Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
In class this week we learning about copyright and creative commons and why it is important to have an understanding of these topics as educators. I will be honest and say that my understanding of copyright previous to this weeks lecture went as far as: copyright = bad, don’t steal from others! and the phrase “creative commons” was not one that I had heard once in my life. In other words, my understanding on such topics was rudimentary at best.
I learned that copyright is automatic and assumed on anyone’s work no matter who or what it is, wether that be a video, a photo, etc. I also learned that if you see a “CC” underneath an image this essentially means the owner of the piece is allowing others to use their work for projects or assignments as long as they are attributed. I also learned that all the material on Wikipedia is under Creative Commons and can be used freely and that there are a wide range of websites that are full of photos under CC that you can use at anytime without risk of copyright.
This all may seem like very obvious information to some, but to me it was all new, and information that I have been meaning to learn more about for a while. Obviously as a teacher I am going to have to use pictures in lecture slides, or want to use resources online, and so knowing confidently about what I am legally allowed to use is very important. As well, modelling proper internet/technology use to my students is incredibly important. I plan to read up on Canada’s Copyright Act so I can learn more about these topics that we touched on during the lecture and become more informed.