Copyright Paradox

The Blog assignment for this week is kind of ironic. We are supposed to simply define what fair use is via copyright law and how does it applies to education, after reading multiple articles about it. So in reality all of our answers should be the same for the most part and will be derived or quoted from the articles. This in itself hopefully becomes an example of fair use as long as our explanations abide by the fair use policies.

To directly answer the posed question, “the basic idea of fair use is that a work can be used or copied for educational purposes as long as the use is not solely a substitute for purchasing copyrighted the work. - [To take it a step further] educational fair use is a use of the work for teaching, scholarship, or research. Congress took special steps to protect educational fair use and authored special protections for this type of use in the copyright law. The fair use statute provides that making “multiple copies for classroom use” is an example of fair use.

In determining whether a use qualifies as fair, courts will analyze four factors:

1. The purpose of the use, including whether the use is commercial or for nonprofit educational purposes.

2. The nature of the work; for example, is it a fact-based or highly creative work?

3. The amount of the work used in relation to the work as a whole; generally, the greater the amount used, the more likely that the use is not fair.

4. The effect of the use on the market and potential income for the work,” (Thompson, 2005, p.11).

In my above explanation of educational fair use I quoted K. A. Thompson from her article Copyright 101 from Learning & Leading with Technology. I am myself exhibiting educational fair use by taking a small piece of her work for a research based educational purpose, which I am not being compensated for, while giving her credit for it. Also, since we all were supposed to read it my use of the information is not taking away from anyone in the class reading the whole article and since our Blog audiences are small it does not inhibit outsiders from not reading it either.

When we do things on a day to day basis copyright is probably the last thing on everyone’s mind. I took the quiz first just to see where I was at with copy right knowledge before digging in. While taking the quiz and then reading the articles numerous instances flashed through my mind where I had previously used images in Power Point presentations, made copies at the library, downloaded music, have gotten to watch movies in school as entertainment, etc. I think definitely paying attention to the rules of fair use needs to be kept in the back our minds as we go forward with our careers in education.

Though, I do have to say that I am very glad that all of my intellectual property is legally seen as mine and I can hold people accountable if they do not abide by “fair use” practices.

Fostering Curiosity

I chose the cell that is in the cross section between authentic learning at the infusion level using shared access to computers/technology. The lesson deals with students using the web to learn sign language and then make a tutorial video to share with other students and to keep in the school's library. I liked this lesson because getting dual certified in special education I think its great that the students wanted to get involved in different ways that people communicate and show that those with disabilities are capable people who are valuable members of their school and society.

The example of the lesson can pertain to a couple of the NETS for Teachers standards. Under number 2, Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments, there are two sections that are applicable. Section A, design or adapt relevant learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity, and Section B, develop technology-enriched learning environments that enable all students to pursue their individual curiosities and become active participants in setting their own educational goals, managing their own learning, and assessing their own progress. Both of these standards are relevant because the teacher took the learning experience a step further by using a book that the class had read and derived an additional lesson using digital media to explore the themes more in-depth so her class could explore their curiosity further on how different people communicate.

Number 4, Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, can and should be applied to all lessons in one way or another. Section A, advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources, was seen in this lesson by the students using a safe web browser while looking up the content they needed and by the teacher guiding them through each step of the project from formulating the vocabulary list to directing the video.

Before I chose a level of technology integration to further think about I watched a couple of examples of lessons from both of the Infusion and Transformation categories. After watching I knew I was definitely comfortable with the Infusion category but a little tentative with the Transformation category. The technologies used in the Transformation category are not at all hard to use but the lessons used many at same time very interdependently. While watching I felt that the Transformation level needs more thorough preparation of the lessons and all the different ways they can go since the students had more say in the direction of where the lesson was headed. I feel confident in using all of the technologies we have learned so far and those I knew before hand. Now I just have to work on using different medias together to make the lessons more enriching.

Just Breathe

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Students are to listen to the podcast and then write a one to two page journal reflection on the following. There are many things that cause us stress in everyday life. From school, to extra curricular activities, to jobs, to relationships with family and friends, and even society in general. Write about at least three of the following questions. What are somethings that bring stress into your life? What do you currently do to positively deal with stress on your own? Do you think that any of the techniques listed could work for you? Do you think any of the techniques could be highly successful for a majority of people? Do you think any of the techniques would not work for most people?

(Content Area: Comprehensive Health and Physical Education, Standard: 2.1 Wellness, Strand: E Social and Emotional Health, CPI #'s: 2.1.6 E3, 2.1.8 E4)