Copyright - Shmopyright?

Coypright-Shmopyright? Not really so!


Since I’m a teacher, I've mostly assumed that I don’t have to worry about ‘Copyright'. Burying my head in the sand doesn’t excuse me from the law and rather perpetuates the problem of copyright issues.

In one of my graduate classes I was first (and formerly) introduced to the issues of copyright and fair use. It made me realize that we all need to be cognizant and aware of the Copyright protections as well as the Fair Use rules in education (and elsewhere).


While using images and multimedia in the classroom is key to helping my students make connections to what they are learning (please see Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age by David Rose & Anne Meyer), I still need to be responsible and make sure that I am abiding by the rules. No longer can I bury my head in the sand as before.


A great site that explains copyright is from University of Maryland University College . A great site for Best Practices and Fair Use for Media Literacy in Education is from American University Center for Social Media. This site from Temple University - School of Communications and Theater provides a Powerpoint slide show and other resources.


After reading about Copyright in the 30 Day Teacher Challenge I realized that I need to change how I’m using images, not only in my blogs, but in my teaching as well. As an educator, I need to set a good example for my students.


So here is my goal: I will start posting images and making them part of the Public Domain. In this small way, perhaps I will be helping others when it comes time to worrying about Copyright and Fair Use!


On a side note: I played around with the second part of the challenge which was to take an image and remake....Loved it....I used BeFunky.


Here are some of the pics I made from a photo I titled: Stopping by the Woods (from my favorite Robert Frost poem). The very top one is my favorite.

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