I just finished reading both Praxis 2.0 article and the Dr. Mashup article and as an education major some of this hit home for me in the ways as a teacher you are so restricted to teaching.  As teachers you feel like your curriculum is very limited due to what you can and cannot say to students, what you can and cannot show.  The restrictions make it almost unbearable to teach sometime.  For example in my elementary class that I do practicum in during the week the teacher wanted to show “Finding Nemo” to the students as they were learning about different environments but she was not allowed to show a Disney movie.  Now is sheltering kids in this way really helping them learn properly to the real world and social world or are we limiting ourselves and restricting ourselves based on what the schools allow.   Relating specifically to our digital storytelling class I feel very limited to the resources I am able to use because they may be copyrighted.  I know that schools discourage breaking the law but deep down in reality we all know everyone does it so why not show be able to show us how it is done with breaking the law verse not breaking the law and then we can make the decision ourselves.  I know personally I would not chose the breaking the law route but it would be nice to be shown what I CANNOT do and how it would be easier but I would also like to be shown the non illegal way and how I can complete something with legal resources.  I do know also though that sometimes the legal resources are limited in interesting material that students may want to use but really it is not about making something interesting it is about learning the process of how something is done.  I do agree that some strict rules set by the school limit our activity and some should be taken away but at the same time when it comes down to something dramatic like breaking the law and using a copyrighted resource I think no matter what the school restrictions are that should not be allowed.  I believe there needs to be a coexistence where as you go you can get certain things approved by your school and certain things are not.  When it comes down to what students/ teachers are allowed to say or show I have the same viewpoint.  I think that students should be able to speak freely and teachers can respond freely to any subject matter or topic.  If a student expresses his or her mind a teacher can express her mind right back and that’s the point of education to see different viewpoints.  The problem though is that some students are scared to speak freely because of the authority a teacher has on their grade,  and teachers are afraid to speak up because of the trouble they can get in.  I think some of this authority of what teachers and students can express with their viewpoints should be taken away because a major way of learning is from each other and what other people think.  Just remember if you express your opinion remember that that opinion will stick with you forever so speak WISELY.   So as the statement says right now school restrictions are only letting us get a travelogue rather than letting us travel to a certain extent I agree with this.

After reading Dr. Mashups article I believe there is a LOT I do not understand, know, or remember from mash up and remixing.  A lot of these topics are new to me, actually all the topics in this class are very new to me.  Computers are not my strong suit and this class has been very challenging to me but I am trying very hard and learning a lot.  One thing I did remember from the article though is how confusing, challenging, and restricting the copyright rules are to remixing and mashing up peoples work.  I believe that remixing or a mashup is not assault to a person’s work but rather is a form of new art.  I think that if you produced the original work yourself and someone remixed or mashed it up that unless they have made a mock of it you should be proud that someone likes your work enough to want to use it.  Also, on the other hand though if someone was to either mock your work, or slightly change your work and make a lot of profit from it then I think for those reasons copyright laws are important.

Really the idea behind remixing, mashing up, using copyrighted material, being less restrictive in the classroom.  The whole idea is very complicated and there are pros and cons to both sides.  I would have to say my view is in the middle where some things are a little too restricted but on the other hand some things need to be restricted.  It really is a difficult situation.