Edutopia - April/May 2008 - (Page 17)

HeadofClass JNews JBagLunch JStyleJHot Stuff BytheNumbers pass all uses,” warns Ensign. Fair use in the classroom is often dependent on the subject matter of the content. Ensign says a teacher may not be allowed to show the ⇒lm The Lion King to the class simply because it was raining and the kids were squirrelly. It could be shown only if the class were doing a study of Disney ⇒lms or were engaged in the study of a related subject. Ensign recommends that every school and school district create and enforce a copyright usage policy that is very clear about what is allowable for classroom use. One easy out: linking. Ensign says he doesn’t paste copyrighted material into his lessons and course plans—he links to it. Commenting on a quoted passage is also fair use, as blogs do. Yet another approach is provided by Smart Technologies, a company that has teamed up with centuries-old publisher Cambridge University Press to offer the Global Grid for Learning, consisting of more than a million pieces of copyrightcleared digital information. These include copyright-cleared images, video clips, audio ⇒les, text documents, and learning objects ready for teachers to incorporate into their lessons. Before dismissing these options, educators should realize that failure to honor copyrights can cost them personally. “Teachers and librarians don’t realize that although they’re acting on behalf of the school and are not bene⇒ting personally,” Ensign warns, “it doesn’t mean they’re not personally liable.” e LEGAL, OR NOT What’s up on downloads? Go to Percent of teens who believe it is sometimes necessary to order to succeed, according to a survey by Junior Achievement and Deloitte. Interestingly, the of the (71%) teens surveyed say they when they enter the workforce. In a particularly alarming finding, given recent cases of school violence, of all teens surveyed think violence toward another is acceptable on some level. Copy Wrongs Know what you can—and can’t—download for the classroom. By Star Lawrence s tech-savvy teachers integrate more multimedia work into their classroom, they also face a thorny question: Who owns the visual, audio, and moving images they download and pop into their presentations? Get that answer wrong, and you may get dinged with a hefty ⇒ne. “I don’t think most teachers willingly ignore copyright issues,” says David Ensign, a professor of law at the University of Louisville, in Louisville, Kentucky. “But I do think many have the impression that any use of material in education is fair use.” Fair use is a component of U.S. copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without obtaining written permission, purchasing the A LEFT: GETTY IMAGES; RIGHT: XPLANE.COM work, or paying the creator a royalty. Typically, fair use provides for the legal, nonlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work, and applies when they are used for such applications as scholarship or review. It’s a concept with increasing importance in the modern classroom. Students weaned on tech are demanding more in terms of riveting class material. Consequently, teachers are scouring online sources looking for video, audio, snips, clips, and Web sites they can add to their presentation— anything to capture and hold their students’ attention. Seems simple, but there’s a catch. “Fair use in the educational setting is de⇒ned more broadly but does not encom- Of those who think so, the justifications for violence include 2 23 % 27% 20% Survey co-organizer has begun a new program called EXCELLENCE THROUGH ETHICS that provides hands-on classroom activities and real-life applications designed to FOSTER ETHICAL DECISION MAKING as students prepare to enter the workforce. Source: Junior Achievement www.edutopia.org/copyright EDUTOPIA.ORG EDUTOPIA 17 http://XPLANE.COM http://www.edutopia.org/copyright http://EDUTOPIA.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Edutopia - April 2008

Edutopia - April 2008 Contents Up Front Feedback Dispatches Sage Advice Ask Ellen Head of the Class Cool Schools Design Reinventing the Big test The Daring Dozen Heart & Soul Pop Quiz: Jack Prelutsky

Edutopia - April 2008

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