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Creative Commons could clearly be called a disruptive technology. For those of us concerned with the BIG C - copyright violations (and that would be all of us), Creative Commons offers an easy way to build upon others' works legally. Take this opportunity to look at the movie below, explore the Creative Commons website and share how you think this new idea will change the face of education - and the world.

 

Janice  

 

Sorry I couldn't get the embed to work consistently and Luis was so kind in providing the link below.

 

 

For those that can't see the video, this is the website.  The name of the video is Reticulum Rex.

http://support.creativecommons.org/videos

--Luis

DISCUSSION QUESTION 3:

Creative Commons will most certainly have an effect on the world of education.  Students can use other people works without fear of copyright violation.  For example, if students needed a video for a presentation they could access the Flickr Creative Commons and pick what they like.  I found this site Jamendo that has music that can be shared.  Students can remix or sample the music to compose creations of their own.  All this can be done without copyright issues.  I especially like MIT's OpenCourseware project.  Projects like this promote collaboration between instructors in an effort to improve education.

--- Luis

 

Thank you Luis for the sites that you gave us.  I checked the out.  I can see that I would have to direct them carefully as there are somethings that I would not want them to browse through.  But yes, the site shares.

 

--Millie

 

I think it will be really nice to show students cc and c.  For example, when 5th graders are competing in UIL technology, it will be so helpful to have some sites to offer them for things the can freely access.  I also think it may help in teaching about copyright.  Since there will be specific things to point out that have the cc versus everything else on the web.  A lot of stuff is not marked anything.  As adults, we know (or should know) we can’t just borrow from the web.  However, kids don't know that until they are taught.

--Laura

I agree with you completely.  It is important to teach them why there are copyrights and how easily they can be violated.  Students should understand why they should pay attention to copyrights and why they were brought about in the first place.  This would give the students a greater appreciation of what Creative Commons is doing for creators.  The students would be able to understand the full benefits of being able to share their ideas and use other's ideas.

--Kelly

 

You are right Laura, copyright should still be taught and respected. I have come across many students who think it to be a joke and no penalty for it. What's important is to teach them to respect it. This generation really believes so much in sharing. I remember hearing about a teacher who was having this discussion with a student who just turned in a research paper. He spent weeks on it. The teacher announced that the entire class would share in the grade of the hard work of this young man. The young man knowing there were those in his class who really didn't deserve, protested.  He claimed that was his work and he deserved the grade not others. As the student realized what he was saying, the professor just smiled and told the class never mind. Of course, you have to think about those poor kids who didn't do the paper...getting their hopes up and then dashing them. How cruel...:)

 

--Jason

 

I use an example from my own life when teaching my students about copyright. I had entered a contest in Instructor Magazine that was co-sponsored by Elmer's Glue. I sent in my entry, the contest finished, and I never heard anything. One day, when I visited the Elmer's Glue website, I saw my exact entry staring me in the face. No credit was given to me for my work, nor did it have anything to do with the contest. When I called them on it, they said I had given up all rights to my work when I sent it to them. I made it clear to them that I did no such thing, and they eventually sent me a "peace offering." But I was never given credit for my work. When my students are outraged at the way my work was stolen, they think twice about stealing the work of others.

 

--Marla

 

Wow, what an experience.  It is good that you are sharing that experience with your class, I am sure that will remember that example for a long time and hopefully they will also remember the reason for behind it.  Did they take it off their site or at least gave you credit for it? 

 

-- Janie

 

Nope. It is still on their website, my actual work (not even redone), with absolutely no credit. Here is the link: http://www.elmers.com/projects/viewproject.asp?p=FileFolderPortfolio. The real kicker was that it was a "Teacher Appreciation Week" promotional email that linked to the site. What a way to feel appreciated, huh?

--Marla

 

I could not get the video to work.  But if I understand the website correctly, this idea would benefit educators.  I believe that licencing and copyrights have shifted education to a "money making" venture rather than a learning venture.  I believe that they often limit teachers from accessing the materials they need for a great lesson.  I can remember when I started teaching, we used everything and anything we could find to teach a concept.  We made copies freely, used videos, music, and art freely as needed.   I think it was around 1990-91 when I attended my first "copyright" workshop.  Wow, I was surprised to find how much of what we were using was copyrighted.  After that I did make calls and wrote for permission to use lessons, worksheets, art from books and almost always was granted permission.  But now, it has even gone further.  Most of the companies we work with today want yearly "licencing fees" for districts to use their lessons and materials.  I have also encountered professors that have developed "models" for learning that also want fees to use thier materials.  It seems like it is all about the money.  I welcome the idea of shared lessons and materials without fear of being sued.  Just think--that would mean that we would put learning before profit.  What a novel idea!

--Sylvia

 

 

The unfortunate reality of traditional copyright is that it only protects those who can afford to defend their claims in court. If an individual steals your work, you might be able to defend your rights if you have $20,000 in the bank to devote to the project. But if a corporation steals your work, you might as well kiss it goodbye. Take the fairly recent example of Harlan Ellison, who spent $315,000 in his copyright infringement suit against AOL. For me, this is the greatest thing about Creative Commons--it allows you to protect your works from the corporate vultures, by willingly "releasing them into the wild." If you aren't interested in marketing your own works, Creative Commons can help you protect them precisely by giving people permission to distribute them.

 

--Marla

I experienced the same "free for all" when I started teaching.  It never crossed my mind that I needed to get license to use materials I found on the web, or out of a book.  For me, it is a bit hypocritical because as educators we all have the same goal of giving our students the best education possible.  However, I do understand the need to get credit for your ideas, it is important to be recognized.  And, like you said most people will have no problems letting you use their ideas in the classroom. 

-- Kelly

 

This is an interesting point Sylvia. I came across a site where teachers were selling their plans and supporting materials to other educators for really cheap. Some of them were about $1-$5. I thought what a great idea. My dean however informed me that "technically" anything I developed as an educator for any of my classes belongs to the district. They are not mine to copyright. If I had done it before I was assigned a class, maybe. And that is discouraging. I am a pretty creative person with lots of ideas and the only ones able to have access to it, are those of our district.

--Jason

Jason, I think it is wrong that any institution that claims to promote learning would choose to bar you from sharing your knowledge by claiming ownership to your ideas.  Sadly, todays learning institutions are becoming more like corporations.  Instead of setting your ideas free into the world, they would prefer to lock them up.  I wonder if this limits you from apply a (CC) to it since you are the creator.  If everyone kept their ideas to themself then how will we ever discover something new.

 

-- Luis

 

Yes Jason, I also found out that what we do in our classes belong to the district.  That was kind of dissappointing to me.  Even though there are some teachers out there who still try to sell their work for a small price as long as you mention their names on your work.  I wonder how their school district feels about it.  I too have called or email to get permission to use some of their works but the bottom line, "yes, if you would like to make a contribution..."  Money, Money, Money!!!

 

--Millie

 

I did not know that. I need to keep that in mind when I begin teaching.  I thought that as long as it was used in the classroom for learning purposes, then it would be ok to use it.  I learned something new. 

-- Janie

 

It will be interesting to see how this affects for profit groups who create things for education.  Wouldn't it be neat to see the cc stuff take off and companies buy in to it and start sharing more and more of their stuff?  Can you imagine how much money schools could save?  Ordering workbooks can take up huge portions of a school's budget.  It's horrible.

--Laura

 

Laura, that's exactly my point.  School products have become a huge money making venture through the idea of copyright.  Basically--it seems that many companies say "here's an idea if you want to use it you have to pay me".  I do not want to give the impression that I do not respect the idea of what the copyright issue is about--to give credit and recognition where it is due---I'm all for that.  If you have a great idea I want to recognize you for that idea.  Kids should be taught to understand what that means.  However, I belive that there are people out there who use it to make a profit.  For example, there are several lab activities that we have used in science for the longest time----some of these are very good actitivies to demonstrate science concepts with kids----but now if company X copyrights the activity ---does that mean I can no longer use it?  Do they own it merely because they copyrighted it before anyone else?  I guess I struggle with the intent of the copyright not the idea.  

--Sylvia   

 

Actually, the intent of copyright is to allow people to profit from their creative expressions (and Creative Commons even allows for this, with their "Founders Copyright"). One of the issues considered in the infringement of copyright is whether or not the offense has a "market effect." And though I think the selling of our educational system to for profit groups is a bad thing, as an educator there are times when I have considered publishing and marketing some of my better lessons. But if I'm not willing to take the time to market these lessons, does this mean they should never see the light of day? Enter Creative Commons. Now I can publish an unpolished version of my lessons, allowing others to modify them and sell them commercially, so long as my name is attached. If I'm not worried about micromanaging the output, I can just let it go.

 

--Marla

 

This is a great idea. My film students and I were talking about this as we were trying to come up for a soundtrack for our summer film. It is a great concept. When I was teaching video,  I had read  how  some independent filmmakers were putting raw video footage up on the net in commons for folks to edit and use collaboratively for a film.  I think it is only fitting that this has shown popularity with today's generation. From what I have read of millennials, this is a generation that loves to share (music, movies, and yes, even answers to tests). When I was reading about the creators of the video game Doom, one of the creator's, John Carmack, refused to licensed the breakthrough game engine they had developed. He said that would violate the Hackers Ethic. Follow the link to read the Hacker's Ethic by Steven Levy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker_ethic).  I think it fits well with the idea behind Creative Commons and sharing. In regards to education, I think it gives educators more resources than before. I know in video, it sure helped. We used footage from Archive.org for a few projects. I think it goes back to the idea of globalism. The world is connected and now so is the work.  

 

--Jason

 

Jason, that type of project sounds exciting.  I found this video on the net and I think it helps explain (CC) to your students.   http://mirrors.creativecommons.org/getcreative/clicktoplay.html  It is really great to not have to worry about copyright when working on a projects with students.  It makes sense to me that the video game creator chose not to license the game engine.  To him progress and credit is more important than money.

 

--Luis

 

 

I think that is really exciting how you guys can use the music on CC for you movie.  You are right, people want to share their ideas and more importantly, people want to see what other's are creating.  So does this mean you can use the music from CC to mix a soundtrack, and then you can copyright that yourself.  I'm still trying to wrap my head around the whole idea, but I think I get the gist of it.  The possibilities are tremendous.

--Kelly

 

As a librarian and graduate student, I have been so immersed in copyright, that Creative Commons sounds so foreign to me. It would take a lot of exploring for me to get comfortable with the idea for myself and even more time before I would be comfortable sharing it with my faculty and students. It’s a really neat idea. I loved the picture they gave of a child cutting and pasting. I’m sure we have all made a collage at some point in our life – cutting and pasting magazine pictures of our teenage idols or pictures of our dream house interior. Kids try to do that with online stuff all the time and I always tell them, “You can’t do that.” And teachers wonder why they can’t just “use” anything they find online in any way they want. It will take a lot or re-programming of educator’s thinking to get this underway.

 

--Laura

 

Getting the teachers to "want" to learn about this is a big challenge, but everyone has to remember that if it benefits children by facilitating learning, then it really is a good deal.  Having teachers watch a video on CC is not enough.  For every great, new idea there is training to be done. 

 

--Ruby

 

Yes, Ruby and Laura, I agree with both of you.  It is a big challenge to re-train veteran teachers because they were so used to use whatever they wanted without thinking about copyrights.  The novice teachers coming in already have had exposure to copyrights in their college classes that they could help out with the training. Now the challenge is if the veteran teachers will listen to the novice teachers.

 

--Millie

 

I also agree,  I do not see the veteran teachers wanting to go though more trainings.  Also, I don't think that they would be willing to listen to the novice teachers because they are already set on their teaching styles and do not want to change. 

--Janie

 

I found the video very interesting.  Creative Commons is something new to me as well.  I believe that it will surely benefit in education because our students can use information that they need and not be worried about the copyright violations.  As teachers we need to teach them about the copyright violations but Creative Commons has made it easier for us to use information that we need and not get in trouble.

 

Delia Villarreal

 

This is such a great concept.  I can't even count the many creations that I could have copyrighted.  I never had the time or made the effort to copyright any of my endeavors.  I have created databases, etc for specific reasons that I could have easily copyrighted and made available to the world and maybe even profit from using CC.  I see a great use in this for educators in all fields and all grade levels.  I imagine an instructor of a programming language creating an software application and having students create a new software application using his copyrighted version in CC.  At a lower level an elementary teacher can create a puppet movie or show that teaches a lesson then copyright using CC while sharing it with the world.  This is so exciting because it puts the ability to create copyrighted applications, movies, etc. in everyones hands.  It also educates educators, and students about copyright laws. 

 

Daniel Runnels

 

This is clearly a breakthrough for the educational realm.  I have so many created videos and lessons that I have made for my students, and I would love to share them with others.  I think that the concept of sharing knowledge and ideas is vital in education.  Not everyone has a creativity bone, but they may have other thoughts and ideas that may supplement a creative thought or lesson.  I really like the idea that it is understood that the creator is "willing" to share.   As an educator, I know that the best way to learn--is from each other. Creative commons is a great extension of this idea.

 

--Ruby Rodriguez

 

I agree with you Ruby.  When I make something that really works well, I want to share it - not sell it.  I guess I could never be an entrepreneur!  

--Laura

 

This was a very interesting video. Copyrights do play an important part in our lives, especially to the educators. In the education business, we introduce our students to be creative and of course they want to add music and videos to their creations, therefore, I believe that this site will help them find music and remix to their own taste.  It is good ethics to teach our children that we just can’t get what they want without asking permission first. Even though this site has made it easier to add music or videos to projects, it still touches on copyright issues and the need to share with others legally.