No...CC Doesn't Stand For Copy-Cat...But, If You Know The Rules You Might Be Able To Copy & Paste!



U.S. at Night 2001
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

For my CEP810 Teaching Understanding with Technology class we studied the various aspects of Copyright Laws and Creative Commons Licenses. While this was definately not the most exciting lesson I have ever completed, it is a very important subject to address. We as educators have all used images from the internet in our lessons. However, did we take the time to see if the original owner of those photos had given permission for their property to be used? Did you give them proper credit for their photo? These are questions that we must all ask ourselves and assure that we are following the rules before we copy & paste a photo to use. Once you understand the process it moves pretty quick and is completed without alot of effort. The key is knowing what to look for, what the symbols and licenses mean, and how to properly give credit. So, where do we go to learn the rules? Glad you asked! Creative Commons, according to their website, is a nonprofit organization that develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation. This site will walk you through the process and help you to assure that you follow all of the rules when using media from the internet. I highly recommend you take some time to browse this site and see what it has to offer.

Once you know the rules you can feel confident in browsing the web and using various photos and media that you may find. I have found this extremely usefull when building lessons. As anyone who has ever entered my class knows, I use PowerPoint presentations on a regular basis. I use them as a visual aid when I give a lecture, I use them to provide visual information in a quick transition, to compare and contrast ideas, to front-load a new section, or with student lessons and projects. PowerPoint presentations can be a useful and versatile tool whenever you want to add visual (i.e. photos, videos, and music) elements to a lesson. My PowerPoint library has grown quite large and will continue to grow even larger. However, there are many other tools and ways to incorporate media from the internet into lessons. I would love to hear from you guys on how you locate and use media from the internet in your classrooms, Just remember to give credit where credit is due!

Finally, in this lesson, I opened a new account with Flickr. Flickr is an online hosting site where you can upload and store photos, like this one that I just recently uploaded...check it out! President Lincoln