Digital Project Research

Fair Use Practices (FUP) and Copyright issues is a subject to teach students, especially as they start to write their own research papers.  Knowing what it is, why it is important and how it affects them is a good place to start, and should be explained to them before giving the assignment.

What is copyright?, they may ask, although most would know yet not be able to explain it.  A copyright is property rights attached to original works of art or literature, which grants the author or creator the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, adapt, perform or display the protected work.  No one else may use, copy or alter the work, unless permission has been granted by the author or creator, who has control over all forms of reproduction including digital formats as well as photocopies, recordings on videotapes or compact discs. 

Some excellent lesson plans have already been developed to assist the classroom teacher to impart this knowledge to students, and used six sessions. (It included an article about why Thomas Jefferson would have liked Napster!)  Ususally students are simply given very basic information on plagiarism, with perhaps some examples of what not to do.  Unfortunately, they do not understand nor do they adhere to these admonitions.  Students simply do not know what it is or that they are being unethical.   A different resource found during the course of this reasearch was another lesson plan which also included assessments, and this one was only three sessions long addressing paraphrasing as well.

There are six areas of fair use: printed material, both short and archives, video, music, computer software, internet and television.   Guidelines exist to allow for educational use of certain materials, which is referred to as Fair Use Practices.  These address the purpose of use, the nature of the work, the proportion or extent to which the material is used, and the effect on marketability.  With the increasing use of technology, it is imperative that our students know about FUP and copyright issues in order to be good citizens.

This assignment has been an educational journey of epic proportions for this researcher.  At first it seemed simple enough to research, yet when one delves into the information, with the idea of teaching it to our students, the sheer magnitude of the subject can become overwhelming.  FUP and Copyright was only a fifth of the digital safety portion of this class, and one that will certainly be taught in future classes conducted by  me.

Students in my classroom will also be introduced to Wiggio, especially if divided into groups for project work.  This has been one of the more enjoyable tools given this semester.  It has become a personal challenge to use all aspects of this 'meeting-room'; from adding files or links, to scheduling events, calls or chat rooms, or creating a document to share with others.  They don't have to all be online at the same time in order to work on a project.  It will be a great tool to give students to use!
For this group, most of the tools were used as well in creating the presentation. Eventually, all members participated in some form and contributed through this medium.

Byrne,R. (2009). Comprehensive lesson plans for teaching copyright. Retrieved April 24, 2012 from Free Technology for Teachers. Website: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2009/05/comprehensive-lesson-plans-for-teaching.html

Copyright:United States Copyright Office (2012) Retrieved April 30,2012.  From Library of Congress. website: http://www.copyright.gov/

Kardick, M., (2012).  Exploring plagiarism, copyright, and paraphrasing. Retrieved April 24, 2012 from ReadWriteThink website: http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/exploring-plagiarism-copyright-paraphrasing-1062.html?tab=4#tabs

Teaching Copyright, (2012).  Retrieved April 24, 2012 from Electronic Frontier Foundation website: http://www.teachingcopyright.org/