Sunday, February 13, 2011

Thing Nine - Creative Commons

I can say that I have never noticed the Creative Commons logo before doing this assignment. I am glad that we were given the task of exploring more about Creative Commons. Last semester we did have to learn about copyright and making sure to cite sources. But we also learned how to find photos marked for reuse. I did not think there were different levels of reuse until doing this assignment.
I think it is important that we instruct students not only on copyright but also on Creative Commons. Since there are so many photos, videos and soundbites that can be used, students need to understand how to find those things that they don't have to always seek permission from the owner of the copyright. If students understand these uses, they may be more careful with what they post to the web, both through school assignments and also in personal use on social network sites and blog pages. I have used images in my teaching, but to be honest, am not sure if I may have violated any copyright or Creative Commons licenses. I certainly hope not.
Some potential negatives to using CC in postings may be the understanding of the minor details for reuse. For example, a teacher creates a presentation for a class using photos in that presentation that are marked for attribution, share alike and non-commercial use. A colleague sees the presentation and suggests that the teacher seek to present at a local conference where she will receive payment for presenting. Would this then violate non-commercial use? There could be other possible violations without people even being aware of it. Overall though, I believe that CC provides an easier avenue for teachers and students to build products for presentations in class.

2 comments:

  1. That is something I've never thought about, the fact that CC makes it easier to create a presentation that can be used again and again without violating "the BIG C". How many times have I right clicked an image and saved it to my hard drive for use and not even thought of citing where the picture came from!?!

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  2. I know I made a few errors but learning about Creative Commons can help us to stay out of jail. I am glad I learned about it and have decided that sometimes its best to capture our own images if we are not sure about which photos are safe. If I use someone elses image, I'm going to cite it like there is no tomorrow.

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