If you've been with the Learn and Earn since its beginnings you know that each year I eventually talk about copyright and Creative Commons licensing. Understanding and respecting copyright is becoming increasingly important as more and more "common folk" like you and me (and, of course, students) access, download, use, create, and post digital content. In other words, understanding and respecting copyright isn't just about knowing whether you can make extra copies of a story in a book for your students anymore. If you need a good primer about copyright and how it applies to teachers and students, this blog presented as an online short course in copyright is very useful--even if just for review.
Even when simplified, copyright and fair use can be difficult to understand--there's just so much grey area. That's why I love Creative Commons licensing! The best part of CC licensing is that content creators (artists, writers, musicians, students, teachers, etc.) specify permission levels upfront. With Creative Commons, there's no need to track down the person who holds the copyright of a work to seek permission to use it. Here is a lovely 5-minute intro to Creative Commons for your own edification that would also be appropriate to share with students.
Every time I talk about Creative Commons people are usually very receptive, but they whine (understandably) about the extra work it takes to seek out images, music, etc. that is CC licensed. Fret no more! The Creative Commons folks have finally created a good search page. I tried it out today for images on Flickr and I was happy with my results--much easier than going directly to Flickr and searching for CC licensed images there.
For clock hours this week, take a moment to consider where and when in your curriculum you could reinforce good digital citizenship with your students by expecting them to only use CC licensed content AND/OR expecting them to license their own work with the appropriate Creative Common license.
