Copyright and Fair Use

 I believe that crediting people for the time, energy and creativity that they have put into their work ties in to some of the core ideas of our society. We live in a world where people feel a certain push to be the best that they can be and to follow their dreams. The outcome of these efforts should certainly be protected and identified as a product of that individual’s labors.

 Copyright and fair use law are reasonably complex issues not made much more clear by some of the language used in them as well as the fact that all of the rules behind them seem to not be centralized. Below are examples of issues involved in copyright and fair use law that I was familiar with, as well as a few that I was not.

Things I Was Already Familiar With:

Public Domain

Anytime that a work is not copyrighted it is considered public domain. Examples of things that cannot be copyrighted include ideas or facts that are in the public domain; blank forms; government works; words, names, slogans, or other short phrases (however, slogans, for example, can be protected by trademark law); works created by federal government employees as part of their official responsibility; or works for which copyright was not obtained or copyright has expired (http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/copyright.cfm#fairuse_included). Public domain allows anyone to use the material accessed at any point for any purpose.

Attribution

Throughout my academic career I have had a lot of experience attributing ideas to others or citing sources (particularly as I studied English as an undergraduate). I have sat through many lectures describing when and how one should give credit for a passage or idea to the author/ creator. This is a major issue in copyright and fair use law. However, the complexity with which it is approached is somewhat new to me. There are specific rules about the amount of or length of a work that one can share without breaking the law that make this issue much larger than just giving credit to someone when using their work. Click here to see the specific guidelines regarding this.

Things I Was Not Familiar With:

Fair Use

The United States Copyright Office describes fair use as “fair use is the most significant limitation on the copyright holder’s exclusive rights” (http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/copyright.cfm#fairuse_included). Fair use is an interesting concept as it appears to be mainly up to the individual who is attempting to use the copyrighted material to decide if their intended usage applies as fair use. The intention seems to be that the new material can have elements or ideas from the original work but must take it “above and beyond” the original or use it for non-profit or educational purposes. I had previously heard of this but did not really know what decided something as fair use or how the intention behind using the work could affect that.    

TEACH Act

The TEACH Act is the only other option (other than fair use) for “those wishing to post other people’s copyrighted material online without their prior permission; that is, when lawfully transmitting the performance (movies, music, audiovisual works) or display (text, images, photographs, charts, etc.) of 3rd party copyrighted material without the prior permissions of the copyright holder” (http://copyright.uncc.edu/teach/teach_tools.php). In order to be in compliance with this act, a list of standards must be met. The website listing this information advises that if all of these standards cannot be met, one should attempt to use the material under fair use. Click here for the basic checklist for complying with the TEACH Act and here for the expanded checklist. I had previously not been aware of the TEACH Act at all so learning a new way to use materials while being in compliance with copyright/fair use law was very informative for me.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

http://www.cyberbee.com/cb_copyright.swf

http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/copyright.cfm#fairuse_included

http://copyright.uncc.edu/teach/index.php

Tracking Cookies

 

Description:

 

Tracking cookies are used to send information from a site to a user’s browser and then back again in order to inform companies what users are looking at online. They can be used for a variety of reasons including authenticating, identifying a user’s session or tracking the interests and preferences of user’s. Tracking cookies are set up for advertising purposes (to match consumers to products that they will be interested in) as well as for marketing research.

 

A primary concern of regarding tracking cookies surrounds the privacy that they infringe upon. While users can run programs to clear tracking cookies, most default settings allow tracking cookies to be logged and kept from session to session.

 

Here is an article that describes how to remove tracking cookies from your computer.

 

What is the impact of this issue on K-12 schools, educators, and students?

 

One thing to consider about tracking cookies and its impact on schools, educators and students is appropriateness of content. In the school setting a variety of user’s will be accessing the same computers throughout the course of the day. Some users may be accessing the internet for appropriate school purposes while others may not be. Having tracking cookies on shared computers runs the risk that students will inadvertently be exposed to material based on another user’s actions. While most schools have Acceptable Usage Policies like this one, this availability of material that is not for school use on computers in schools is still a concern.

 

Another concern is the type of information students disclose on the internet. Here is a list of internet safety tips for students and teachers.

 

Integrating this topic into a classroom activity:

 

It is important that students understand how the information that they put on the internet is used to monitor their movements as well as gather information about them. One way to demonstrate this would be to show them examples of tracking cookies at work. Many email servers include ads on the sides of the email. Often times these ads reflect the interest of the user. After looking at this and talking about the types of goods and services we often search for or purchase on the internet, students should brainstorm questions and concerns about the topic. These ideas can be posted as a voicethread, wallwisher or scribblar and can be added to and updated as the year goes on. Students can collaborate and share ideas on how to be safer when using the internet.

Additional Links:

 

This video describes the way tracking cookies work and discusses the privacy issues surrounding the use of tracking cookies.

 

References:

 

http://allthingsd.com/trackingcookies/

 

http://www.ghacks.net/2010/07/17/what-is-a-tracking-cookie/

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTP_cookie

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCduHebLzCA

 

http://www.wiredkids.org/resources/documents/pdf/ex-aup.pdf

 

http://www.k12science.org/internetsafety.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web 2.0

How, as a future educator of these 21st century students, do you intend to use Web 2.0 tools in your classroom?

I intend upon using Web 2.0 tools in my classroom as much as possible. One thing that I have learned over the last five years is that embracing technology makes navigating the aspects of my life easier and overall more efficient. Being able to use technology to accomplish this in my classroom could have no shortage of benefits for my future students. I think that using technology in the classroom is bigger than teaching students how to use certain websites. Often times, using technology means giving students the opportunity to express themselves, reflect on what others have said and rethink some of their own ideas, all while teaching them to read and follow directions.

One of my favorite Web 2.0 tools is voicethread. This website allows a user to post a slide show or image and allows other users to interact with it. The type of collaboration that this permits seems to be perfect for a English classroom. I can use a tool like this to have virtual group discussions regarding a theme, passage or really anything. The responses can be vocal or in a text format which will allow students to choose whichever they are most comfortable using. It also gives all students an equal chance to share their ideas which can encourage students who would not otherwise participate.

Another Web 2.0 tool that I find particularly useful is diigo. Diigo is a social bookmarking site which allows you to basically track and organize information you find online. You can highlight or tag this information and share it with others. Social bookmarking revolutionizes the concept of research. Traditionally, student either had to sit in the library copying resources from books or trying to keep track of them on the internet. Diigo does all of this for you and organizes it in a way that users can easily find what source they are looking for. Being able to see other’s tags also helps students find more material on their topic. Having the material available to everyone who is approved by the user also makes collaborative research easier as students can see everything that is available from home and do not have to worry about who has what part of the research.

Overall, I think that using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom will help to make learning more interactive and interesting for students while eliminating some of the tedious elements from traditional classwork. I plan to implement them in my lessons as much as possible to encourage students to use their existing technological knowledge and to build on this to enrich their experience as learners.

How do you foresee classroom technology use in 5-10 years? How will integrating technology into the classroom be the same and/or different?

I think classroom technology will change significantly in the next 5-10 years. There are already schools that are converting from textbooks to e-readers and some even have laptops or tablets for each student already. In the next 5-10 years I think students will all have these devices for use at school and at home virtually replacing the notebook, pen and paper that students use currently. Integrating technology allows learning to be more personalized in many ways (particularly as you can set your device to your own personal setting) and allows students to access resources not necessarily found in (or extremely limited in) the classrooms of today. I do not think that much of the material will change; students will still learn the same subjects etc. but I do think that improving the way that this information is disseminated will allow classrooms to become more efficient (which will allow time for students to learn more material or the same material to a greater depth) and more effectively hold student interest.

Here is a link to an article about iPods replacing textbooks in some schools already:

Schools Dump Textbooks for iPods, Laptops

Also, here is a video about a school using e-readers and e-books in the classroom:

Discussion Questions for UDL Module

1. At the core of UDL is the premise that often the curriculum is disabled (and disabling!). It is not flexible; it often poses barriers, and consequently prevents rather than supports optimal learning experiences. Do you agree or disagree with this view? Why or why not?

I agree that the current curriculum is disabled (and disabling). I think that addressing the individual needs of each learner is certainly challenging and time consuming (particularly as classes are no longer compiled of students with similar skill levels but seem to vary greatly). Supporting the optimal learning experiences of each individual student is important to each individual student. After leaving our classrooms, these people will go on to be members of our society, helping to make choices about what happens in our country, with our government, etc. It is our obligation to them and us by giving them the best possible base of knowledge and tool kit to address the situations they may face in the future. It seems as though the current curriculum becomes narrower to address the needs of different learners. This should simply not be acceptable. Providing our youth with an education is the most important thing we can do for them. As it stands now, some students are able to reap the full benefits of a public school education while others learn and achieve less in the same classrooms. Adapting the curriculum to meet student’s needs should not mean teaching them less but teaching them the same material in a way that they can understand it. UDL is in many ways the answer to this dilemma. By tailoring the curriculum to the interests and needs of students we are not only teaching them the material but building them into capable students. By helping students understand the best ways that they learn and encouraging self-regulation we are preparing students for a lifetime of successful learning.

2. What are the benefits of analyzing the curriculum for strengths and weaknesses rather than focusing on the student’s strengths and weaknesses? What are the challenges of this approach?

There are multiple benefits of analyzing the curriculum for strengths and weaknesses rather than focusing on the student’s strengths and weaknesses. First of all, focusing on the curriculum does not blame students for their weaknesses. Often times a student will be labeled as incapable, stupid or unwilling to learn when they do not do as the teacher expects them to. Students are children who are not fully developed cognitively and do not have the training or maturity that the adults in the situation have. The student may not understand why he/she exhibits the behavior that they do or why they do not understand the material presented to them. Focusing on improving the curriculum rather than on what the student is doing gives each student a fair chance at success. In addition, analyzing the curriculum and not the student promotes reform overall and not just within the narrow scope of individual classrooms. Looking at the entire system will help educators and administrators improve the system for all students.

This approach is challenging as it is difficult to analyze a curriculum in a country as large as ours and difficult to implement changes after it has been analyzed. Many teachers have been teaching the same material in the same way for a long time and may resist altering this. Also, any large scale changes will take time to fully implement and then to evaluate for success.

Theorist Review: Cognitive Behavioral Theory (Gagné)

(Retrieved from http://itls.usu.edu:8080/groups/6505_knowledgebase/wiki/f20c6/images/c3b04.png)

 

(Created using www.bubb.us.com)

   Robert Gagné was an educational psychologist born in 1916. His greatest contributions included pioneering military training programs, specifically with regards to pilot training in the air force during World War II.

The roots of his work were based in behavioralism as he developed a hierarchy to develop skills “based on the foundations of behavioral psychology which bases theories on observable behavior” (Recker 1996). Gagné theorized that after observing a behavior, one could analyze the task to recognize the components necessary to acquire the desired skill. As a result, he was able to outline five outcomes of learning: verbal information, intellectual skills, cognitive strategies, attitude and motor skills. He also subcategorized intellectual skills into five components: discriminations, concrete concepts, defined concepts, rules, and higher order rules. The following chart indicates what conditions, internally and externally, are relevant to each type of learning:

Type of Learning	Internal Conditions	External Conditions
Cognitive Strategy	Recall of relevant rules and concepts	Successive presentation and concepts (usually over an extended period of time) of novel problem situations with class of solutions unspecified Demonstration of solution by student
Verbal Information	Recall of larger meaningful context	Present new information in larger context
Attitude	Recall of information and intellectual skills relevant to the targeted personal actions	Establishment or recall of respect for “source” (usually a person)
Motor Skills	Recall of component motor chains	Establishment or recall of executive subroutine(rules) Practice of total skill

-taken from Instructional-Design Theories and Models: An Overview of their Current Status by Charles M. Reigeluth p.83. (Retrieved from http://itls.usu.edu/~mimi/courses/6260/theorists/Gagne/overview.htm)

In addition to the five outcomes of learning, Gagné also developed nine instructional events to guide teaching. Gagné believed that learning was a cumulative process where new knowledge was added onto existing knowledge through planned learning. This type of learning model seems particularly productive in training or a military environment. Additionally, Gagné did not believe that learning was dependent upon the age or maturation of the learner. The nine instructional events outlined by Gagné are as follows:

1. Gain attention (ex. Hand up at the beginning of class to silence students)

2. Informing the learner of the objective (ex. Reading objective from board)

3. Stimulating recall of prerequisites (ex. Tapping background knowledge/ review prior lessons)

4. Presenting the stimulus material (ex. “hook” or presenting material for day)

5. Providing learning guidance (ex. Show an example)

6. Eliciting the performance (ex. Have students practice the skill being learned)

7. Providing feedback (ex. Correct misconceptions and reinforce learning)

8. Assessing the performance (ex. Formal or informal assessment of work completed)

9. Enhancing retention and transfer (ex. Ask students to perform a task generalizing the information or relating it to another topic)

Gagné related these instructional events with certain cognitive processes that learners are to be experiencing at each step: (1) reception (2) expectancy
(3) retrieval of prior knowledge (4) selective perception 
(5) semantic encoding (6) responding (7) reinforcement
(8) retrieval and (9) generalization (Kearsley 2009).

Three main characteristics of Gagné’s theory are cognitions, environment and feedback. The theory is behavioralist in nature in that a trained response in intended to be elicited after the repetition of certain processes. He takes into account both the internal and external influences on the learner as well as the learner’s reaction to feedback from the teacher.

The theory has both strengths and weaknesses. In many cases, it seems as though students are responsive to a set routine. Gagné’s nine events of instruction seem to parallel the structure for lesson writing that is encouraged still today. As mentioned earlier, much of Gagné’s theories were created as a result of both his background in psychology and his involvement with the military. As a result, his theories are reasonably rigid and are more teacher-centered than student-centered. Many would view this as a weakness in his theories.

The outcomes of learning and nine instructional events are more closely related to direct instruction than constructivism. This is because the theories do not account for students creating their own knowledge or discovering new knowledge for themselves. The theories are based on strategies the teacher should implement to facilitate learning and ways that the teacher can instruct more effectively. The teacher is the vehicle through which knowledge and understanding are reached.

One way in which technology can be incorporated into classroom instruction using the nine instructional events is through the use interactive simulations in a Science class. For example, there are often certain experiments that students cannot perform due to a lack of technology, equipment, funds or even the fact that the premise of the experiment is not physically viewable. Using interactive simulations can allow students to overcome these barriers. Websites like http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new offer a multitude of experiments that teachers can guide the students through and then allow them to practice hands on after having learned the material theoretically. Taking students through a process like this would involve all nine instructional events and would serve as a strong reinforcement for the material and skills learned.

A classroom making it possible for students to learn in this way would need enough computers for each student or at least for students to work in pairs. It would also need a projector to allow the teachers computer to be visible to the students in order to provide the initial instruction. Many of the lessons from the mentioned website could be applicable in either middle or high school classrooms depending upon the specific science class being taught. The simulation “Building an atom” for example, could be used to teach the basic composition of atoms in a more clearly visible way or in a Chemistry classroom as the simulation includes a Periodic Table of Elements as well as other information pertinent to that subject matter. The goal for this type of instruction would be to make the learning more interesting and relevant to the students. Many times students read material in their texts that can seem abstract and confusing. Being able to visualize this information can help them to retain it more easily. The students would complete the simulation and the teacher could have them complete a task using the simulation to integrate the technology into the assessment as well as the learning.

(Retrieved from http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/build-an-atom)

Resources:

Interactive Simulations http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/category/new

Conditions of Learning (R. Gagne) http://tip.psychology.org/gagne.html

Robert Gagne: 22 http://itls.usu.edu:8080/groups/6505_knowledgebase/revisions/f20c6/22/

Bubb.us www.bubb.us.com

Gagne’s Theories of Instruction http://itls.usu.edu/~mimi/courses/6260/theorists/Gagne/overview.htm

Learning Theory http://www.csulb.edu/~dkumrow/conference/learning_theory.html

Technobiography

I have a reasonably limited relationship with technology. As a child, the only access to computers that I had was through my school and public library. I had something that resembled a computer for a few years at the end of high school but would not actually work beyond aol.com (which is all I really wanted it for). In college, I attended San Francisco State University where I had my first laptop (borrowed, older and very used) and got a little experience using the Mac computers on campus (I’m a PC). At this point, my primary medium for technology was through a computer and my primary uses were downloading music, shopping online, instant messaging and writing papers.
As the years have gone on, I have connected with technology a little more. I bought my first laptop the last semester of my undergraduate studies. Since then, I have been able to explore the internet a bit more and have been more comfortable with navigating the internet and utilizing some of the cool websites out there. Wireless technology is actually easier for me than trying to figure out where all the wires of yesterday went as well. At this point, I can operate my iPhone fairly well, recently set up my Wii without having a breakdown and am beginning to embrace whatever aspects of technology I can wrap my head around.
As a learner, I can remember using technology to type my first long paper in the eighth grade. It was a ten page paper which took my probably about twenty hours to type. The formatting, saving, and just general use of Word was an enigma to me at the time. It was a very frustrating experience to the point where I hand wrote all of my papers from then until I started college.
My current beliefs about the use of technology in the classroom are that it is imperative to helping students be prepared for their life after high school. Students today have the benefit of really having been brought up with a variety of types of technology at their fingertips. The only drawback is that many teachers were not. As a result, many times students are significantly more capable regarding technology even in the classroom. Teachers should embrace learning about technology and how it can be used in and out of the classroom in order to provide the most relevant information and up to date processes for students to learn more fully. This will hopefully help students stay motivated and interested in learning.

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