learning 2.0 - 23 things: Thing # 10

Introduction

Relax...this "thing" will not be hard, but it is incredibly significant.

Fair use guidelines enable teachers and students to use copyrighted materials within the classroom for direct educational purposes. But fair use is restrictive, can be confusing, and more-or-less stops at the campus door. All of those fantastic images you found via Google search and pasted into that wonderful Powerpoint presentation cannot legally be shared back out on the Web, even with proper citation because citation does not equal permission. As educators, it is our responsibility to teach students about the ethics of content gathering and use, whether for a research paper or a digital storytelling project.

(Do not despair -- we actually have broader fair use rights than many of us may realize -- we just have to understand some important guidelines. Legitimate fair use can be determined by criteria such as "transformativeness" and benefit to society -- see the "note about 'traditional' copyright" below for a phenomenal resource that can help educators de-mystify copyright).

One of the hallmarks of Web 2.0 is the creation and sharing of user-created content, and tools like Flickr, YouTube, Scribd, Thinkfree, Archive.org (and hundreds of others) make uploading, sharing and obtaining digitized content a snap. But with the free exchange of content comes the responsibility of determining how it is shared, how it may be used, and how to properly credit the author or creator.

Enter Creative Commons, the best thing to happen to Copyright since, well, ever...

"Share, Remix, Reuse — Legally"

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from "All Rights Reserved" to "Some Rights Reserved."

Creative Commons celebrated its seventh birthday in December 2009. Currently, there are millions of photos, books, songs, poems, artworks, videos and other media shared on the web under Creative Commons licenses. This course, 23 Things, is designed under a Creative Commons license and is an example of how one can take a piece of information or a product and re-work it to make it fit your needs. By acknowledging the original authors, you are given permission to remix and share.

One place for good information about what's going on with the Creative Commons is Lawrence Lessig's blog. Lawrence Lessig is one of the Creative Commons developers and a Stanford University professor.

An exciting development in Web 2.0/Creative Commons culture for educators is the OER Commons -- a site where users can find and contribute to the collection of thousands of Open Educational Resources.

The most highly-rated content in the OER Commons comes from the MIT Open Courseware (OCW) project -- an online repository of free lecture notes, exams, and other resources (including, increasingly, audio and video) from more than 1800 courses spanning MIT's entire curriculum. MIT recently announced a subsection of OCW called Highlights for High School.

Many Flickr users have chosen to share the photos that they have posted under a Creative Commons license, making it a great place to look for images to use in projects and presentations.

Cool, huh?

************************************************************************************************************ **Note about traditional copyright:
Creative Commons is an amazing evolution in copyright, but it does not magically erase the need for proper citation, and ethical use. Neither does it solve our confusion about "traditional" copyright, which still applies to most works or art and intellectual property. What to do, what to do? Well, I am glad you asked.

The Media Education Lab at Temple University has worked with a number of expert groups to develop a newly released Code of Best Practices for Fair Use in Media Education, which "helps educators gain confidence about their rights to use copyrighted materials in developing students' critical thinking and communication skills." EVERY educator should read this guide, share it with colleagues and practice applying these guidelines thoughtfully with their students. If your time is limited at least watch this slideshow that hits the high points:

Finally The End To Copyright Confusion Has Arrived

View more Microsoft Word documents from Renee Hobbs.

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Discovery Exercise:

Now, back to Creative Commons, which is really the focus of this Thing!

Click on the links below to watch videos that give a little history and the basic concepts of Creative Commons.

Get Creative

Wanna Work Together?

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Learning Activity:

Write a blog post reflecting on how you think Creative Commons may affect you professionally and/or personally. Be sure to include "Thing 10" in your post title.

Some prompts:

Have you noticed the CC logo on any websites you visit? Did you wonder what it meant?
Do you think CC will impact the way students learn and create projects? How?
Do you use digital images, audio or video clips from the web in your teaching (or professional practice)?
Do you ever share content on the web?
Who owns your teaching materials?
What are some potential negatives for using CC?

Stretch Task
Check out some Creative Commons resources from the OER Commons, the CC Content Directories, or try out the CC Search tool and see what you find. Extend the blog post above to share about your findings. Include a link to any resource you mention.