This week was all about the laws of copyright, plagiarism, fair use, and so much more. I will be honest in saying that while this is interesting in the context of education under normal circumstances I would have never researched this on my own. I knew the tip of the iceberg when it came to copyright law, but after this week, I feel like I can see the whole picture.
Probably the thing I learned the most about through the readings, videos, and other resources this week would be copyright and licensing. As an educator, copyright is my friend when I use things properly. It really got me thinking about how I use products in my class when I make them or when I get them from other educators, or sites. For example, I mentioned in my discussion post as well as one of the case studies about TeachersPayTeachers, a site for purchasing and selling educational products and materials. I use this site all the time to obtain products or resources for my class. However, it struck me about how we use this site. Many people in my district and even my school use it incorrectly. When you buy a product it is supposed to be for you and you alone to use in your classroom. Otherwise you need to purchase more licenses to use it elsewhere or for other educators. I was awestruck at how many times teachers I know didn’t do this, I have even been guilty of doing it myself, before I knew what it meant.
As an educator it is imperative that we teach our students the do’s and don'ts, the rights and wrongs of copyright and fair use. With fair use, we can use certain things in small amounts that won’t infringe on copyright laws. This could be using short clips of movies or songs. The University of Chicago published a webpage that included a fair use checklist to establish that what you are using is indeed under fair use and not infringing on copyright of materials (“Fair Use and Other Educational Uses,” n.d.). This checklist will definitely be something I utilize in the future to benefit my classroom.
Something else I learned this week was just how impacted the realm of copyright was by the internet. After watching the TEDTALK presented in this week’s videos, I was shocked to realize just how difficult the internet made copyrighting. It gave creators a more direct access to consumers, but it also gave people the opportunity to steal and copy a lot more easily. The speaker also brought up how many people struggled with the internet because they compared it to cost=value and free=valueless (Ransley, 2011).
Overall, this week was extremely insightful and will be helpful as I move forward. Not only will this help me in my everyday life but it will be extremely valuable in my classroom as I teach my students about appropriate internet use.
References
Fair Use and Other Educational Uses. (n.d.). Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/copyrightinfo/fairuse.html
Ransley, L. (2011, March 18). Lettie Ransley – Copyright in the Digital Age – TEDxGoodenoughCollege. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from http://www.tedxgoodenoughcollege.com/portfolio/lettie-ransley-copyright-in-the-digital-age/
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