Copyrights
We need to be very careful about what media we choose. There are some gray areas about copyrights and what can be used and in what context.
Mike,
With all the grey area associated with fair use of material. I have tried an approach to get students to better put material into their own words.
There are several things that you can do to help. First, I would take notes on the borrowed material with the focus on trying to summarize borrowed material. You can then use the notes to write the assignment. Secondly, you can use more than one reference to gain a broader perspective on the material making the material easier to summarize.
This is a difficult skill to learn but absolutely necessary in the professional sector. By learning this skill, you will be ahead of the game as this will be expected of you when you write. I wanted to mention that although Turnitin is not used to evaluate professional writings with referenced material, the expectation is that the score would be zero if it were used to evaluate the writing.
This is great advice. I have to admit that this is an area that can get confusing really fast.
Robert,
I agree with others in the forum that one way to avoid copyright violations is to use hyperlinks that will take students to the website. I would also like to add that the Fair Use Doctrine allows some copying by instructors as long as it meets certain tests for brevity.
Alfretta
tom,
If I were an author, I would like that too!
Shelly Crider
tom,
ahhhhh......I like that rule! Make sure everyone checks everything they use in school and they will carry that trait with them.
Shelly Crider
If you follow the rule that everything has a copyright then you get into the habit of requesting permission to use it. In the long run it may save you time and money.
even if it is free it is always a good idea to request permission. The author is thankful and is happy to know their work is being used.
It can be embarrassing for an instructor to use copyrighted material without getting appropriate approval to use it. It's easier to simply use non-copyrighted material.
Matthew,
You are right....law is law. It is good to let students know this right up front.
Shelly Crider
They are. Copyright is law, not just something we "should" follow. Copyright and plagiarism are the main areas I watch for in my classes. I feel that we need to teach students how to think on their own instead of how to find some content that fits for the assignment and post it. I have found instructors who do just that as well and feel what we do in front of the students is the example they will take in their work.
Hi,
I agree that all copyright rules must be followed when gathering and sharing material for the classrooms. This is important because of moral and legal issues. I had a colleague share with me a story about a time where they posted an image to their announcement board without the owners consent. This seems to have somehow been discovered by the owner who then changed the source so that rather than the intended image appearing on the board a new and quite crude image was in it's place. To make matters even worse, because the old image was in the instructors cache they were unaware of the change and only found out after a number of emails from confused/upset students.
Thank you,
Nancy
Andrew,
Excellent tip! Just make sure you check your links on a continuous basis as they can break or change.
Shelly Crider
One way to avoid copyright troubles is to use hyperlinks, linking to the website where the media was originally published by its author. Sometimes, of course, this may not be possible, but whenever possible this can allow you to refer to the media without re-publishing it yourself.
Hi Robert
Just because we are in an online environment does not mean that we do not have to adhere to the same guidelines that we hold our students to. It is so easy to take something off the internet and not give credit. My rule is simple; if it wasn’t mine then it belongs to someone else. References should be made at the back of all presentations.
Bill Becker
As a Subject Matter Expert (SME) and online instructor you always have to be careful about copyrights. I always tell my students that they not only have to be careful about giving credit where credit is due; however, they also have to be careful when downloading pictures or other media from websites. More specifically, many times some websites may have items or embedded links into them which can interfere with the university’s LMS performance. Therefore, when these embedded links are downloaded into another university’s LMS it can cause the website considerable interruptions and in some cases can damage the LMS. Finally, if the latter happens then technical support may spend many hours or days trying to repair the damage. This is definitely an important issue!
Take care...
Naomi
Mike,
We would hope that all are held to the same standard. Posting links to the copright laws in your class helps students realize what can and cannot be used.
Shelly Crider
Great points. I find that many of my students infringe on copyright laws. Are they held to the same standards?
rebecca,
This is a good teaching topic as well. Not all info on the Internet is factual. Some students do not realize this.
Shelly Crider
With so much information available on the Internet it is tempting to use it without thought that it is someone else's intellectual property. Just as students need to give credit and ask permission, teachers should also set an example of abiding by the rules.
Rebecca Smith
