Copyright and Ethics for Students

In comparison t teachers and copyright ethics, students and copyright ethics are almost a whole another ballgame. Although teachers (in my opinion) are held more accountable, students have more reason to abuse copyright and fair-use laws and guidelines.
It seems so simple to students; the internet is free and available 24 hours a day. Students have to “Mind their Manners and don’t steal other people’s stuff”. This website has really good information about copyright violations, how parents can help, etc. There are several ways in which copyright laws can affect students. “UNC-Chapel Hill” list several ways in which copyright law might affect you as a student.
Students who are not sure whether they truly understand what is prohibited or not can take a quiz as a measure.

I can honestly state that I have not discussed this issue with my students. The most I have discussed was whether or not music was being downloaded and possible consequences for it. I think that most of the attention as far as copyright and fair-use laws and guidelines are concerned was placed in this area.

Below are a couple of good websites for students to review;

Recording industry assoc
http://www.riaa.com/default.asp

US patent and trademark
http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ahrpa/opa/kids/

Copyright and Fair use guidelines for Educators

A copyright grants the author or creator exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, adapt, perform or display the protected work. No one else may use, copy or altar the work. If someone wrongfully uses copyrighted material, the owner can take legal action.
Educators have access to endless information. Fair use guidelines gives educators a criteria for using copyrighted materials. There are 7 categories for teachers and educators. Teachers should use good moral and ethical judgment when using material on the internet. There are tools an educator can use to stay with the guidelines. Charts are an excellent tool to use.
Teachers and educators should stay within the copyright and fair use guidelines for several reasons. Below are a couple of reasons.
1.Posting materials on the internet Teachers and Educators many times post
materials on the internet.
2.Downloading music Teachers and Educators tend to download music for their
students to listen to.
I think teachers and educators (for the most part) take these laws and guidelines for granted. Not because of an absence of morals and ethics but, because their (our) goal is to educate. We want the best information for our students and may not always be conscious of the information that we use.

Now, take a quiz that will assess your knowledge of what is allowable-and what isn't-under fair use copyright principles and guidelines.

Ocean Life

Web Page Evaluations for Students

Which components are important for students to evaluate?

After observing several websites, I found that most components to evaluate were the same. Listed below are the most common components;

1. Accuracy-Is the information accurate?

2. Authority-All about the qualifications of the author

3. Objectivity-does the information display views from all sides?

4. Currency-when was the page posted and last updated?

5. Content-What topics are covered?

Most students are visual. They are attracted to design. Only one website (provided) addressed this. If students are excited about a colorful, fun web page, they are more likely to engage in the activities or read the information.

Content is important. Students should be able to look at a web page and find it's content useful. It's information should be clear and concise.

I have experienced problems in the past with information not being updated. Currency is definitely important. Not all information have to be updated, however, when needed, it should.

One area thats not listed above, "Navigation", is a criteria that I think is good for students to observe and evaluate. The user should be able to move through the web page or web site very easily.

A really good web page displays examples of all the components listed and more. When students master these components while developing a web page, they are better able to evaluate.

Standards from way back when?

The standards from 1998 are still good, however, nothing stays the same. The only thing in our lives that is constant is change!
Since 1998, the rough edges have been smoothed. Some of the standards are relevant to the technology from 1998.
Student standards #2
Social, ethical, and human issues (http://cnets.iste.org/students/s_stands.html) is one of the standards that I feel may need some adjusting. Our country has changed so much culturally that there may need to be a standard that reflects this.

Teacher standards #6
Again, teachers will have to address the changes in the classroom concerning culture-
http://cnets.iste.org/teachers/t_stands.html
We (teachers) cannot teach each student in the very same way.

Teacher Standards

Teacher Standards

ISTE standards for teachers were developed from a grant-"Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to use Technology". In the process of developing these standards for students, educators nationwide set criteria on what teachers should know about and to be able to do with technology.

There are six standards areas with performance indicators. These standards are designed to address state, university and district guidelines.

• Technology Operations and Concepts- Teachers having basic knowledge of technology.
  
• Planning and Designing Learning Environments and Experiences-being able to meet a student where they are and creating lessons that are challenging and intrinsic.
  
• Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum-creating lessons that meet content and performance standards.
  
• Assessment and Evaluation-develop forms of assessment and evaluation that measure student's level of knowledge of technology.
  
• Productivity and Professional Practice-engage in on-going PD and lifelong learning.
  
• Social, Ethical, Legal and Human Issues-promote technology and good citizenship.

Standards for Students

ISTE Nets sets standards for students and teachers. These standards describe what students should learn from K-12 and what teachers should be able to demonstrate. An array of educators developed these standards. There are six categories. These categories link students with technology to the standards. After reviewing these standard (which are great!), I found that I have used several of them in my lessons.
1. Basic operations and concepts - these operations are very basic,(ex, word processing, using search engines, e-mail,etc.
2. Social, ethical, and human issues- I have spent numerous hours discussing the care of technology tools (keyboards, mouse (ball)), CD's, etc and how important it is for us to handle gently.
3. Technology communications tools-just recently, students evaluated each others papers using written and sound wave comments.
Standards 5 and 6 are challenging for me (not impossible). I'm not sure how I would encourage students to use technology for stategies for solving problems. I am hoping for samples of this.