Copyright: Who's being protected?

The question of copyright is a tricky one for me. Before entering teaching I was a professional photographer who relied upon the law to protect my images from being “stolen” and used by others. At times in my previous life I had to resort to a lawyer to protect my property. Even then I found copyright to be a slippery slope. Ultimately my feelings about copyright have not change even though I have changed careers.

I have always felt and still feel that copyright law is intended to make sure that ownership and financial gain go to the person who created the work. That said, the times that I had to invoke the law was to stop someone else from profiting from my work without compensating me. I have never felt that if my images were being used in a student’s project that any harm was being done and I would never have taken any action to stop that kind of use.

As a teacher I am very aware of when students “borrow” images for their reports or projects and have discussed that they are in violation of the owners copyright. I also tell the students that if they are going to use someone else’s images that they should give credit just as they would footnote a passage or information that is not theirs.

I believe that intent is the major concept that needs to be addressed when looking at copyright infringement. If the intent is to profit or destroy from another’s work then copyright has been violated and needs to be dealt with. If the intent is to use for an educational purpose, even if the original is changed, then I do not think that the owner is losing out on any profit that may be earned. That said, this “new” creation should not be displayed and passed off without permission from the original copyright holder.

That takes us to the new form of mashups. The Internet and technology has made it very easy to take many sources and create something new. I believe that these new creations are a violation of the original copyright because they are being displayed and social networking sites for the sole intention to re-purpose them for the new creators profit. This profit may not be financial but does harm the original creator because they are not given credit and their original work has been “borrowed” and changed without their permission.

Copyright protection for these new mashups should not be allowed. The work is not from an original source and was created without permission. You have to start with ownership, or at least permission, to claim that it is your original work. This new creation still belongs to the original creators, no matter how many there are. The new creator can enjoy their creation but should not be allowed to post or claim any ownership over this new creation.

If you steal a bunch of car parts and build your own car it is still stolen!

After studying my results for the Star Chart I am not completely in agreement with the outcome. After completing the survey the results stated that my school is in a Mid Tech level. I agree with the overall level placement but I felt that some of the questions and answer options were geared toward schools beyond the K-8 classroom. I felt that the age level of my students and school precluded me from being able to give my school a higher rating.

I feel that my school and district offer many technological advantages over many of the other schools in the area. There are always areas that can be strengthened so that we can achieve greater success with technology in the classroom and community. I would propose to my principal that our school and district needs to focus our shared vision, work on assessment and evaluation, and build engaged communities.

First and foremost we need to work on a vision that not only compliments what we are doing in the classroom but also has the districts support. I feel that my school has a vision that in not shared by our district. Our district has been very generous with its technology purchases but chooses software and hardware that may not be what the teachers want or need. The district has a habit of making top down decisions without explanation as to what that vision is. I feel that if they are going to spend all of this money on technology then we should spend it appropriately. Before hardware and software is forced upon the teacher they should be able to choose the technology that suits what they are teaching.

After honing that vision we need to put in place tools of assessment and evaluation. Without these tools we are not sure how well our technological choices are working. There are two parts to the assessment process: we need to assess the technology and we need to evaluate the teachers using that technology. Assessing the technology is to find out if our expenditures are being used wisely and if they are increasing student involvement and performance. Evaluating the teachers should be an on going process to help drive curriculum instruction, planning, and professional development. Without assessment and evaluation we do not have accountability or the information to make informed choices about our technology and teaching.

Lastly, we need to engage the community and create a partnership. Many of the parents are not as tech savvy as their children. We need to offer training to create a link between the schools, parents, and their children. Many parents in the community have not seen the benefits of technology in the classroom and need to understand the focus of the district and how all of the technology will help their child academically. The community should be aware of how all of our technology enhances student learning while engaging them in school. The skills that the students are learning in the classroom should translate into a more productive and prepared student for the pressures of the 21st century. These ideas cannot succeed without the help and support of the community.

Technology is ever changing and my school and district need to be flexible and adaptive to the needs of the students, parents, teachers, and community. Without a vision we do not know where to begin. Once that vision is secured, we need to be able to evaluate its effectiveness both of learning and for learning. We can only succeed if we engage the community that is ultimately paying for our growing technological needs. They need to understand and collaborate with us to create an environment built for success of the teacher and students. We will only be able to truly succeed if we can all be on the same page working together.