Copyright and Creative Commons

Hello all,

     As I enter the increasingly technological world of teaching, there are a few things that I have never really thought about before that are crucial when it comes to using technology in the classroom. This has to do with Copyright laws of pictures, videos, written work, and pretty much anything you find on the internet. I always thought that Copyrights were only applied to published books, articles, and songs, and movies. However, there are Copyrights on everything we create and "share" on the web. Fun Fact: once we create something and share it on the web, we automatically own a copyright to that, pretty cool eh? And what is even more cool is that we can modify our Copyright licences to allow people to be able to "legally" share and modify our work (if we so choose). We can do all this through a site called Creative Commons. All of this is pretty neat if you ask me, and I don't know about you but I had NO IDEA this even existed until my tech class this semester.

     Now I know what you are saying... But what does this all mean? Well it means that you and your students can create and share things online that are technically protected by Copyright laws, which can be changed if the student or yourself want others to be able to use it. Say you create a really cool resource or video with your class, that you think would be really beneficial for other educators. Little do you know, the teachers (if they are following proper copyright laws) are technically not allowed to use or modify this in any way shape or form, without contacting you directly (what a pain!). Or if you or a student sees something really cool online that you'd love to use for a lesson or a presentation, you technically need to go to the creator directly to ask. But NO MORE, because with creative commons, you can browse a whole library of Copyright friendly photos.

Worker 983. (2011, September 21). Copyright Friendly [Cartoon]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/61145276@N02/6170645189 

     Now you are probably thinking, how do I teach this to my students or is it even worth it? OF COURSE it is worth it!! Teaching students about what Copyright is, even in its most basic form is probably the best starting point and the most important thing you can do as an tech-savvy educator. It is also important to let them know that it applies to EVERYONE! (Yes, I mean you Sally and all your dog pics on Instagram). For older grades you could even go about showing them Creative Commons and how to properly search and download images, as well as how to obtain a licence for their photos, videos, etc.

     All of this info is right at their finger tips, so help them out? After all, we are in the age of Digital Natives... it is important to keep them up-to-date and informed about the ever-changing world of technology!

Paul Inkles. (2011, September 25). Business Baby Pointing [Photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/dumfstar/8553474140/