Wk2 Classmate Comment: Katie Ross

Katie's Original Post:

Wk2 Reading Entry

It is all invented! I have found that as I get older it is very hard to think outside of the box. I think this is because we allow everyday life to get in the way of free thinking. The question is how does one cultivate a place that doesn’t allow the boxed walls to trap them inside the box.  For me and my team at work we regularly have brainstorming activates. Some of the ideas we come up with never leave the room some become new workshops for all the new students. However just having a team of people coming together all building off of each others ideas is enough to keep the boxes of the wall down in my environment….for the most part. I think working in a place that welcomes a collaborative attitude is something that has been invented to help us work on thinking outside of the box.

My thoughts and actions allow me to see the world as a beautiful place! Don’t get me wrong when my thoughts focus in on politics, diet, processed foods, I get sad.  I feel hopeless at times to the things I mentioned above and I can see how it effects my measurement of the world.  I try to use my positive energy and thoughts on seeing those things as issues that will one day change. 

Chapter 3 really hit home for me.  I struggle with not being so harsh on people and myself, and I’ve been looking for ways to help me not be so harsh.  Adapting the “ Give everyone and yourself an A” mentality is a great way to challenge myself to see the A in everyone.  Even to see the A in people who procrastinate, an A in the people who don’t put in as many house as me, an A in the people who gossip or have a negative attitude. Giving an A to myself is a great way to boost my confidence in areas that I lack confidence.  It’s saying that I’ve already done a great job no matter what the outcome is at this point.  Chapter 3 is going to stick with me for a while, I’ve even posted a sticky note at my desk with a big A, to remind myself to give everyone and myself an A.

How will I contribute today is a great question.  I will contribute by smiling at everyone I see.  They say that smiles are contagious so hopefully my smile will brighten someone else’s day today.  

My Comments:

Hi Katie: 



When you are in a workplace that has the same attitude about possibilities, the challenge is how to implement those ideas because every idea is good. But, when you have somebody who doesn't look at the whole picture and creates walls inside, then the motivation dissipates and it becomes a tiresome process to open that person's mind to possibilities. For example, today I had a professor in the computer center complaining about teaching a class that has to do with literature. How students don't like to read. I said and quote: "How about letting the students read something they like, newspaper, comic books, magazines". The reply was "how a comic book can be considered literature" and I said "well it's not Shakespeare, but it's literature". The professor still complains and didn't saw the different alternatives to engage students to read.

Wk2 Classmate Comment: Shrav Krishna

Shrav's Original Post:

Wk2 Blog Post - The Art of Possibility ch. 1-4

This week I began reading The Art of Possibility by Rosamund Stone and Benjamin Zander. If you ever felt we are all living in one giant rat race of a world where we are all constantly struggling to survive, constantly competing against one another, and constantly hung up on measuring our successes, you are not alone. In fact, there are countless others, including myself, that have the desire and capability in transporting to another vast universe of possibility. 

Chapter 1 helped me understand that our minds are designed to string events into story lines, or in other words, construct. Just like the senses of every species are vastly different and fine-tuned to perceive information critical to their survival, we also can design our own existence with our own internal "map" for survival. However, before we can go about creating our own happiness, we need to realize that it's all invented. Opportunities are all around us, and will not come to us. We have to strategically and methodically work hard and build a bridge to those opportunities. To my initial surprise, I was able to complete the famous nine-dot puzzle provided under 15 seconds in my mind, using my own rules and POSSIBILITIES, such as using the whole sheet of paper. The best strategy in helping with the practice it's all invented is to eradicate common assumptions. 

Chapter 2 helped me to truly and effectively contrast the 'Measurement World' vs. this so-called 'Universe of Possibility'. In simpler terms, the 'Measurement World' is a confined world where we are constantly jumping hurdles and obstacles to strive for success or a better place than where we are. The 'Universe of Possibility' is what we enter once re realize that our everyday reality is not confined to traditional frameworks within society. In a realm of possibility, we gain knowledge by invention and it consists of all worlds, aside from the 'Measurement World', such as "Infinite World', 'Generative World, and 'Abundant World'. Most of us can easily experience it by just forgetting ourselves and become part of all being. The best quote of this chapter to me was: "In the measurement world, you set a goal and strive for it. In the universe of possibility, you set the context and let life unfold." It helped me understand that in order to be successful, we shouldn't be hung up on achieving the mark, yet rather participating joyfully with our projects and goals to be better able to connect to people all around us. 

Chapter 3 was my favorite chapter of this week's reading, because it was very inspiring and helped me understand the heart of mastery. The first example that was posed in the beginning of the chapter stated that if you simply give a student a B+, you are only matching them up against other students, yet if you constructively point out the student's errors, you are indicating something real about their performance. Not only that, issuing out a bland grade only creates competition that puts a strain on connecting with others and too often consigns students to a solitary journey! I loved the Michaelangelo quote provided: "Inside every block of stone or marble dwells a beautiful statue; one need only remove the excess material to reveal the work of art within." Metaphorically, this beautiful statue in education is each child's developing skills, creativity, mastery, and self-expression. THIS should be the practice of giving an A -- an enlivening approach that promises to transform you as well as them by supporting them to be all they dream of being. This is another fine way of entering the 'Universe of Possibility', rather than keeping your eye on the statue's roughness of the uncut stone in the 'Measurement World'. Another quote that opened my mind greatly was: "Standards can help us by defining the range of knowledge a student must master to be competent in his field. However, standards and constant alterations of grades defines the limits of what is possible between us." If everyone were to be granted an A, we can all be open to different perspectives than the instructor's, and everyone will really listen and engage. I think this is why we are all given 100 points for professionalism in the beginning of each class, in accordance with Full Sail University's GPS guidelines.

Chapter 4 covered what it takes to be a contribution. The opening story of the woman throwing stranded starfish's back into the sea happily and serenely, much to a bystander's concern and dismay that there are too many starfish and not enough time to get them all back into the ocean, was epic. There truly was no mention of a rescue mission or a measured goal, so why create mountains out of molehills? We all can be contributors in our own right. I grew up as the second child of a very accomplished brother who graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in computer science from a traditional 4-year university -- so I often felt I was living in his shadows, especially as my parents constantly praised his accomplishments and measured successes more than nurture my comparable potential. The game of contribution in chapter 4 is defined as: "waking up each day and basking in the notion that you are a gift to others". This is why I always treat others impartially and comfort them with the knowledge that they all have something unique to bring to the table. I truly admire the instructor of the music performance class who had his class take a moment to write down how they have "contributed" over the pass week! What made this so awesome was how the contributions did not need to be about just about the course content, yet anything that comes to mind. This, in turn, produces a shift away from self-concern and engages us in a relationship with others that is an arena for making a difference collectively. We all have complementary perspectives and a voice that needs to be heard. The sooner we realize that, the sooner we all can have a one-way trip to the "Universe of Possibility". 

My Comment:

Hi Shrav;

When I was reading the first four chapters of this book, I began to see my older brother complaining and lectured me about my life, and the decisions that I've made. And you know what? I began to smile, because I realized that I accomplished more than he did. Sure, he has a well paying-job, a good apartment, wife and a daughter. But, is he giving himself an A for that? I don't think so. On the other hand, I am finishing my Masters Degree, traveled to China representing my country, played with my band on national TV. Did I give myself an A. You betcha!!!!. I think that instead of looking at the things you don't like from a sibling, a student or a co-worker, or boss, we should be looking to the positive side of that person and how they contribute to our lives and to our work.

Wk2 Reading Blog: The Art of Possibility: Stepping into Life...

Creative Commons photo by Image Zen

Yesterday I finished reading the first four chapters of "The Art of Possibility" and it blew me away.  I learned that we must be open to looking at live with a positive perspective.  We must open the possibility to us and those who are around us to do their best, to feel that we contribute to the bitterness of the people who are around us, to create a positive impact, and lasting impression to students, family, friends, etc.

It wouldn't be fair to write about each chapter, because they are linked to each other and it should be treated as a whole. And these are the first four chapters, I can't imagine the rest of the book. Every sentence that I read, every paragraph made me reflect and think of how I judge those who are around me, and those that judge me.  Did I received an A? Did I gave an A?  I was impressed how students attitude in the music class improved when they were told that they had an A, but, they have to justify why, by writing a letter saying how they changed to the better as a person after taking the class, and how they contribute to each others improvement.

Chapter 3 was like a hook to the jaw and knocking me down, like the question of which musician or song touched me deeply. Well, this chapter did. I began to reflect on my life and of those that are not around me and those who still are.  This chapter, and the rest of the book can be applied to school, work(for those nagging bosses), sports, everything.

I hope that this week's reading open a world of possibilities to you....Salud!!!!

Wk1 Leadership post: To Publish or to Present

In this crazy little cosmos that we are at this moment on our month 11 (yes, we are almost there, one more month), I am debating on a big question.  To publish or to present my Leadership project.  Both alternatives are great.  If I publish, my work will be read, studied and analyzed by my peers, professors and experts on the educational field.  If I present, I'll be able to establish a debate direct with those who are there and to meet the who's who of educational technology and media design.

I think that I'll be presenting my Leadership project. Why? because I've been known to be a good storyteller and because of the challenge of being confronted by the people that I'll be addressing this project.  Another challenge will be to use few slides, so "Presentation Zen" will be a great help to accomplish this "feat".  I know that I'll probably regret choosing presenting, but I know that at the end, the presentation will be the most rewarding experience I could get.

Wk1 Classmate Comment: Cynthia Madanski

Cynthia's original post:

Week One Reading: Copyright Issues

Copyright laws seem to have many grey areas.  I am always uncertain and try to err on the safe side.  My school district was in a copyright dispute with a publishing company a few months ago.  The following link from the Toledo Blade newspaper explains what is going on:

http://www.toledoblade.com/Courts/2012/01/13/Publishing-Co-sues-TPS-over-copyright.html

The claim states “Align, Assess, Achieve entered into a copyright license agreement with TPS for company books and materials that provide teacher guidance in meeting the Common Core education standards… TPS could only use the works to prepare pacing guides for the teachers for whom the district had bought the company's book.  Despite the agreement, according to the complaint, TPS in August had teachers transcribe the copyrighted work in its entirety. The district later posted the copies on its intranet, making it available to all teachers, the company claims. TPS falsely attributed authorship of the unauthorized electronic versions of the AAA copyrighted works to the teachers the district employed as scriveners to steal AAA's intellectual property."

The attorney for my district is quoted as saying, "We don't believe there's any validity to the claim.” 

Teachers were not given any further information as to how the dispute was settled.  However, the pacing guides were removed from the employee intranet for a few months before being put back up, so we assume the claim has been dismissed. 

In searching for more information on how printed material can be used by a classroom teacher, I found the following source helpful:  “Reproduction of Copyrighted Works by Educators and Librarians” This article can be found at the following link:

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ21.pdf

This is a wordle incorporating text from the article:

I found the Good Copy / Bad Copy video to be very fascinating.  I think the Nigerian filmmaker summed up how copyright laws are to be followed succinctly:

“If you don’t have permission, you can’t use it.”

I learned that it is all about getting permission, not about money at all.  I often wonder about showing movies at school. I have seen schools who host family movie nights.  They rent a DVD, and project it in the gym for families to watch together.  I am hesitant to participate; are they breaking copyright laws by showing the video in a large gathering like that, with over 100 people viewing?  Most teachers reply it is OK because they are not charging for it.  I question if they have permission.

Another quote I pondered from Good Copy / Bad Copy was “We don’t want to look at this from the negative angle…copyright is not about stopping people from using your work, but getting them to use your work legally and giving you money for what they have done with your work.”

I think that makes so much sense.  I am not opposed to sharing lessons I have created with others, in fact I believe collaboration is the most crucial tool for teachers today.  However, I do want to be recognized for the work I have done in creating these lessons.  A site like TeachersPayTeachers.com allows for teachers to share lessons, be recognized as the creator, and make money for the intellectual work provided.

My Comment:

This reminds me when I (I think you too), made cassette tapes from music of different LP's for our enjoyment. I used to do tapes for my friends in case that they could not afford the record, or if the record was out of print. Was I violating copyright law? Could be or could be not. I didn't profit from any of those tapes. In case of your movies. was there an instructional or educational purposes for showing the movie? Or was for enjoyment only.

On education, we can use an extract or a portion of the movie, but we must credit the source. Same with text and audio. Now, in online education, are online courses copyrighted? If you have a professor/teacher that builds a course using content that he/she wrote (book, thesis), is that course protected by copyright? There's a term called "work for hire". This term has created a lot of issues and conflicts where I work and one of the biggest reason why some professors are reluctant to teach online. The university has ownership of the material worked by students and professors. Can the music business and film making industry adapt this method to the artists? I hope not.

Wk #1 Classmate Comment: Nykoll Hyatt

Nykoll's original post:

What's the real deal?

A Fairy(y) Use tale explained it best. The video was to the point but quite disjointed. I guess I don't really have an opinion one way or the other about the copyright issues.  On some level I understand it.  The artists and their management team want all the financial gains that I guess are rightfully theirs.  But as was stated by some in the Good Copy, Bad Copy video, the main people who are sampling and pirating are the artists fans.

These kinds of copyright violations are ways that poor people make money and are able to feed their families.  Why has the law changed from 14 years to 'forever' now anyway? Who is really making the big bucks behind this? Yes, these artists are losing revenue, but why not let others reap a little bit too? I heard something once about Li'l Wayne 'giving' his work away on the Internet, yet he's still making money. If that is the case, then I think there is much more going on.

How can they (the US, it seems) prohibit people in other countries from doing what they are doing? Like Charles Igwe said, "how can you be bigger than me and smaller than me at the same time?"  The article on, 'US government finally admits most piracy estimates are bogus', clearly shows that there is more to this issue than meets the eyes and the ears.

I don't get the big deal. I kind of understand getting permission to use someone's work before you make it into a money making venture for yourself. But how much would they want from what these fans or poor people are making and, is it only the original artist that these 'entrepreneurs' would have to split the money with?

My Comments:

Hi Nykoll;


Unfortunately, music has become too much of a "business" than "music". The Internet has become a big place where artists can promote their work and still make a profit. The problem is, I think, that record companies are losing their grip on the artist output, without the consent of managers or the record companies. Artists/musicians, can make the record they want, the style or genre of music they like and still get approval by us, the fans. I think that same thing happens with independent filmmakers. They can do great movies or shorts without giving away their rights or a big part of the revenue to the big movie studios. Check on You Tube all the fan based movies. The quality of the image as well as sound and special effects are great.

I think that the extension of copyright law is a way to guarantee that the record companies or film studios can still profit from the musicians/actors/filmmakers for years and years.

Week 1 Reading: Copyright issues parts 1-3: Reflection from a Communications student

This week on our Media Asset Creation class we began with the discussion of Copyrights.  During my Bachelor's Degree in Broadcasting, I took a law class and we discussed the topic of copyrights, especially Media related copyright law.  We covered censorship, trademarks, music and art copyrights.  A lot has changed after that class.  On the "Fairy Tale" video, I saw how, basically, copyright holder (artists) can own the rights of their work, almost forever.  When I took the law class, the artist had the right of their work during their lifetime and 75 or 50 years (depending of the medium, music, paint) after their death.  Now, by the fair use act, works can be used as long it is a short amount of the work that is used for teaching, critique, illustration of a topic.  For me, Fair Use is still a very thin line, in the area of education. What if a movie producer or a musician doesn't want their material use for educational purposes?

In the Good Copy, Bad Copy movie there was an important point that was brought to the topic of the music industry.  If the user pays an "x" amount of dollars for connecting on the internet and download or use the music to their liking, the user will be spending almost the same amount of money that he/she spends on a music store.  Could this mean that the music industry can't control what the public wants, and what musical output they want from their favorite artist?

It's not that artist shouldn't get payed for their artistic output, but we have seen how musicians rebeled against record companies for not allowing them to do the work they want, and now they support the same companies that "restrict" their creativity (does Metallica vs. Napster rings a bell?).  How many musicians "used" part of other musicians' songs/music as a base for their own music?  Let me give you a couple of examples:  the guitar riff at the end of the "Ballad of John & Yoko" by The Beatles, is the same guitar riff of "Lonesome tears of my eyes" by Johnny Burnett. "The old man down the road" from John Fogerty sounds almost the same as "Green River" from Creedence Clearwater Revival, in which Fogerty was a member and main songwriter and which the former members of CCR sued Fogerty for plagiarized himself, but the judge decided in favor of Fogerty after listen him playing both songs with his guitar in court (listen to both songs on the You Tube videos below).  Keith Richards once said that we are like sponges and absorb everything we heard.  Not a direct quote, but if you want to listen to him, I recommend to watch "The History of Rock and Roll: Guitar Heroes".

Creedence Clearwater Revival: Green River

John Fogerty: The Old Man Down the Road

As a semi pro musician, I'm not an avid fan of sampling, I feel that "artists" that use sampling don't want to push their creative juices to come up with original music.  On the other hand, it takes a lot of creativity to mix different beats and different samples of music to come up with the re-mixes we heard in parties and on the radio.  It's incredible how in Brazil they come up with these big parties.  "Music producers" in Brazil they create these re-mixes and record them on CD and sell them as a promotion to the big parties they made.

Finally, on the movie side, Nigeria has come up with a smart way of promoting their movie industry.  They can't copy or pirate the productions they do over there, but they can copy all the productions outside of Nigeria.

* Image from: Freeimages.co.uk