POST #4: Copyright

Copyright is something that I have really never thought of when it comes to teaching.  I didn't realize the amount of things that a lot of students do incorrectly based on some of the copyrights of things.  Most of this needs to be taught to the students.  In my grade level (preschool) we can talk about it but they are not at an age yet that they will understand what that truly means.  I will be a little more choosey when using information and sharing with the class that information based on the things that I learned with the copyright areas.  Kids doing research need to be aware of this information.  Learning about ways to share information and give it the credit that it deserves by siting where the information came from when teaching others is very important.  Kids need to realize the importance of copyright laws and know how they need to do everything correctly.  Teachers should be aware of this as well.  So many times you don't think about what you are using and we need to make sure that kids are aware of these copyright laws.  The AEA provides great resources for kids to use.
 

After completing the section on Copyright I feel I have a better understanding of what copyright is.  Copyright is to protect the works that people created.  It protects such things as books, music, and plays just to name a few.  It does not protect against facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operations.  In knowing  about copyright you will be able to know what information you can use in the classroom legally.  It would also be good at the beginning of the year to try to incorporate copyright into a lesson for the students also understand what copyright means.  This will help them in education and their everyday lives when knowing what things are copyrighted.  The use of that AEA Online Resources helps teachers so that the use of the information can be used without the worry of abusing the copyright status of the information.  If you use information off the internet there comes the possibly of breaking the copyright law.  AEA information will also be the most reliable.  

 Now that I have went through the module on copyright laws, I have a better knowledge of what I can and can't do as far as copyright laws. You can go through the AEA online resources to find the multi media materials that you want to use. The nice part is that it has already been filtered and the material is already to use. This module is one I will share with my coworkers and boss.
  The public domain was interesting to learn about. We had one for our Photography business but never
really knew much about it. The fair use act taught me about the purpose and character of the work, the amount use effects on the market place and the nature of the work. I will now try to use proper channels
when making copies, using digital resources, creating websites and using musical and dramatic works.
 We as Para educators and Teachers need to be more aware of the laws and know we are not immune
from imprisonment for copyright violations, and can be fined.

After having completed the copyright module, I feel better about the use of information in my classroom.  I have always been uneasy about what I can use and not use.  I have tried to talk to my students about copyright especially in our writing units, but have always been unsure of just how much we could use without infringing on copyright rules.  In the future I plan to use the AEA Online resources as our primary source of information.  I think this will ease my mind on what my students can legally use for their writing and other research projects in areas like science and social studies.  I will continue to talk to my students about the legal and correct use of materials.  Now that so much can be accessed digitally, it is important to start these conversations at an early age, and continue them throughout their education.

This course offered a great refresher on the ins and outs of copyright.  It is important to be reminded every few years of what is acceptable use and what is unacceptable use in terms of copyright.  This is especially true because of the ever-changing, digital age we live in.  Next year I will be teaching a section of ELA, so it is perfect timing to be reminded of the copyright laws, as I will have to help students as they write a research paper next year.  With the vast amount of information available to students via the internet, it is imperative that I know how to help them narrow where they find information and accurately site where they found their information.  It is also important that I can teach them what is acceptable and what is not acceptable when copying and pasting text, images, and sounds when creating presentations.  It is so easy for students to copy and paste without realizing what they are doing is breaking copyright law.

Copyright can be tricky; knowing whether something can be legally used in the classroom or not can be worrisome. After taking the AEA PD Online class Google 101 and by taking this class, I learned how to do an advanced search on Google to find material that is available for use.

With the AEA Online Resources, I feel confident that I can use these resources in the classroom without infringing on any copyright laws. In the past, I have relied on doing an advanced Google search to find images for students to use in creating videos in response to text. Now, after taking the AEA Online PD “Using Iowa AEA Online Resources, I know that I can find many images on iCLIPART, Britannica or APImages that are suitable for my students’ projects. I don’t have to worry about inappropriate images coming up as sometimes happens when I do a Google search. As educators, we are so fortunate to have these resources available to us.

After going through the copyright module in this course I have a better understanding of copyright and how it applies to digital work.  I believe that this is important for myself as an educator to understand the copyright laws so I can help my students understand the importance of copyright and how it relates to digital art work.  I really like that the AEA www.iowaaeaonline.org has many options for students to use images that may be used safely in their projects.  The main resources I see my kids using are AP Images classic.apimages.com/ and  iCLIPART For Schools schools.iclipart.com/iowa/ in Graphic Arts I and SoundzAbound for Schools www.soundzabound.com for use in Grpahic Arts II video projects.

One aspect of learning code is using "code snippets", which students inevitably discover on the internet and figure out how to use. At that point I would encourage them to give credit by sharing where they found the code. Since code is frequently shared for the purpose of of being modified, I would like to expand on that with a lesson plan. The lesson plan would focus on the four factors in fair use and how it applies to their projects or their website portfolio. (How much of the code are they using, how much are they changing and why or how is it being applied? ) Ideally, if another class were to be involved with digital storytelling it would be  terrific to cover the topic of fair use simultaneously so students can draw similarities and comparisons between video, audio, and coding.
 
In the past, I have taught students how to make the Asteroids video game and occasionally a student asks, "Can you do you that? Isn't that copyrighted?" I always segued into a conversation which in short was yes it is, but it's OK to learn how to make it make your own way in a different language such as javascript. The copyright module provided opportunities for a more in-depth conversation with more specifics from the approach "how do we make the game and not be in violation of copyright?"

After completing the copyright module I think I have a better understanding of copyright and acceptable use. I know I have been guilty of breaking those rules over the course of my career. The adage, "It's easier to ask forgiveness, than it is to ask permission" comes to mind. Thankfully the copyright police do not make surprise inspections. With the clarity provided through this module and the wealth of resources discovered through this course, I will be less likely to make those mistakes. As others have said, AEA has done the heavy lifting when it comes to adhering to acceptable use. I can save time and stay "on the up and up" by searching the resources provided through AEA Online rather than falling down the rabbit hole that is Google. Lastly, as someone else mentioned, we are trying to teach our students acceptable use when it comes to the resources they use. We teach them to cite sources and remind them not to simply copy and paste. We need to be sure we are following acceptable use guidelines and our AEA resources can help make that easier.

I remember at one Super Inservice several years ago the guest speaker making a joke that most teachers think that "copyright" means "the right to copy".  From the laughter that the joke generated, I think that many of us found ourselves guilty of that in some capacity at some point in our careers.

The Copyright module was very informative and I found it a good review.

When reading the information in the Copyright module, I was especially appreciative of the Copyright Brief Notes for Students:

http://www.iowaaeaonline.org/pages/uploaded_files/CopyrightBN_StudentsScreen.pdf

This is something that I will print out to share with my 4th and 5th graders.  I will also share with them the necessity to cite their sources.  The ability to generate citations with just a click is so helpful on the sites that the Iowa AEA Online resources provide.

After having completed the module on copyright, I feel that I learned many things about it that I really didn't know before. I have always been very cautious about making copies from books for use in the classroom. I really never knew or understand all of the details about the copyright law until now. It was very helpful to learn about the things that I will be able to copy and those that I cannot. As I was completing the course, I kept thinking about all of the times that I have had my students go onto the internet and complete research. That research has always been stressful knowing that students could easily get onto the wrong websites and find information that is not correct or inappropriate. I definitely will be using the resources that I've learned about from the Iowa AEA On-line site whenever I have students do research, look for clipart, photos and videos. I feel so much better knowing that these sites have been chosen and put in one area for easy access for myself and students.  Knowing that these resources have been cited and many are copyright free to use sure makes the research process with students a lot easier. I will also be more aware of classroom materials that I find on Pinterest and over websites that others have posted to make sure that I don't infringe on the copyright law.  

Copyright is an area that I haven't paid much attention to in the past.  Most of the materials that I use in my classroom are purchased for classroom use, or free materials made available for classroom use.  I am a 4-H leader, and copyright comes up quite a bit with projects, so I have looked into it before.  This was a very informative and easy to follow explanation of different Copyright laws.  I especially liked the segment dealing with Classroom Use and Fair Use.  I feel like every teacher needs a refresher on those rules occasionally.  This section would be a great tool to share with students who are beginning to use the internet for research purposes.
One online resource that I have used in the past was YouTube.  There are some really good videos explaining specific Math concepts.  I was unaware of the possible copyright infringements there.  I will need to check into those to make sure there are no bootleg copies that I am sharing with my students on my Google Classroom.  Also, I need to make sure I remove any links to copyrighted material that might be available to people outside of my classroom.
SIRS is an AEAOnline research tool that I learned about in this course.  One of my favorite parts of this tool is how easy it is to site sources and give credit where credit is due.  

I was surprised by the information about copyrights.  I confess I just tried not to think about it!   Because I love to download free books to my Kindle I was aware of the 1923 date for all the free books in the public domain. We recently went through the process of having a brochure printed for our program and used the iClipArt for schools. When we started we naively thought if it was on the web it was fair game.  It's interesting that being in school allows for more flexibility.  No doubt I will use the information available on https://creativecommons.org/ to decipher what is copyright free if that information is not already available.

I’ll admit, I didn’t know much about the specifics of copyright issues other than the standard “We’re not using more than 10% of the book, so we’re fine” defense I’ve heard at the copier before.   This module was incredibly informative for me, as it really broke down the various sections (print, audio, video, and images), as well as the categories of copyright issues (Fair Use, Classroom Use, Public Domain, TEACH Act and so forth). With content from the AEA Online resource being copyright worry-free (such as iClipArt and Soundzabound), I feel much more confident that I am not treading into the argument of, “Can I Use This Legally?”  Now don’t get me wrong, I think that question would be an excellent one to bring up in the course of the year, to walk kids through what they should and shouldn’t use (I like the handout in the module that I can print out and put up – classroom use approved). Again, Google images is often the first step for kids, but I now know about the advanced search dropdown menu to find images that are fair use.  What a great opportunity to bring up what I’ve learned and make it meaningful and relevant to what kids are doing!  Making the students aware of what I’m doing in regards to copyright and what they do in their own work can only make us more responsible in this area and make us more responsible technology consumers and users.  

After going through the copyright module, I learned so much. I have always been a little intimidated by copy right laws and believed them to be very complicated.  This module was very helpful and explained each law in an easy to understand way. I did go to my Haiku pages and deleted two posts I had on there because of copyright laws. When having my students use online web resources I was always a little nervous what they might find or use. Students first and only thoughts are always to Google everything, but now knowing what I know  about the AEA Online Resources I will definitely have students navigate and maneuver through your sources.  There are so many good resources on your site, I'm excited to teach kids how to use them. I wish I had this information last year! Thank you for doing all the hard work in filtering out reliable sources.

I am very thankful for all of the pertinent information that the copyright module provided through this online course   It was a vat of information to say the least.   Copyright is a very important subject and one that we need to be knowledgeable about so that we may assist our students in developing digital citizenship.  When searching on the internet for a source through a search engine, there is a lot to "take in" to consider, based on many different characteristics,  what is and is not copyrighted.  It is definitely more time cost effective and less stressful to use the resources that AEA Online provides.  We can automatically be sure that we are being responsible digital citizens through the resources provided.    I can feel safe that I am leading my students down the road of responsible digital citizenship when they are utilizing a resource like Britannica School in their projects and research as copyright has already been considered.  

The module about copyright is a good reminder about using materials of different genre in my classroom. I enjoy finding different materials to share with my students and now feel much more confident in being able to do this. I have walked the copyright path for many years because I am a musician. I have always been frustrated about the "excerpts" of novels used in basal reading books, and now have an answer to my "Why?". Thankfully, my small class sizes have enabled me to be able to purchase many of the complete novels for my students.
I am amazed at the vast amount of resources AEA has made available for both students and teachers. I also appreciate having a better understanding of the copyright laws so that I can use materials correctly within my classroom. Learning about Creative Commons will be very helpful to me in finding resources to use in my classroom when I am browsing the internet. I am also excited to be more familiar with all the resources available from AEA and look forward to making use of more of these online resources this coming school year in my classroom.

The copyright section of this course serves as a great reminder of what is legally correct and what is illegal.  As a music teacher we are faced daily with copyright issues. This has been a major issue within the show choir world for the past few years.  For years choirs across the country were creating and performing arrangements that did not comply with the copyright laws.  Majority of the choral directors were not even aware of all of the complicated copyright laws.  The following is an example of one obscure copyright law that pertains to arranging copyrighted music for a performing ensemble.  When creating a medley the arranger must pay the same rate for each song within the medley.  However, the cost for each song must equal he cost of the highest priced licensing fee.  So if a group is doing a medley of three different songs and the licensing fee for the songs are as follows; song 1 $50, song 2 $100, and song 3 $300.  Then the arranger will be charged $300 for each song because all three of these songs are used within a medley.  It doesn't matter if one of these songs is only used for 5 seconds with the medley they are still charged $300.  In recent years the music publishing companies have been trying to educate show choir groups and directors about many of these copyright laws.

Also, after reading through the copyright section, I was reminded of all the great open source music that is available for ensembles to perform.  There are hundreds of great compositions freely available of musicians online.  This is a resource I plan to use more often in the future.

Like many others, I really didn't think that much about copyright laws before even though our tech people have made presentation to our staff in previous year. I definitely learned more about copyright laws and are more concerned now, but I am still learning and have questions about what I can and cannot do.  I am so blessed to have someone in my district I can go to with questions.  I have been working on my website with our tech person this past spring on what I can and cannot put on my website.  I have created a password protected portion of my website for my students with help from our tech person.  I am very thankful I created this section after what I learned about in this module.  Copyright law very confusing topic for many people and I think I now have a better understand of the laws, not saying I won't "break" any in the future, but I am definitely more conscious about what is legal and not legal now.

After going through the Copyright module, I have a greater understanding of what I can and can't do with copyrighted materials as an educator.  Teachers are mostly free to do what they need to do with materials as long as it is for educational use.  However, it is best practice to use safe sources that they are licensed to use.  Iowa AEA Online provides educators with a wide range of resources that covers all forms of digital media.  They are all sources that can be uses without the worry of copyright infringement.  They aslo provide easy citation for writing papers, or presentations.  

In my classroom I will be using Iowa AEA Online resources for materials for my students so that I won't have to worry if I should be distributing copies.  I won't have to worry about students going onto the wide open internet and finding untrusted sources or inappropriate content (although the school has filters to help protect the students).  By using the Iowa AEA Online resources they will have access to trusted sources for research on projects, presentation, papers, and digital creations.