Fair Use and Its Use

Blog #6

Copyright is defined as "a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of 'original works of authorship', including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works." (No Author, 2008). However, copyright laws do not extend to facts and ideas (Newsome, 2007). Presently, a copyrighted work does not have require, under U.S. law, to show notice of copyright, but it is beneficial. With older works, since the law did require it, works prior to 1989 required notice.

According to the article by Cathy Newsome, copyright law covers seven broad categories:

1. literary works - both fiction and nonfiction, including books, periodicals, manuscripts, computer programs, manuals, phonorecords, film, audiotapes, and computer disks.
2. musical works - and accompanying words - songs, operas, and musical plays
3. dramatic works - including music - plays and dramatic readings
4. pantomimed and choreographed works
5. pictorial, graphics, and sculptural works - final and applied arts, photographs, prints, and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, technical drawings, diagrams, and models
6. motion picturs and audiovisual works - slide/tape, multimedia presentations, filmstrips, films, and videos
7. sound recordings and records - tapes, cassettes, and computer disks

Fair use is what allows teachers to use copyrighted materials for educational uses such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

The four standards for determination of the fair use exemption are:

1. Purpose of Use: Copying and using selected parts of copyrighted works for specific educational purposes qualifies as fair use, especially if the copies are made spontaneously, are used temporarily, and are not part of an anthology.
2. Nature of the Work: For copying paragraphs from a copyrighted source, fair use easily applies. For copying a chapter, fair use may be questionable.
3. Proportion/Extent of the Material Used: Duplicating excerpts that are short in relation to the entire copyrighted work or segments that do not reflect the 'essence' of the work is usually considered fair use.
4. The Effect on Marketability: If there will be no reduction in sales because of copying or distribution, the fair use exemption is likely to apply. This is the most important of the four tests for fair use. (Newsome, 2008).  

It is important for teachers to teach students about copyright and fair use. The only thing I was taught prior to college was not to copy an entire paper. I was not aware that music and videos were also copyrighted.

For example, the Disney company is one such example. After watching many a Disney movies during my schooling, I was shocked to find out that teachers were committing a crime against Copyright and Fair Use Law by showing us these movies. For an interactive activity for students to learn about copyright and fair use, Click here. The activity is done in question/answer format, videos, timelines, etc. in terms that even younger students can understand and is a great starting step for teaching students.

Charts are very helpful to identify what is copyrighted and what is fair use in the classroom. Below are two charts that will prove to be very helpful to teachers and as handouts for students.

A very useful chart for identifying copyright and fair use can be found by clicking here.

Another copyright and fair use chart can be found here.

Until next time, Mac vs. PC
- Lauren

References:

Newsome, Cathy. (2007). A Teacher's Guide to Fair Use and Copyright. Retrieved from http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm#Introduction

No Author. (2008). Copyright Basics. United States Copyright Office. Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.pdf

Images found through Google Image Search.

To Charter or Not to Charter

Blog #4

According to the NEA (National Education Agency), charter schools are defined as "publicly funded elementary or secondary schools that have been freed from some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools, in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each charter school's charter. "

Charter schools began in 1991 with two schools in Minnesota and have since grown exponentially. There are now 390 charter schools in Texas alone, serving over 100,000 students, via Texas Charter Schools' website.

These schools have higher graduation rates, higher test scores, and are able to focus more on the students and on their performance. Charter schools also have the ability to remove students that are disruptive or that are not willing to learn, providing them with the "better" students and helping out their test scores and their accountability rating. The following video shows the benefits of charter schools, using Chicago as their basis.

The next video displays Kansas' charter schools and how their scores are not better than the public schools in the same area, the scores are actually not meeting state standards.

Since charter schools are the newest rage, it is up to you to make your decision on which you think is better, whether it's for your career or your child's education.

Until next time, Online Games
- Lauren


References:

Charter Schools. National Education Agency. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/charter

Texas Charter Schools Association. Retrieved from http://www.txcharterschools.org/

You Tube (2008). Pros & Cons of Charter Schools. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w1b-8FV2qI

You Tube (2011). Charter schools vs. public-which is better? Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOZNCZguGvQ&feature=related

Socializing Can Be Fun

Blog #2

Facebook 101 or The Basics of Myspace.

Should courses such as these be put into the classroom?

There are both postive and negative possibilities in having things like this in the curriculum of schools. There are ways it could be incorporated into computer courses and not affect the core curriculum which seems to be the main concern of this adventure. Since most students, 73% of online teens are already using social networking sites, according to a survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, it might be a good idea to teach students the basics, including what to do and what not to do.



The traditional Facebook and Myspace don't even have to be the social networks of choice in schools; there are alternative options. "The Flat Classroom Project is one example where educators have built social-networking sites (mostly using Ning) specifically for use in class and home assignments. Not only does this allow for educationally relevant communication for students in the classroom, but for them to interact with students in far away classrooms both in the U.S. and abroad so students around the world can reach and learn from each other." (Magid, 2010). A wiki website (allowing for people to update information) shows a list of social networks that are used for educational purposes. Please click the link to access the list.

Social Networking in Education List, also...
100 Ways to Use Facebook

Instead of merely blocking all social networking sites from the school's computers, we should try and find ways to solve the main issues with social networking and the safety. If keying in on the interests of students is the key to keep their attention and to help them retain information, why not use social networking as a way to do this? I am not recommending that you add students to your personal facebook page, that is unprofessional and grounds for termination, but using a group page to share assignments, homework, etc. or teaching students of the privacy features and what information should be shared over facebook may not be an all bad concept.

Do you or have you thought of using social networking in your classroom? How do you think we can obtain online safety by using social networking in education? "The NSBA [National School Board Association] also found that schools and especially parents have strong expectations about the positive roles that social networking could play in students' lives, and both are interested in social networking as a tool." (Deubel, 2009). Do you feel the same?

Until next time, Keys to Motivation
- Lauren

References:

Deubel, Patricia (2009). Social Networking in Schools: Incentives for Participation. The Journal. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/articles/2009/09/16/social-networking-in-schools-incentives-for-participation.aspx

Magid, Larry (2010). Social networking belongs in schools. CNET News. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10459983-238.html.

Tweet Tweet Tweet

Blog #1

According to their website, “Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. Simply find the public streams you find most compelling and follow the conversations. At the heart of Twitter are small bursts of information called Tweets. Each Tweet is 140 characters in length ... Connected to each Tweet is a rich details pane that provides additional information, deeper context and embedded media.”

Twitter can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom. For example, during my student teaching semester, twitter was used with my technology course in order for us to reflect (twice a week) on our experiences in the classroom, ask questions, share interesting information, etc. When first asked to use twitter, I was very hesitant and not interested in the least. However, I ended up really enjoying it. I was able to reflect to others, as well as to myself, about things I had learned during the weeks of student teaching.
         
Twitter is very effective in helping students to become concise in their writing. Often times students write an excess of information, hoping the right answer is in there somewhere and cannot tell you specifically what the answer to the question is.

Here is one example of how a teacher uses twitter in her college classroom:

This teacher used twitter to help with class discussions, a very interesting way to include a large classroom in a discussion and the make everyone’s opinion heard (or read).

Other twitter uses I have seen:

• Warm-up (teacher uses a quote from a fellow tweeter or create her own warm-up)
• Posting homework/assignments for the day (great for students who are absent and for parents)
• Sharing links either from teacher to students, students to teacher, or teacher to teacher
• Scavenger hunts
• Today in history
• Brainstorming in groups
• Book clubs

For more ideas on using Twitter in the classroom, click the link below.

http://cooper-taylor.com/2008/08/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-education/

Until next time, Socializing Can Be Fun!

- Lauren

References

Cooper-Taylor, Carol (2008). 50 Ideas on Using Twitter for Education. Retrieved from http://cooper-taylor.com/2008/08/50-ideas-on-using-twitter-for-education/

Kirkpatrick, Marshall (2009). How One Teacher Uses Twitter in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_one_teacher_uses_twitter_in_the_classroom.php

Twitter. http://www.twitter.com/

YouTube (2009). The Twitter Experiment – Twitter in the Classroom. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WPVWDkF7U8.