Thompson, K. (2095, April). Copyright 101. Learning and Leading with Technology, 10-13. ISTE: Eugene, OR.
The Article
This article by Kate Thompson seeks to inform the reader about the purpose of copyright and how it relates to the classroom. She devotes a portion of her article to discussing "Fair Use" of material, and frames it under education by providing specific examples that may present itself to educators. Thompson finishes the article by explaining how works in the public domain work, offering 2 rules-of-thumb that define what works may be considered to be in the public domain. Although a brief article, Thompson achieves what her article title claims. She offers a broad overview of copyright rules and applies it directly to a teacher's job.
Thompson begins her article by explaining that copyright laws are in place to protect original work. Basically, the exist to protect an owner's right to an intellectual work (and the right to profit from it) as well as to encourage original creative thought. Copyright covers everything from "novels, poetry, songs, motion pictures, computer software, and architectual works" (p.11). In terms of education, fair use laws do offer educators a way to integrate copyrighted work into the classroom. Educational fair use protects a teacher's right to use material to support or enhance educational purposes. In practice, this may be seen through a teacher who may lawfully make copies of a poem for his/her class. Fair use does not cover a teacher or educator who may want to copy and distribute a full textbook, as it will then negative affect the original work's commercial interest. Thompson offers several examples of this, as a way for readers wh owork in education to relate to what may seem intimidating copyright laws.
My Personal Response and NETS
Copyright laws seem to be very complicated and difficult to understand. Thompson does a good job of applying copyright laws to education careers. Fair Use laws seem to be a very helpful source to know and rely on when trying to share something with your class. Educational tools such as videos and articles often times enhance learning when used correctly in the classroom. To be able to use them and employ them in ways that will help student understanding is protected under Fair Use laws. Also, works that are considered in the public domain are also bery beneficial. For example, Google Books is a very good example of how novels and written work that is currently in the public domain can be used in the classroom. Thompson mentions Jane Austen, and her 6 written novels are currently completely free and available on Google Books. To be able to use these resources provide more ways to encourage students to have the original thoughts that copyright laws want to promote and protect.
This article and the copyright rules relate the most to the NETS for teachers. NETS 4 :Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility, which teachers will be doing by learning about copyright rules and then transmitting that information to students. Expecting students to follow your example, on how to cite and research, will also encourage their own work to be responsible in terms of digital citizenship. Another NETS for teachers that this article relates to is NETS 5: Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership. By studying up on how to properly proceed in the gathering and sharing of materials in class, including learning all about copyright, teachers will be updating themselves with the newest knowledge. To truly understand and guide, teachers must first continue learning. To keep an open mind and investigate more on subjets like copyright is just one of the things that teachers can do to continue their professional growth.
