POST #4: Copyright

Having completed the copyright module and considering the resources that are available with AEA online versus the materials that are available on the web, I have learned it's better to go through AEA online resources then on the web.   I now have a better understanding of what copyright  means.  I find knowing that educators are not immuned from imprisonment for copyright violations is very enlightening to me. Being a para educator I have never had  much educational training regarding copyright law.  And didn't really even think I would need to know about this.  But now for me it's a relief to know I can access these resources through AEA legally.  I have found copyright scary and confusing to.   Being a para educator I feel it best to stick with AEA online resources to be safe.  And I am excited about being able to utilize the AEA resources.  And it's also important that I can guide the student through AEA online resources safely.

I agree that copyright is a topic that can be very confusing.  At the school that I teach at we start before  sixth grade with learning how to do research.  We also start at that age to introduce the MLA style of writing and citation.  Unfortunately, students (and adults) can find all sorts of information on the internet.  Before we even begin our research projects, I teach the lesson on plagiarism and copyright infringements. We discuss how morally wrong it is to copy work that someone else has done.  We also talk about consequences for copying another's work. I feel like I have an even better understanding of what is proper and improper use now.  Teaching this is always a battle though.  Even though the students understood it is wrong, they could still very easily just google something, copy the work and call it their own.  Now that they can use AEA Online, the pressure to do that should go away.  There is SO MUCH information to be found!  Also, the students have to cite their sources.  This has always been a lot of work for them.  Especially since for most, it is the first time.  But with most sources on AEA Online, the actual bibliography is right at the bottom of the page.  How great is that!  No longer does the fear of "not knowing how to do it" keep the students from citing a source.  I will insist that the students use the site.  

I will admit that I have been using a lot of videos and clips that I have found online in the classroom.  But now I will use the AEA sources to find things of the same nature that are probably even better. It has all been filtered and cleared for use.   I plan on stressing to the kids that I find my clips, etc. on the AEA site.  Hopefully, it will be their "go to site" for assignments that need information that they can find on the internet.  The AEA Online site is a great, safe way to find information.

The AEA has done a ton of research and work in finding and making available to us as educators books, magazines, papers, articles, clip art, songs, videos that they have already taken care of the copyright restrictions for.  This saves teachers like myself tons of time trying to manage through doing all that.  They also save us time by giving options for how to search for the resources that we are needing.  Definitely by having all of these resources available to us as teachers and to students in our schools, makes it much more safer for us using them.  

This course did open my mind to the fact that teachers to have more available to them then the general public when it come to copyright permissions.  That said, in my line of work it did not change much.  Music is getting tougher and tougher to deal with the copyright laws due to companies like Tresona Music who have taken it upon themselves to police copyright law as it related to school aged public school performing groups.

My first goal after taking this course to have hope that copyright law with music can have some of the same flexibility in the schools that other mediums do.  If we work collectively perhaps we can make a different with the music publishing industry.  As things stand now, public school music groups like marching bands and show choirs that play custom music may simply not be able to much longer.  This is only hurting our students.  This course gives me new insight into the broader scope of copyright law and the classroom that may be beneficial to know.

Copyright is an area that I am always interested in learning more about.  As was mentioned, it is definitely an area of confusion and too often I avoid using materials as I am unsure of my ability to use the materials due to copyright. My focus of research recently has been more on what students can and cannot use in their projects.  I have always encouraged students to use Advanced Search in Google to find images and encouraged required them to document their sources. The Creative Commons search will be another great resource to share with students.  This was a tool I was not aware of previously. One area in regards to copyright that I had not previously looked into was the focus on sharing resources via classroom management tools.  Teachers use Edmodo to share resources at the middle school level and most of the time they link to the original resource.  Sometimes, however, copies of resources are shared.  A couple of things to encourage teachers would be a warning to students about not saving or printing the resources and encouraging teachers to remove materials once they are no longer working on that particular concept.  Teachers and students need continual reminders of what they can and cannot do with copyrighted material.  While I don't think I will necessarily ever been done learning about copyright, I appreciated the new information I learned from this class.

I found it very interesting to read about the subject of copyrights.  I have always warned my students about being careful not to copy other students' work whether in a classroom or information on the internet.  I did learn that I do not need to be as nervous as I was about the copyright laws.  I work in a small private school and we do not have a lot of extra money to make purchases.  I am so impressed with some of the material on the internet, but was very concerned that I may be doing something wrong.  I will be using the Iowa AEA online more now that I have a password and I realize that they have material that I can use and not worry about any copyright laws.  I also know that the information I find on the AEA online is reliable and is located on one handy site.  I truly believe as a teacher I need to provide my students with safe reliable sites for them to enrich their knowledge.  I also want to use more technology in my classroom and find that the AEA online has the information that I can trust and use safely. This was a very necessary and informative topic for this online class.

I agree, copyright can be confusing.  I am glad that this issue was covered in this course, it definitely caused me to be more aware and sensitive.  After reading the information I still am overwhelmed by what is acceptable and what is not acceptable.  I will be referring back to this information when I am not certain, which I appreciate.  I am thankful that AEA does offer a lot of resources that can freely be used and will focus more on those materials so I don't have to worry about breaking copyright laws.  I did appreciate learning about the option of the "Advanced Search" in regards to copyright.  This will also give me peace of mind when the information is available.  

Before completing the copyright section of the course I can honestly say I paid little attention to the "rules".  If I found something I liked on a Google search I used it.  I am now more aware of copyright regulations and how schools and educators can use these regulations. Because I so frequently used Google it was very interesting to learn about the advanced search option and the Creative Commons filter.  As a result of this class I will first start my searches at AEA Online as it has already been filtered and cleared for classroom use.

I was glad that there was a section on copyright in this course. This has always been a concept that has been hard for me to understand. When I show a video or use a picture online I am never quite sure if I am following copyright laws. I have probably made some mistakes by using things from Google searches.

Now that I know more resources that I can use through the AEA I won’t use Google as much anymore. The AEA website has search engines, applications, and sources that let me know what I can use and how I can use it. They also have found the credible sites for me. This helps give me piece of mind that I’m not doing something wrong unintentionally. It also has reminded me that I need to go over this with my students more as well. Some of my students make comments about plagiarism and how they could get in trouble for it. They should be taught what plagiarism is and what it isn’t.

Copyright was a big topic as I completed my library science degree. I thought I had a good understanding of the law and Fair Use going into the topic module here. While parts of the module were a great refresher, I was surprised by what has changed since I haven't needed to stay abreast of the law. The digital copyright, TEACH, and Creative Commons were all new to me and I am grateful to have this background knowledge as I start my new position because for teachers, I want to become a resource they know they can consult with if they have copyright questions.

Also helpful since completing this module, is the basic understanding of all of the resources the AEA has to offer that allow for printing text or photos without having to worry about permissions. It is wonderful that so many of these databases are available to students at school or at home so they can create their projects using information that is current and accurate. For my part, it will be my job to reinforce to students that they use these readily available databases for research. It is my hope then, that as they move forward in their academic careers, they have built a strong foundation for knowing how to access and review information to determine if it is credible, and then how to use that information responsibly.

After going through the module of the copyright law I have a better understanding of what I can do and what I can't do. I learned AEA online resources is much better the Google. AEA online resources has already did the hard work for you,the materials has already been filtered and labeled for you. When I have to help my students with research I will direct them to AEA online resource instead of Google.

I felt before, I wasn't very aware of what to use or what not to use for the fear of copyrighting.  
After taking this self-paced class, it has taken some of that worry away.  It feels good to know as a teacher, that I can go through Northwest AEA and the dirty work (so to speak) has been done for me.  I can feel good about the content being filtered to avoid copyrighting.  Also, remembering from High School.  How as a student, we were warned about plagiarism.   And, now this puts more worries at ease for my students, because the information has been filtered through AEA.  I can give them heads up of what can be copied and what cannot.  

I was aware of some of the things about copyright that were taught in this course. I knew about the need to ask for permission if you were copying. I also was aware of some of the information included in the slider about needing permission. I really liked that resource though. It can be helpful making decisions about being able to copy older versions of material that is no longer available. I was not aware of the "Fair Use". It was nice to know that that is out there. I think it would be very difficult to decide in most situations but some scenarios lend themselves well to the rules posted there. It was very eye opening for me to think about posting things online for students. I never would have thought about it being available to be used by others. I know that I will definitely use more of the AEA online resources as I know that they are safe!

I am more aware of copyright laws now.  I like using AEA Online resources because I know we have permission to use the information, etc. I will make sure my students are responsible and give credit to the author or database.   For example, we will use Pics4Learning and Soundzabound for resources on multimedia projects.  We have to slow down and take time to create the citations.  

Blog 4   Copyright Laws:
The copyright Laws were most interesting to read. I have always been aware of copyright laws because of my college journalism classes. I was really impressed with this comprehensive coverage of copyright laws. I realized how out of date my knowledge is in this arena.
Since the students now live in a world of technology their and my understanding of copyright laws is all the more important in classrooms then ever in our past history. I know that college students have to upload their essays into a plagiarism detection website. In the new world order of   “cut and paste” copyright infringement and plagiarism are too easy to do.
Since almost all of the materials for any class are already provided by the teacher there is not much room for copyright infringement on my part however I found much of the copyright information of great interest.
Classroom rules effecting materials that must be purchased or checked out also cannot be copied or recorded for missing students. That goodness for the TEACH Act which helps to clarify use of other people materials (“access ends when class ends”).
The Fair Use Law also helps to simplify and clarify material use. Fair use appears to be determined by : The Character and Purpose of Use; Nature of the Copyrighted work; Amount used; The effect of use upon the potential market value for the copyrighted work.   A main criteria for Fair Use is that is used in a Not for Profit manner; only used in education and research.

     I have to admit, I am guilty of making the comment, "I think all of us could go to jail for not following Copyright!" As I read through this module, however, I was able to breathe a little sigh of relief now and then.  There seems to be more flexibility in the Fair Use - Classroom Use policy for educators than I thought, when it comes to Copyright.
     However, I know I need to be more careful when it comes to textbook use, and the need to teach my students the value of following the rules/restrictions of Copyright.  As a teacher who creates many of my own lessons, worksheets, activities and units, I know I need to be more careful choosing my resources, as well as making sure I site those resources too.  Using the online resources through the AEA will be a great way to put this into practice.  Since AEA resources are already safe and secure, I won't need to worry about abusing Copyright.  It will be much easier to rely on the AEA sites, as opposed to using Google, for example.  Plus, you don't have to worry about all the annoying pop-ups that appear randomly on certain Google sites (an added bonus).
     In my classroom, we read, share and write poetry each week.  Since every student is a poet in my classroom (some are also published poets, as we enter several poetry contests each year), teaching my little poets about Copyright would make sense in the context of becoming a published poet.  Talk about a teachable moment!  :)  

I was happy to get some clarification on copyright, public domain, and fair use during this online training.  I feel like I understand all of these concepts much better after taking this course.  I plan to use AEA online as my first source for searching for topics and videos, as I had been using a lot of you tube in the past.  It is comforting to know that I could find safe, relevant, educational, up to date, and legal material using AEA online as my first search choice in the classroom. Because I teach young children, they will not be searching themselves for materials.   Thank you for offering this course and educating us on this great classroom resource!

I was aware of some of the concerns with copyright, fair use etc. I found the sections with digital resources interesting. Clarification and updating was important to learn. The students often tell us, “But I found it on Google!” and then don’t understand why they just can’t use whatever they found, and the need to cite the source. I’ve discovered that the AEA has done a wonderful job in providing kid friendly and safe resources for research. I have more information to share with them, and will use my new knowledge.

My understanding is copyright material can be used in the classroom with permission from the publisher or the person who wrote it. you cannot use it or any part of it and claim it as your own.  I would encourage students to use copyrighted material but put it in their own words.  If they would want to present certain copyrighted material, such as musical or plays,  it would involve paying a users fee, or license. Using copyrighted logos in the design of a new product or art display is an infringement of that copyright.    Plagiarism is the copying word for word of copyrighted materials without proper acknowledgement.   Fair use is the ability to use a small amount of copyrighted work without permission, but only in certain ways and in specific situations.  I will encourage my students to be creative and learn to use their own ideas.  

Copyright is an important, yet oftentimes confusing issue. I’ve learned about copyright twice—through this course as well as through an earlier online course, and I think the multiple reminders are warranted. To that end, I have learned that, while we as teachers need to be cognizant about how we are using other materials, we are not as limited as we may feel at times. Fair use, the TEACH Act, and Creative Commons all provide safe, legal uses that we need to be just as aware of as the restrictions. We should not be afraid to use outside resources, in other words!

For the classroom, I think students also need to be taught about these forms of use. Common Sense Media (https://www.commonsensemedia.org/) has a ton of great lesson plans involving copyright and fair use that most teachers can use in the classrooms. Additionally, the use of the Iowa AEA Online’s resources more and more will help students as well—for example, instead of having students use copyrighted work they find on Google, they can use iClipArt for images, or Soundzabound for audio. Having students just as informed as I am, in regard to copyright, will help alleviate a vast majority of copyright and fair use problems.