Inappropriate use of Digital Media

As an educator, especially on in the tech world, we run into inappropriate use all the time. Things like plagiarism on papers or more specifically on current event summaries in in my social studies classes. Also kids have no problem stealing music off of youtube to avoid paying for the songs.

Kids today see something the want and they have no problem getting it by what ever means possible. Most either dont think they will get caught or don't understand how stealing songs hurts the artists that make money off sales of their music.

I will not lie, I used various song downloading applications in the past ie Frostwire, Limewire etc. I didn't give it much thought when I was doing it about how it was stealing from the artists.

Now as an educator I have to look at things differently!

Along with music, I have noticed that many of my students do not see the importance of giving credit where it is due. I tried to put it into perspective for them by asking how they would have felt if they spent years producing something and someone took it from them without permission. While this was eye-opening to some students, I will need to find other ways to introduce these ideas next year.

I will be honest, I have downloaded songs in a similar manner. I didn't really think much about it when I was younger, but now have realized the importance of proper use. I learned in college from others how important it is to properly use information you have taken from others.