Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Don't Be a Copy Cat: Learning About Copyright

I briefly touched upon what exactly Genius Hour is in my last post, but I have yet to pick a topic for what I will be focusing my own Genius Hour on. I'm going to think up something both you and I can benefit from and post about it soon! For those of you who need a refresher on what Genius Hour is, check Chris Kesler's video, it really helped me understand the concept when I was first introduced to it.





However, before I begin this exciting passion project, I had to research a bit about copyright to make sure all of the information I'm posting is actually allowed to be there and that credit is given to the creators. I learned several key ideas about copyright including what it is and how teachers should be obtaining the appropriate permissions when using a variety of resources.



I learned that copyright refers to the laws and regulations that protect the work of a given creator. When I first began to read about obtaining permission to use other professional's work, I began to panic! I thought about all the worksheets I had photocopied in my first teaching block without contacting the author of the resource. I soon was relieved as I read that teachers can use material for the purpose of education under the copyright act. Under the copyright act it is said that it is not an infringement of copyright if the materials are used for the purpose of education (among other things), provided that the dealing is fair. Fair dealing includes a number of guidelines including the length of the excerpts teachers can copy, the purposes for which the material can be used and more.
Ribeiro, L. (2008, June 30). Children at school [Online image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/lupuca/8720604364


I did a majority of my research on copyright using Noel and Snel's (2012) Copyright Matters! document, a very informative resource.After reading about the copyright regulations, I began to think about how important it is for my own students to learn about copyright. This was something I, myself was never taught in school but I think is critical for students to learn. It is especially important students are informed about this in the ever-progessing technological era. Students are constantly posting online whether it be through blogs or social media sites, they need to know what they are allowed to post and where credit is due.

The single most important thing I would teach my students about copyright is to always, always, always cite! It is essential that at any age, students are not just copying and pasting images or passages but always including some form of citation to give the author credit.

San Jose Library. (2008, August 23). Children using the computer [Online image]. Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/sanjoselibrary/2839835109/in/photolist-5jWU3i-5guc28-6VvuFx-4TyqWE-6wo5vG-5guaYp-5gywLA-4m5ojv-duvjjF-5gywcb-7LRPcs-P8J62-4JCkoW-4TJDqn-ayT8WJ-5tQeKc-e3Zz1-99EyQN-pyrM81-99FWTY-99CQgX-kpwdE-4m9qPy-7c7unN-4xBfB5-ac93cd-5oaCxg-4DEf6B-ac94vw-5jXeU6-ac6cic-wH4BPL-ac6aLa-ac6eWc-ac93Cu-ac8ZWw-ac8ZGs-ac96xm-5tpTyU-3x44W-621mRe-ac6cSF-ac6dqn-ac92zy-ac93VG-ac6egH-ac6dGn-ac6exi-ac6a6g-ac97s5


Resources:

Noel, W. & Snel, J. (2012). Copyright matters! Some key questions and answers for teachers. Canadian Teachers Federation. Retrieved from http://www.cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/291/Copyright_Matters.pdf

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