Being a teacher, you are constantly aware of some of the following terms... Copyright, plagiarism, infringements, fair use, and licensing. We always teach our students to properly give credit for material that they cite in their works. We constantly remind them that plagiarism is a terrible and heinous crime that can be punishable under law. True... but how many teachers have not done almost the same thing?? perhaps even on a daily basis?? I for one am constantly utilizing information gleaned from the internet for my classes. BUT, how can I do that without first obtaining permission from those sources? The answer lies with proper "fair use" of media.
Temple University's Media Educational Lab has a great set of PowerPoint presentations that give a great deal of information about Copyright, Fair Use, and Creative Commons licensing. Teachers have been known to react to using copyrighted material in 3 interesting ways... #1: "See no evil", in other words pleading ignorance of the copyright laws. #2: "Closed doors", keep everything that you are doing under wraps so nobody can see what materials you are using in your classroom. #3: "Hyper-comply", never using any material that may be copyrighted... in other words, living in fear of the consequences and therefore not doing anything.
What many teachers do NOT realize is that copyrighted material CAN be used in educational settings. According to the Copyright Act of 1976, "Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright." This gives teachers an opportunity to utilize many items that their students will find beneficial.
So, what can I do to help make teachers at my school more aware of how to properly use web-obtained copyrighted material? Educate them... let them know that the creative commons licensing allows teachers to obtain materials, modify it to suit their needs, and then use the media in their classroom. Renee Hobbs wiki contains a plethora of information regarding copyright information. It also has different scenarios for viewers to discuss.
Copyright, fair use, and creative commons are all important in education. But, with the proper utilization, there is a "happy medium" to be found for educational purposes.
What great information. As a first year teacher I probably did more of the not using materials because I didn't know if it was ok to use. I now know that I can use certain materials and that I don't need to be worried if I am using them within an educaitonal setting and giving credit where the credit is due. I really like your link to Renee Hobbs Wiki. This site is filled with great content and information. Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteIt was so confusing to me as a new teacher to find out what I can and can't use in my classroom. The wiki you posted was very informative and helpful. I'm going to suggest that our school district include a workshop for new teachers that they read this wiki or give out their own information regarding copyrighted material. They do mention it in their new teacher workshop, but it was about two minutes and it was a worksheet with a bunch of legal speak. With all of the resources available to us on the web, we need to be educated on what we as teachers can use and more importantly how we can use it. Thanks, very informative!
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ReplyDeleteI love how you put the three ways teachers react to copyright. The reactions are very true, I am pretty sure I have known teachers who fit into one of these categories. I would say that I use to just be blind to copyright, but then I found out that the district I work for really helps us a great deal. I don't want to break any laws but I also don't want to worry about it all the time.
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