Creative Commons by Michael King
Today’s technology makes it easy to remix and share on a grand scale. With the availability of open source shareware remix software like Audacity, MovieMaker, imovie, photostory3, ANIMOTO, and GarageBand educators can engage in the act of remixing content. These new technology tools allows an individual to remix digital content and share with millions of other educators through Web 2.0 collaboration projects like Teacher Tube, edublogs, and pbworks. This remixing of media has created a whole new challenge to redefining district level copyright fair use policies. Currently anything that is published on the web has immediate ownership by the creator.
Since the invention of the printing press, there has been an ongoing debate on how copyright laws should protect individuals who produce, and wish to protect, their original work. Now, with emerging technology and the information highway, policy developers are finding it again necessary to reshape these laws to fit the copyright needs of today and, ideally, the future. In education alone, policy developers are facing challenges regarding copyright that did not exist 20 years ago, such as distance learning and software sharing remixing digital media and mashups. In these and other areas, policy developers must strike a balance between protecting the creators of original work and allowing the public to use the works in an appropriate and legal manner. Educators should be involved in the development of copyright policies. School administrators, with assistance from the school’s legal advisors, must protect the school’s right to use selected copyrighted materials for educational purposes. Additionally, school administrators must serve as advocates for copyright laws that protect the school from liability when a student or staff member is using computer resources inappropriately on school property.
Since the invention of the printing press, there has been an ongoing debate on how copyright laws should protect individuals who produce, and wish to protect, their original work. Now, with emerging technology and the information highway, policy developers are finding it again necessary to reshape these laws to fit the copyright needs of today and, ideally, the future. In education alone, policy developers are facing challenges regarding copyright that did not exist 20 years ago, such as distance learning and software sharing remixing digital media and mashups. In these and other areas, policy developers must strike a balance between protecting the creators of original work and allowing the public to use the works in an appropriate and legal manner. Educators should be involved in the development of copyright policies. School administrators, with assistance from the school’s legal advisors, must protect the school’s right to use selected copyrighted materials for educational purposes. Additionally, school administrators must serve as advocates for copyright laws that protect the school from liability when a student or staff member is using computer resources inappropriately on school property.
Lawrence Lessig
The video to the right features Lawrence Lessig. He is a professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of its Center for Internet and Society. He is founder and CEO of the Creative Commons and a board member of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and of the Software Freedom Law Center. He is best known as a proponent of reduced legal restrictions on copyright, trademark and radio frequency spectrum, particularly in technology applications. (From Wikipedia) in the video "Facilitating Access to Culture in the Digital Age" Meeting.
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Lessig's "Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace" was published in 1999. The book quickly began to define a certain vocabulary for thinking about the regulation of cyberspace. More than any other social space, cyberspace would be controlled or not depending upon the architecture, or "code," of that space. And that meant regulators, and those seeking to protect cyberspace from at least some forms of regulation, needed to focus not just upon the work of legislators, but also the work of technologists. Download his book here. Lessig-Codev2.pdf
See Reference: Codev2 by Lawrence Lessig
Copyright Regulations
The use of technology in the school, especially the Internet, has dramatically changed the way educators gather information. This fact makes restructuring copyright regulations a necessary component for cyber security. Until the last two decades, written information mainly was distributed through textbooks and publications under the watchful eye of a publishing company. The people within these textbook companies had great influence on copyright policies; therefore, the publishers made copyright policy arrangements with the district at the time of purchase.
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However, today, educators and learners can often obtain educational materials directly from the creator, especially through use of the Internet. While this increases access to educational resources, it also can make people less likely to abide by copyright laws and regulations. Because of this, schools now are faced with a new copyright problem which can only be remedied by developing and enforcing a copyright policy. School administrators and media specialist must outline and define how copyright issues will be applied within the school setting. Enjoy TED talks on video, then feast your eyes on the TED talks wiki
What is Creative Commons?
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Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org) is a nonprofit organization providing free legal mechanisms for learners inside and outside schools to share and remix content. A creative commons environment allows for an expanded range of creative work to be available for others to legally build upon and share. Once the Creative Commons domain has been developed it will enable content creators to grant some or all of their rights to the exclusive domain through open content licensing terms. The intention of the exclusive Creative Commons domain is to avoid the problems current copyright laws create for the sharing of information. External links with elements digital content library can then be used as live events as they are tied to a presentation to bring depth and dimension to a lesson.
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Creative Commons
Learn about Creative Commons licensing and copyright information. Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright — all rights reserved and the public domain — no rights reserved. Our licenses help you keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work — a “some rights reserved” copyright.
Creative CommonsMore PowerPoint presentations from Mike |
What is Fair Use
Fair use provides educators with information about fair use and face-to-face exception, as well as helpful guidelines to remember fair use rules and regulations. The school recognizes that only copyrighted materials that qualify under the Fair Use Doctrine can be used. This rule grants permission to use copyrighted materials for commenting, criticizing, teaching, news reporting or participating in other activities in the area of education/scholarship. Additionally, the Fair Use Doctrine allows teachers to use copyrighted materials in the classroom for “face-to-face” instruction under district or school guidelines.
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A good policy to develop would state that anytime copyrighted materials are used, staff members will include the copyright notice (copyright, year of first publication, and name of copyright holder) with all of the copyright ownership information (author, title, publisher, and place and date of publication) as given on the original work. Select this link to download the full article by Mike King on Fair Use.
Lessons on Cyber Ethics
Luckily, the nation’s schools do not seem to be filled with cyber criminals although this does not mean that students will not be creative. To offset the negative impact of student creativity, teachers should make every effort to educate their students on the importance of cyber ethics and safety. As schools begin to utilize online learning, the development of lessons in cyber ethics and cyber security will become necessary. These lessons should emphasize the students’ role in protecting themselves, as well as their role in protecting the school’s reputation and equipment.
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Classroom Activities
The lessons can be designed in a cause and effect format that allows them to see these problems as relevant to their lives. To demonstrate how these lessons can be developed, I will provided four sample mini-lessons, in the areas of cyber security and cyber ethics, that can be easily integrated into the curriculum. They were created using a simple and easy to follow format, that includes a rational, an activity description and an activity script for each mini-lessons.
Lessons on cyber ethics can include a wide variety of topics, ranging from issues of legality to questions of courtesy. For instance, students should be exposed to lessons that emphasize consequences of copyright, plagiarism and hacking violations online. Through proper activity design and instruction, students will learn to understand that if too many unauthorized games are downloaded to the network or software changes are made without permission, the system may be overwhelmed. As a result, the network and Internet services may not be available for them to use for research the following day. On the same note, students may be more likely to follow copyright guidelines and regulations if they too have spent time creating original work for the Internet. Through appropriately designed lessons or activities, teachers can illustrate how easily someone is able to violate another’s work. Educators agree teachers should make the online and offline worlds appear seamless if these types of lessons are to be effective. The most important factor in developing cyber ethic lessons is to teach students that the rules and laws on the Internet are the same as rules in the classroom and laws in society.
Lessons on cyber ethics can include a wide variety of topics, ranging from issues of legality to questions of courtesy. For instance, students should be exposed to lessons that emphasize consequences of copyright, plagiarism and hacking violations online. Through proper activity design and instruction, students will learn to understand that if too many unauthorized games are downloaded to the network or software changes are made without permission, the system may be overwhelmed. As a result, the network and Internet services may not be available for them to use for research the following day. On the same note, students may be more likely to follow copyright guidelines and regulations if they too have spent time creating original work for the Internet. Through appropriately designed lessons or activities, teachers can illustrate how easily someone is able to violate another’s work. Educators agree teachers should make the online and offline worlds appear seamless if these types of lessons are to be effective. The most important factor in developing cyber ethic lessons is to teach students that the rules and laws on the Internet are the same as rules in the classroom and laws in society.
- Cyber Ethics on Trial Activity: This activity is designed to help teach students the school’s copyright policy in a creative and innovative way. It gives students a look at what can happen if someone decides to violate copyright policies. Cyber Ethics on Trial Activity
- Online Guidelines: The purpose of this lesson is to make students aware of their right to privacy. The lesson will emphasize the importance of keeping individual personal information from being exposed to the public at large. When online, it is possible students will provide strangers with information that could be used for harm against the student or his/ her family. This activity will teach students what information is not appropriate to share. It is also an opportunity for students to interact with one another and practice their public speaking skills. Online Guidelines
- Don't Get Traped: This activity is designed to educate students on deliberate traps that web developers may use to invade their right to privacy. It will allow many students to call on life experiences in order to answer the needed questions. This activity will help students identify marketing strategies that pry too far into personal information and assist them with avoiding such situations while online. It is also an opportunity for students to interact with one another, as well as share useful cyber safety information with their fellow students within the school. Don't Get Traped