Reflecting....Copyright and Creative Commons

Copyright is a huge issue in many schools around the nation, for both students and their teachers. As Stephen Marshall states, “The rise of social collaboration technologies, collectively called Web 2.0 (O'Reilly 2005), and corresponding changes in the skills and preferences of students have posed fundamental challenges for institutions and educators”. With the seemingly endless resources available over the internet, sources for text, pictures, videos, and music appear to get lost in the idea of what is being presented; and this is a big problem. Without sourcing where an individual has gotten their information, they are claiming that the idea or work presented is all their own, which in many cases is not true. A lot of work goes into copyrights and it is a serious offense to ignore copyright laws. For example, in the United States education system, if a student chooses to not cite a text they use and claim the text (even the ideas) as their own, they may be suspended or even expelled depending on the severity. These cases are treated similar to criminal cases where a board will determine the future of the student, even if they use a peers’ work. Creative Commons is a website created to “help you share your knowledge and creativity with the world… develop, support, and steward legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation”. Moreover, it is a resource that anyone can use to find works that can used in classrooms as well as it is a place where any individual may try to license their own work. Here, ideas, music, videos, and even lesson plans are shared so that the community may benefit from them.

All of the issues surrounding copyright laws never occurred to me until this assignment. In school, I remember my teachers (English in particular) telling us to always site our sources. The papers I wrote, many research based, always included in-text citations and a works-cited page although I did not really understand this importance until high school.  Citations are one of the most important things a student can do in creating their own work. Referencing others, gives way for credit to be given where credit is due. I learned many things while reading this articles about copyrighting. It is more than just knowing the music we hear on the radio and being able to say who the artist is (for in fact, many times they have another write the lyrics or even the melodies), the terms can be infringed when an individual photocopies a page of text without permission and then distributes it. I also never thought about when my teachers would photocopy a text and hand it out when they did not have enough copies for every student. They could have been breaking the law (unless it was noted on the document that distribution for educational purposes allowed photocopies). In fact, I can even note time in my college career, specifically education classes, where professors have distributed photocopied material and told us not to share it as they had not been given legal right to distribute them.

How sad, that students are not the only ones breaking these laws, but teachers who know better are as well. I understand the temptation; it saves money and time, but is it really worth it? I challenge you, the reader, to reflect back on your experiences in education. Did a teacher every break copyright laws, leading you to believe that what they were doing was okay? Such as photocopying a text and distributing it to the class without legal permission, play music to a PowerPoint without noting the composer and artist on their citation page, etc.?
            David Wiley notes that new technologies will really influence our abilities to be open:

New media and technology have a critical role to play in the future of education. But regardless of the potential they may show in their audition, new media and technology will get to act only those parts in which we cast them. From my perspective, the only legitimate role for new media and technology in education is to increase our capacity to be generous with one another. Because the more open we are, the better education will be.

I really like the way Wiley states this idea. It is up to us as educators and students to determine not only the role, but the impact that technology will have on us. But it is important to remember that violating copyright laws is not always intentional. The example Marshall gives of the young gamer using a photo of Starry Night to construct a virtual place violates all sort of laws. It is so important for us, as educators, to encourage our students to rise above and realize the impact of what they choose to do. Encourage students to reflect on if someone took an idea they had formed (or the discovery of a new element for the periodic table) and labeled it their own?