Week 9: Copyright & Fair Use

My first job post-college was in the Copyright and Permissions office of a publishing company. Each day I would receive letters from authors and publishers seeking permission to use figures, tables, graphs, and other content previously published in one of our journals. My job was to approve or reject the request based on our criteria. Requests would be from colleges seeking to produce copies of articles for course packets, authors wishing to use a graph in a new article, or publishers seeking to reproduce extended passages in textbooks.

Five years later I was working as a librarian, guiding students and faculty on the ethical use of information. My general rule when working with students of any age: if you didn’t create it, give credit to whoever did. “It” can be ideas, information, pictures, drawings, videos, even sounds.

Everyone accepts that ideas and information should be cited. However many assume that if something has been published to the internet, it is safe to use in any way we’d like. I think the biggest area of copyright abuse occurs through Google Image result sets, which are often treated no differently than the clip-art that comes with MS Word. With the easy availability of material, information seekers find it difficult to believe that there is actually content out there that they are not allowed to use, even if they cite the source. Understanding how to apply the finer details of copyright and fair use can be difficult, even for those familiar with the laws.

For this reason I love Technology & Learning’s "Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines for Teachers". This is a teacher-friendly guide to working with material created by others. I like that it draws the line between what can be shared within the walls of the classroom vs published to the internet. This infographic also distinguishes between the two most common uses within the classroom – instructional tool and new work. The guidelines differentiate between the two uses, clearly explaining what can be shared, how much of the original can be included, and under what circumstances use is permitted. While it doesn’t cover all circumstances, it is a good reference for teachers as they model ethical use of information for their students.

I also really liked the video “Understanding "Fair Use" in a Digital World” published by Common Sense Education. It is a great teaching model for discussing copyright and fair use with students. The teacher guides students as they evaluate works that incorporate copyrighted material. Her examples are of high interest and are from the media culture in which students live. As students grapple with determining whether the videos fall under the rules of fair use, they begin to have some understanding of what is truly acceptable for them to use in their own productions.

Week 6: Working with Videos and Moving Images

Task #1: Storyboarding your MMP

My site will be a self-paced digital workshop highlighting 5 Google Apps tools. I hope to use color to group similar type tools -- extensions, add-on, and apps.

The introduction page will include an overview and description of the tool types. This site does not have to be explored in a linear fashion. All information and media on a specific tool will be housed on a single page. A simple yet clear navigation will be visible on each page, allowing participants to move between topics based on interest.

A consistent font will be used throughout the site. Content will be organized on the page in a consistent manner: overview, how to install, how to access, demonstration, suggested classroom use, links for additional support/reading/inspiration. Media (images, videos, etc.) will have purpose.



Task #2: Concept in 60 Video
I have had Corel Video Studio installed on my laptop for over a year now. I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally figure out how to use it to make a video. It didn't take long for me to remember why I had been putting off using this tool -- there are so many features, options, and attributes. Even working with a premade template was more challenging than I expected. I accepted defeat in certain areas, but was able to maintain consistent transitions, group similar photos, and use the same font throughout.

Week 5: Working with Digital Images

Cropping Exercise
Creative cropping can effect the viewer's perception of what is happening in the image. This photo depicts an active lake resort.

Original image.

Kayak alone in the water.

Serene lakefront property. This was a challenge because of the change in color of the water surface. Only a small amount of the lake could be used, otherwise it looks like there is a wave approaching the shore.

This final selection from the original image shows just the water.

Color Echo Exercise
I really liked the look of this butterfly, and wanted to look more closely at its color composition. I was surprised to see the specific colors found with the eyedropper tool.

I wanted to find a font that complemented the jagged edges and soft texture of the butterfly. I settled for a simple serif, perhaps because it has the classic look found in textbooks and museums. Keeping the same layout and typeface I experimented with background and text color. The final image includes a background developed using a custom gradient. The darker background showed me that I needed to increase tolerance when using the magic wand to remove the white background. Even though I do like the translucent feeling of the final image, the simplicity of the first image is my personal favorite.

Border Variation Exercise

For this exercise I experimented with border color, shape, and texture.