POST #4: Copyright

I like your first few opening sentences! I couldn't agree more about my use of google as well. It might be the fact it's so user friendly, so I just assumed it was all there free for the taking!

This was a very interesting topic as I think we all from one time or another have unintentionally copyrighted some material.  I did not realize how unlawful copyrighting can be. Through this course I have learned there is a little give or take in the world of education regarding copyrighting, an educator must still be very careful not to infringe on anyone's rights.  It is a good thing there are the Teach Act, Fair Use and Creative Commons available to educators as most of the resources found and used that could be considered copyrighting is only used for educational purposes.

There should be a class for not only educators but students, at some point as well, to get a much better understanding of the rights and no-no's of copyrighting. Either way, it is very important to make sure any copyrighting that is done, the author name appears to allow the author credit.

I appreciated the content around copyright and the gray versus black and white that can be allowed for teachers in the classroom.  I understand, however, that the law does not allow for teachers to simply make a large number copies of items that are downloaded.  An example would be that as a music teacher, if I were to download sheet music, I would assume that I would not be able to make copies for the entire choir.  On the other hand, it had not entered my mind that there might be an issue with performing a work, such as Musical Theater, without obtaining permission, which as I understand is NOT against the law, but was mentioned.

I do like the fact that there is a digital copyright slider to determine if an item is protected or not based upon age and other factors.  That is very helpful.  The copyright module was a great add to the class!

It was very interesting to actually read the discussions about copyright and their very real applications to us as educators. It is just not a subject that seems to come up very often in conversations with other professional teachers. In reality, it would make a very relevant required learning topic for all of us. Although respecting copyrighted works has always been an issue, the application of that law towards classroom/educational use is very complicated - especially with the advent of the internet as a major resource of learning materials.

Now, although I have never know a teacher to have been accused of infringing upon copyrighted materials and thus "getting in trouble" or at least receiving a "cease and desist" order, the law is the law and we need to teach respect for the law to our students. At the beginning of each school year we have a required learning module for all students concerning the appropriate use of the internet and technological tools but "copyright" is not a concept that I remember being discussed in that learning module.

Having learned more about copyright law, I think that I have gained a rudimentary understanding of the rights and wrongs in this area. However, as I plan to use many of the materials and learning tools presented through this course, I will bring copyright law and its implications into my introductory discussions.

I really appreciated learning about Copyright and Fair Use. Our school takes intentional steps in training our students in how to avoid plagiarism and fall into areas in breaking Copyright laws. It was very helpful for me to go through the training module on Copyright to better understand what can and cannot be used in the context of the classroom. It was freeing to see how many resources can be used in a legal context for educational purposes. I agree that I need to do a better job in communicating these issues with my students to better equip them in using materials. This involves what materials we can use in class, proper citation of materials, and giving credit to whom it is due. Integrity is a key issue in developing responsible citizens.

Personally I work with video editing and production. I have done several video projects with my students over the years. The Copyright module helped me understand and become better equipped in these type projects as well.

The self pace course has given me a much better understanding of copyright laws.  I always thought that if you just referenced material you would be covered.  AEA would definitely be the source that I would use and would encourage students to do so also.  I found it interesting that if a person has been deceased for more than 70 years the copyright laws don't apply.  It was a very informative module.

I have a somewhat better understanding of copyright after completing the copyright module of this course. I have also learned that the resources on AEA online are less restrictive than the materials available on the general web.  The materials on AEA online have already been sorted and filtered, not just for teacher use but student use also.  Many sites are blocked by school districts so this makes using AEA online more useful, as it is not blocked and is a good, reliable source.
I learned during this module that there are four basic protections that copyright provides; the right to make copies of the work, sell or distribute copies of the work, prepare new works based on the protected work or the right to perform the protected work in public.
I also learned about Classroom Use.  As part of U.S. copyright law, any content can be displayed or performed in a classroom without breaking copyright.  What this means is that teachers and students can read aloud any book or article, watch any movie or perform any music. These things must be done with a legal copy of the work, at a non-profit school and within the classroom in person.

     The information on copyright was interesting and not as confusing as I anticipated it would be. Fair classroom use is something I have not dealt with much in the preschool classroom. I do use a great deal of clip art in organizing my classroom since preschooler aged children are not exactly "readers" yet. I use Google Images often and do make sure that I check to see if the image has been designated as able to be shared, although often times the number of appropriate selections are limited.
      "Burning" CDs is common with preschool teachers. I guess I liked to justify it as saving money in our budget by "sharing" resources but after officially being informed of copyright regulations, I have changed my attitude.
       The books that we use in our classroom are storybooks either owned by the teachers or checked out from the library. There have been times when I was tempted to copy pages from the storybooks for the children to use in different activities. I have stayed away from that because even then I suspected it might be copyright infringement.
        An additional literacy activity that children enjoy is "reading" or identifying common logos such as McDonalds, Target, Legos, Barbie, etc. I have used Google Images for that in the past.
       Now that I have learned about online resources available from AEA I will make use of what is available and inform other teachers about what I have learned about copyright regulations.
       

Basically to "copy"(haha I made a joke:) what everyone else said, copyright has always been a scary and confusing thing. I remember in elementary/high school being terrified of getting caught copying anything. I remember being told that our teachers had special programs they would put our reports into that would tell them if we copied anything. Since I have a total fear of getting in trouble....it completely terrified me! That fear carried over into my teaching so I just didn't deal with it. If I had any doubt or question I just didn't use whatever I was thinking of doing. I think the fear really caused me to be over cautious and not use some materials that would have been beneficial to my students. After going through the copyright module I feel a bit more confident in my knowledge of the things I am able to use. I also like that I have a better resource to go to if I am in doubt, instead of just googling my questions.  

Before taking this course I didn’t really understand the different criteria to consider when determining if something can be used in the classroom. Since it has been so many years since I have taught in a classroom setting I really haven’t thought about it much.

Since there are so many different criteria I feel that the safest way to choose materials is to go through the AEA site. All of their materials have been screened so that I can use whatever I find. I know that occasionally I will want to use something that is not on the AEA site. For these times I will make sure it meets the criteria for safe usage. I will look at the date of the item, the effect it will have on the market, how much I am using, give credit, etc. As far as the students are concerned I think I will just limit their resources to the AEA site since I know they will be safe there (in more than one way).

I really enjoyed this section.  I was reassured about my use of films for educational purposes, especially for my WWII in literature and film course.  The place where it is also very useful information is for my speech and drama teams.  We work really hard to make sure we are always complying with copyrights and/or royalties, and this module helped me realize that I sometimes make it harder for myself than it really is.  

I appreciated a clear delineation of guidelines, and I bookmarked a couple different sites for future reference.  I am not sure there is very much I would do differently in my classroom.  I use books we have purchased, poems that are in the public domain, and online resources that I know I have permission to use.  If anything, I can be less restrictive, which is really liberating.  

I think it is very important to explain why I can use movies and resources in my classroom without violating copyright laws, while my students might be violating them if they use those resources in inappropriate ways.  They need to understand fair use and TEACH.  I want to be above reproach in all I do in my room, and that includes accessing materials.

It turns out that copyrighting isn't actually as complicated as I'd previously thought. I was not aware of the classifications and distinction between classroom use and fair use, but I thought the explanations were simple and user friendly enough for me to follow.

One thing that I will now do differently involves my use of images, particularly clip art.  I create a lot of my own materials, and I am guilty of googling key words for an image I want, copying it, and pasting it onto my project. I knew I probably wasn't supposed to be doing it, but I didn't take the time to look it up (or even care, really). Now that I've learned a little more about copyrighting and have seen the way iclipart has taken the guesswork out of using their images, that will be my first stop when gathering images for my projects.

#4…. Since taking the online self paced course, specifically about copyright, I feel more comfortable with my knowledge of that topic and how I can safely use materials in my classroom. I learned from page 6 of the online course, “Not everything can be copyrighted. To qualify for copyright status, a creation must be fixed, original, and minimally creative.” It listed these 8 items as ones that the U.S. Copyright Law spells out as general areas of original items:
literary works
musical works, including accompanying words
dramatic works, including accompanying music
pantomimes and choreographic works
pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
motion pictures and other audiovisual works
sound recordings
architectural works
That helps me first sort out whether I need to be concerned with copyright laws when considering an item for use. Knowing the categories of items that cannot be copyrighted helps too. For example, “facts, procedures, and slogans” are some that are not.  In addition, it is also helpful to understand “Public Domain”. Knowing if a work qualifies can be determined by using “The Copyright Slider by Michael Brewer, embedded via Creative Commons license. It overviews, given the chronological age of an item, its copyright status.” which is found on pages 8 and 9 of the online training.  We were given this link http://librarycopyright.net/resources/digitalslider/ to use for that. I will use that in the future if I am unsure of an item. Another thing I learned I can do is get permission from the author or publisher if I want to copy something. That makes the use safe and legal. You can make this easier by using “Creative Commons”. You can use the following links to navigate through helping you decide if your intended item of use meets the license and attribution requirements.

https://creativecommons.org/

http://search.creativecommons.org/

     This was a very informative module. My first experience with copy write questions was in connection with leading the worship at our local church. As long as we used song books, there was no problem.  But as you are probably aware, there are very many wonderful new praise and worship songs not in our hymnals.  We were introduced to CCLI Songs Plus, a copyright licensing company (I'm sure there are many others) that, for a subscription fee,  allows us to, without breaking copyright laws, use these great songs in our worship time.
     When using resources from the Iowa AEA Online there is no question about the copyright legality.  With this vast amount of resources at our fingertips, there is little need to search other sources that might violate copyright laws.

My knowledge of Copyright is far more complete after this module.  I was not even aware of Creative Commons which seems to be an important update in the digital world. The AEA online resources are the way to go for an educator as one does not need to worry about copyright issues.  I was aware that use of a video in the classroom does not violate copyright, but I had not thought about the copyright violation of copying a video clip and sending it home for a student who was absent.

Many children with special needs are ill frequently.  This makes it even more important that parents have access to AEA online resources.  One aspect that has not changed since I was teaching is the importance of being a good model as a teacher. Teachers need to model for students how to cite resources appropriately from the primary grades on and to give credit where credit is due.

This was an interesting section regarding copyright.  I appreciate,even more, having access to serious research resources through AEA Online.  I had a lot of aha moments while reading the module.  I'm trying, now, to remember what I had suddenly grasped.  
*It matters the percent of the source you use. 100 words of a poem may not be okay, but usually 100 words of a story would be fine.  
*Most use is okay if it is being consumed live.  It's the attaching it to a website or emailing it to someone that can get you into trouble.  
*It is not okay to change a poem into a rap or change a song to a speech.
Mostly, reading this module reminded me of my responsibilities and of how I have often used what I wanted without a huge amount of worry about copyright.

What changes will I make?  I will stop sending attachments of videos that students might consider watching as homework.  I will be more careful how much of the source I use so as not to use too  much and go against the law.  I will think more about making copies that I pass out to anyone who may be interested.

Before I took the Copyright module, I did know some about copyright laws, but now I feel like I have some resources readily available to me if I were to run into any questions on if I can or can't use something.  I think in this day and age it is so easy to copy anything.  Everything seems to be so readily available to us and sometimes it is very confusing on what we can rightfully use or not.  I personally have dealt with questions before on can or can't I?!  This module helped answer some of those questions.  
For me, I would rather be more on the cautious side rather than accidently use something I shouldn't have.  This is why I love the resources available to us on Iowa AEA Online!  I particularly like the iClipart for Schools resource.  I make lots of newsletters, posters, programs, bulletins, etc. and I am always needing graphics to help spruce them up.  I now know that iClipart is a safe place to get those graphics.  
I think the important thing for me is if I am ever in doubt to just check it out and make sure.  I do not necessarily feel 100% confident in the copyright laws, but I now have some guides to help me when I am unsure.  After briefly looking over this link provided in the module:  https://www.lib.umn.edu/copyright/fairthoughts I decided to bookmark it to save it as a guide for future help in helping to decide if I should or shouldn't use something.
I will also encourage my "future" students to use Iowa AEA Online for their projects.  I feel like Iowa AEA Online is a safe place for students.  I believe that we need to teach our students at a young age about copyright laws and safe resources available to them.      

My understanding of copyright issues has changed, indeed.  Prior to this course I knew little about copyright laws and fair use factors.  I know have more knowledge about using resources in my classroom that will better help my students learn and understand core concepts that are expected to be achieved.  Research is a huge component in our writing and reading curriculum, but doesn't do a very good job of explicitly teaching the process of research, including using primary and secondary sources, as well as places to find credible articles or information.  In the past, I would encourage my students to "google" it or look it up on the internet without knowing what he outcome would be...let alone if it would be appropriate.  In the future,  I will require my students to use the AEA online database to find the information they are seeking...regardless of topic or outcome.  I am excited to share this online resource with my class and plan to have them log-in tomorrow to read through the 5 steps to the research process!  They are currently writing persuasive letters, which must include facts that support their position.  We have struggled to find credible resources to do this...but I think I have found the answer to our problems, in a safe, effective, and meaningful way that avoids any copyright issues!

I did not realize that most teachers are rather leery of using resources in the classroom because of the possibility of infringing on the copyright of the resource.  I believe that now that I know that the Iowa AEA Online materials are much safer to use, and have been verified, or the permission has already been granted, I will use the AEA Online Resources with more freedom.  I know the difference between what can be copyrighted, and what cannot be copyrighted.  Any item that was created prior to 1923 is considered Public Domain and does not have copyright protection, and can therefore be used in any of the ways that copyright normally protects those materials.  DMCA Act of 1998 is the law for copyright of digital media.  Copyright violations can carry monetary damages and imprisonment.  Because Shakespeare is dead, and it is 70 years past his death, teachers can use his works without worrying about copyright infringement.  I believe that copyright laws are confusing, and I will definitely need to pay more attention to what I can, and cannot use without permission.  My approach to the use of classroom materials and resources would be to use the Iowa AEA online materials, and recommend to my students to use them too.  In this manner, I know that we will have quality resources from a safe location.

I farmed for over 25 years and have been teaching high school mathematics for about 15 years.  Being a "by-the-book" teacher of mathematics, as long as I had a good textbook, I didn't use hardly any other teaching resources.  We usually didn't have time to finish the book in a school year, so I didn't think that it was practical to use other materials as well.  I didn't worry about copyright, because we just stayed in the book.

However, I am currently teaching a high school equivalency mathematics course at a community college where we do not have a textbook to rely on.  Therefore, this course on Iowa AEA Online resources is really important to me.  I have previously suggested to students various websites that claim to help students learn mathematics, such as www.khanacademy.org.  Now I am hoping to explore more of the mathematics resources that the Iowa AEA has that I can use with my students.

It is good to know that Iowa AEA Online has done the work to have copyright permission so that I can confidently share the resources I find with my students.