Blog Post Week 2- Copyright
Today we had a very interesting presentation given by John Finch about copyright laws for educators.
A few key things I learned from the presentation include:
- Anything in which you create, you own the legal and moral rights to. You created it and must be acknowledged for it. Others must have your permission to use your resources. For teachers, this may include: Unit plans, lesson plans, tests, assignments, activities, projects, etc.
- Students also own the rights to anything they create in school, such as an essay, poem, or an art project. Therefore, teachers must have permission from the parents (students under 18) in order to post any student work.
- Teachers are allowed to copy some materials for students - 10% or 1 chapter from a book/textbook
- Every school photocopier has a hard drive that keeps track of everything ever photocopied - therefore, do not ever copy anything personal.
- Teachers are allowed to use music for educational purposes in school, but before using music for enjoyment (such as in Phys. Ed. classes) be sure the school has Socan and Resound licenses. For a small fee (approximately $0.25/student annually) teachers and staff can use music in their school without infringing on copyrights.
John also reminded us that students need to be educated in copyright laws. They need to be taught what plagiarism is, what the consequences of it are, and how easy it is for a teacher to know whether the students work was authentic or plagiarized. They need to be shown how to pull ideas from others and summarize those thoughts into their own words.
Overall, this was a very informative presentation and I learned a lot of shocking, yet important information that I will carry on with me into my teaching career!
~ Miss C.
Courtney, I really like the style of your blog. I know that when I read blogs I always skip to the bullet points for important information (but I read all of yours). Yes, summarizing other people's work and putting it in your own words is definitely a skill that must be taught. I thought John did a good job explaining that students in younger grades can't be expected to change work as much a older students, but they can still summarize in their own words. I hadn't thought about the necessity of continually revisiting the concept of plagiarism as students thinking develops, until I read your blog!
ReplyDelete