapsed on the film for a small amount of time and it had been placed into the realm of public domain. Luckily, somehow either the distribution company or who ever owned the original rights had the ability to reclaim them. Thanks to copyright laws this movie classic now has the respect it again deserves.

However, what about the remakes of the film or parodies? Do they have the right to refer to that work or are they works unto themselves, having just been inspired by the original??? Its a tough question and I see both side's positions as being valid.

Except of course the year "Its a Wonderful Life" became a travesty!