Studying the definition of copyright and the many ways to handle material correctly was quite a challenge. The material presented was not overwhelmingly hard, but tedious. There were many terms to be sure to understand and situations that are particular. The copyright flowchart is extremely helpful when deciding how to use material in the classroom. Also, the crash course videos on copyright and usage were extremely insightful and explained basic copyright law in a way that makes sense to the most novice copyright individual.
After reviewing the resources and videos from this week’s session, I believe many teachers need to review this as well. I can think of many examples of times that I used materials in my classroom that violated copyright policy simply because I did not know the steps to take to appropriately acquire permission to use what I had found. A simple Google search produced an article, activity, or video that matched our topic and we used it freely, even making copies of materials without requesting permission first. If I am doing this, I know most if not all of the teachers at my school are as well. While naivety is not an excuse, it is easily remedied with proactive leadership.
I believe that teachers need a refresher in copyright law if we are going to effectively use resources and collaborate together. Recent graduates or those in graduate programs may be aware of current copyright standards, but a large percentage of teaching staff is not. Many materials in this course are perfect examples of resources that could be used in a brief professional development to help teachers understand the importance of following these guidelines. It would be easiest to have teachers sit with content teams and review the basics of copyright law first as a group. Then, have them pull the resources they plan to use for creative and engaging lessons for a week or so of school. Once they have them, they can discuss as a team if they are copyrighted or teacher created. If they are copyrighted, they should determine whether or not they fall under fair use or public domain, and if not, if they need to obtain written permission before using it in the classroom. If they work as a team, they can find new resources for things they cannot use, or more easily share the work of contacting authors and creators to get permission to use their work.
Copyright violations at my school cannot be solved with just one person, it will be a team effort. My eyes have been opened to the seriousness of copyright infringement. Violating copyright policies is rampant in education but unfortunately not directly addressed in schools. That can change! Conscientious educators with positive communication can share the burden with administrators to educate staff and teammates in proper copyright usage and help stop the improper use of resources. Just as we want our students to give credit where credit is due, we as teachers must model that behavior.
Helpful Resources:
21st Century STEM 