Blended Learning Google Site

The topic for my professional development activity is Blended Learning.

Google Site link:

Blended Learning by Laura Redd

Activity #7

Introduction of the problem- What happened regarding fair use in education in this scenario?
     The 2008 video is a scenario of students at Upper Merion Area High School in Pennsylvania.  They designed an online virtual zoo project as technology integrated assignment in their biology class.  Their goal was to “teach students how to create educational online content using photo site Flickr.com and fair use practices”.  They wanted students to be able to think critically when using certain content and images from a variety of acceptable websites created by others in making sure to follow fair use and copyright laws.  The students were to make pages and link those pages together.  The students used the photos from Flickr so they could be able to use the URL provided as their source of credit to the photographer.  They were to use these photos found but also to transform the photos in some way along with adding value to those images.  By using the photos from Flickr, along with the URL links provided, this is how the photographer was credited.  The next day after creating the web pages, the teachers and principal received an email from a photographer of some of the images that were used.  The photographer accused them of “pirating” their photos and violated copyright laws.

Analysis of the response- Was the Technology Integration Mentor correct in her response to the email the school received?  Provide evidence from your reading this week.
      I feel that the technology mentor appropriately responded to the email received from the photographer.  She stated that the students work was not in violation of copyright because of fair use.  She knew that with her awareness of fair use and copyright issues, it was not a violation because of the students adding value and transforming the pictures.  This is not copyright, it is fair use.  The site they used, she explained that many users don’t understand their rights within Flickr, which are limited.  With the students transforming those images, she explains that within those limited rights, the “content creators have rights as well in using those images for different purposes”.  According to the U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index, fair use is defined as “a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in certain circumstances”.  With the students using pictures for an educational purpose while adding value to the pictures and transforming them, this is considered fair use.  Also stated in the Education World, “the essence of the fair use doctrine is that a person is not using the work in such a manner that is, or has the potential of, diverting income from the creator”.  In this case, the students or the teachers don’t have any intentions to make money off of the photographer’s pictures in which the technology mentor had the right response in saying it was not a violation.

Your response- What would you have done if you were the adult in charge in this situation?  You can piggy back on the Technology Integration Mentor's response or compose a completely new one.  Use evidence from your reading this week (other readings from previous weeks may also help).
     I would have responded in the same way as the technology mentor did to the photographer’s email.  My email back would have been immediately sent and explained every detail of what we did with the pictures and why, along with that it was for educational purposes only.  This would also include the exact guidelines the students were given for the assignment, in which the picture can be used as long as they are transformed, added value, and credit the source with the link provided.  With the link provided, it allows the viewers to know where the pictures came from in which they are receiving credit for those individuals to view their other photos on their page.  Within that I would explain to the photographer that the Zoo Project the students created are not for profit, only for educational purposes, in which protects against copyright laws.  The pictures used were transformed and value was added.  I would add in a link to the U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use Index and outline what fair use is defined as.  I would also include what was mentioned in the Education World website in which the students nor teachers are using these photos to make an income.   

With the teacher and technology mentor sharing the email received with the students, this allowed for a great learning experience on copyright and fair use for those students!

Reflective Post #7

U.S. Copyright Office Fair Use, Copyright.gov

     This website from the United State4s government defines Fair Use as “a legal doctrine that promotes freedom of expression by permitting the unlicensed use of copyright-protected works in circumstances”.  Examples included are “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research”.  Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act, it outlines four questions for evaluating fair use:

     1.  “Purpose and character of the use, including whether the use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes”:  This is about how the courts look at how copyrighted work is being used to claim fair use.  It talks about how it is more likely to find fair use in noncommercial uses and nonprofit education.

     2.  “Nature of the copyrighted work”:  This factor discusses the difference between what is more likely and less likely to support the claim of fair use.  Imaginative and creative work (novels, movies) are less likely and factual work (article, news) are more like to support the claim of fair use.  It also talks about how the “use of an unpublished work is less likely to be considered fair”.

     3.  “Amount of substantiality of the portion used in relation the copyrighted work as a whole”:  This is about the quality and quantity of copyrighted work and how fair use is more likely to be found if it includes a large portion of the copyrighted work.

     4.  “Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work”:  This factor discusses how the courts review if the “unlicensed use harms the existing or future market for the copyright owner’s original work”.

     It also mentions that with the 4 factors above, other factors also can be considered by a court about fair use.  “This means that there is no formula to ensure that a predetermined percentage or amount of a work-or specific number of words, lines, pages, copies-may be used without permission.”

The Educator’s Guide to Copyright and Fair Use: A five-part series

     This website takes you through how to handle copyright, new technologies and fair use in a five-part series.  The first series is Copyrights and Copying Wrongs.  This takes you through the copyright basics and what is and isn’t copyright protected.  First, copyright is defined by dictionary.com as "the legal right granted to an author, a composer, a playwright, a publisher, or a distributor to exclusive publication, production, sale, or distribution of a literary, musical, dramatic, or artistic work".  One rule of thumb provided is “when in doubt, ask permission”.  The article also talks about how copyright work is to be tangible and creative.  If it is tangible and creative, it is copyrighted.  The article states that many experts on copyright recommend “when in doubt, assume a work is copyrighted and ask permission to use it” as a rule of thumb.

     The second series talks about the question “Is Fair Use a License to Steal?”.  The article states that “the fair use doctrine was created to allow the use of copyrighted works for criticism and commentary, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and classroom instruction”.  This section also gives guidelines for educators on what you can copy along with use of music, tv, and videotapes.  For example, teachers are able to copy a single chapter out of a textbook or a chart or graph.

     The third series talks about Copyright Laws and New Technologies.  The article talks about the Internet and how users can’t copy anything they find as most websites are copyright protected.  The article also states that “print rights and electronic rights are not the same thing”.  Many copyright situations are all about money.  Copying someone else’s work for financial gain is considered copyrighting.  The article then talks about software and how some are not considered in the public domain.  Again, the rule of thumb is “when in doubt, ask permission!”

     The fourth series discusses Applying Fair Use to New Technologies.  This series discusses the Copyright Act of 1976 and how it doesn’t address the issues in today’s digital age.  In 1994, the CONFU was established.  The CONFU was to talk about issues with fair use that raise from new technologies and “to develop guidelines for fair use by librarians and educators”.  Then in 1996, the CCUMC organized a group of people to set fair use guidelines when creating projected with copyrighted works.  These guidelines became the Fair Use Guidelines for Educational Multimedia.  The website also provides fair use guidelines for multimedia projects, software and the web.

     The fifth and final series discusses the Districts Liability and Teaching Responsibility.  This series is about the liability and responsibility of teaching and how many educators have “got away with illegal practices—not even having an inkling they were illegal”.  They explain that this is because teachers are behind closed doors, with students who have no idea, in the privacy of their own classroom that anything illegal was happening.  With the schools using more technology today, including the Internet, the districts are now accountable for their staff of any violations within copyright.  The website states that the districts need to be aware of what is being placed on the schools website for copyright purposes.  The website gives recommendations for school districts to take to limit their liability.

About Creative Commons, CreativeCommons.org

     This website discusses the Creative Commons organization.  This organization is “a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools”.  This organization is not a substitute for copyright, but works alongside of copyright by providing free copyright licenses.  The free copyright license allows you to share your own work.  It changes the copyright terms to “some rights reserved” from the default term “all rights reserved”.  Creative Commons mission is to “develop, support, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation”.  Their vision is “nothing less than realizing the full potential of the Internet – universal access to research and education, full participation in culture – to drive a new era of development, growth, ad productivity”.  The purpose of Creative Commons is to provide a copyright license which will entitle you to be able to share your work with others around the world.

Creative Commons related to Education, CreativeCommons.org

     This article is also about Creative Commons, however, it is focused on how it is related to education.  It talks about Open educational resources (OER) are “teaching, learning, and research materials in any medium that reside in the public domain or have been released under an open license that permits their free use and re-purposing by others”.  When educational resources are licensed with Creative Commons, they can be shared for free with the public.  These include textbooks, lesson plan, courses, which are easy to find, share and customize.    The video on the site talks about the number of students that are losing out on the best education because of funding for new technologies and even new, up-to-date textbooks.  It also talks about open education in which can help get around this issues.

Reflection:

     This week’s readings were very helpful in explaining copyright laws.  The copyright.gov website, it explained what fair use is.  I was still confused on fair use until I clicked on the link for more information.  This then went on to explain the four different factors considered for fair use.  I feel like the difference between copyright and fair use can be very confusing for students.  However, students need to be aware of these laws and to understand what they are and not to violate them.

     The Education World website showed some really good basic guidelines to follow and to help our students follow so there is no violation of copyright laws and fair use.  These laws are so specific but I have a feeling many teachers violate copyright laws all the time.  The article did state though that “most copyright owners don’t want to take teachers or school systems to court”.  The goal is to just stop the copyright violation.  For physical education, I do not believe I have ever copyrighted anything.  When working with students in the technology class, I will have to make sure anything they create, they understand that they need to cite where they got the information, pictures, etc.

     The Creative Commons was a good read for me as I have not heard of before.  It was interesting to read about what it is and how it works.  It explained it very well along with the short and to the point video.  As for physical education, I have seen several blogs created by physical education teachers.  My goal is to be able to do this some year in which creative commons could then possibly come into play in which others could re-publish the blog posts that would give me credit.  I think Creative Commons is a good idea.  It gives every creator an opportunity to share their work and control how it is shared as well.

     The Creative Commons related to Education website helped me understand what is was and how it related to education.  Again, I think Creative Commons is a good idea.  With the help of open education resources, public domain resources and materials can be used for free which can be extremely helpful for all educators.  I also liked the video on the site and how it explained open education.  It was neat to hear a couple examples in which we have used for this class.

Activity #6

I used the McComb Local School District Computer Technology Acceptable Use Policy (MLS-AUP)

Scenario 2

You receive this email from a parent:

Dear Miss Richards,

I am the mother of Ben Watson.  Yesterday in your class, Ben and his friend, Ryan, visited Wikipedia and saw inappropriate sexual information posted in a section on the rock cycle (of all things!).  Ben said that he told you about it right away and that you told him to stay away from that page.  Is there anything else that will be done about this??  Doesn’t the school have a filter?  How could something like this happen under your watch??  Please respond asap.

Ms. Benedict

Ms. Benedict,

Thank you for your email in regards to Ben and Ryan’s find on Wikipedia.  I have contacted the technology coordinator in which she has blocked this page right away.  Like stated in the McComb Local School’s acceptable use policy, “it is not possible to block all inappropriate sites from the school networks”.  The Internet has so much information that it is very hard for our one technology coordinator to monitor.  It makes me proud that Ben took the responsibility to report this to me.  Ben did the right thing by following the acceptable use policy in which states that “students should report any objectionable material that inadvertently appears on their device”.   Thanks to Ben for reporting this issue as he promised to do when signing the acceptable use policy, this inappropriate page will no longer be a problem.  Thank you again for your email.

Miss Richards