What is Copyright?
Copyright is the protection given to creators of material (text, image, sound) to prevent others reproducing or using their work without their permission. Copyright is automatic in Australia so works one wishes to reproduce may not have an identifying © mark. |
Why should teachers be concerned with copyright?
When a child questions the “no hat, no play” rule most teachers don’t just say “it’s a rule, you have to follow it”. They explain the long-term health issues related to sun exposure and that the rule is there to help the student. Following copyright laws is the same principle. We should follow the law, not from fear of being fined but because it is the right thing to do in terms of supporting the creators of the material. It is about “demonstrating respect for the rights and responsibilities of self and others in the digital commons,.... [downloading] music and other media files legally” (Greenhow, 2010, p. 25).
In the digital learning environment students have easy access to technology to locate, create, copy, manipulate and distribute text, image and sound files that belong to others. As educators, we need ‘character education’ with a focus, not on the technology, but on how it is used to support basic community values such as respect and empathy (Ohler, 2011). Copyright is a practical expression of the basic value of respect for the digital creators in our local and global community. It is respectful to acknowledge the contribution of others to learning.
We live in a participatory culture where young people are not only receptive to digital content but are increasingly becoming producers of the content via blogs, websites and youtube channels (Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison, and Weigel, 2006, p. 6). Encouraging students to develop this shows a respect for the work of content creators and builds a culture where this becomes a societal norm for digital citizenship so their creations are also afforded respect.
“When students see adults using technologies inappropriately, they can assume it is the norm. This leads to inappropriate technology behavior on the part of students” (Ribble, Bailey & Ross, 2004).
Educators have a responsibility to model digital citizenship to their students through behaviours such as observation of copyright law and explicity instruction regarding copyright.
Smartcopying is the official guide to copyright issues for Australian schools and offers templates to add to printed material as well as teaching resources.
Common Sense is an internationally recognised agency that supports the development of digital citizenship skills through integration of digital citizenship lessons including those with a focus on copyright, into school curriculum areas from K-12.
When a child questions the “no hat, no play” rule most teachers don’t just say “it’s a rule, you have to follow it”. They explain the long-term health issues related to sun exposure and that the rule is there to help the student. Following copyright laws is the same principle. We should follow the law, not from fear of being fined but because it is the right thing to do in terms of supporting the creators of the material. It is about “demonstrating respect for the rights and responsibilities of self and others in the digital commons,.... [downloading] music and other media files legally” (Greenhow, 2010, p. 25).
In the digital learning environment students have easy access to technology to locate, create, copy, manipulate and distribute text, image and sound files that belong to others. As educators, we need ‘character education’ with a focus, not on the technology, but on how it is used to support basic community values such as respect and empathy (Ohler, 2011). Copyright is a practical expression of the basic value of respect for the digital creators in our local and global community. It is respectful to acknowledge the contribution of others to learning.
We live in a participatory culture where young people are not only receptive to digital content but are increasingly becoming producers of the content via blogs, websites and youtube channels (Jenkins, Clinton, Purushotma, Robison, and Weigel, 2006, p. 6). Encouraging students to develop this shows a respect for the work of content creators and builds a culture where this becomes a societal norm for digital citizenship so their creations are also afforded respect.
“When students see adults using technologies inappropriately, they can assume it is the norm. This leads to inappropriate technology behavior on the part of students” (Ribble, Bailey & Ross, 2004).
Educators have a responsibility to model digital citizenship to their students through behaviours such as observation of copyright law and explicity instruction regarding copyright.
Smartcopying is the official guide to copyright issues for Australian schools and offers templates to add to printed material as well as teaching resources.
Common Sense is an internationally recognised agency that supports the development of digital citizenship skills through integration of digital citizenship lessons including those with a focus on copyright, into school curriculum areas from K-12.
Further Resources
Learn More VIEW these short videos to learn more about using Open Education Resources in your classrooms or how Creative Commons licences help share content. VISIT Smartcopying. JOIN the Copyright4Educators course. |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License