4.2 Safe, Healthy, Legal & Ethical Use
Candidates model and facilitate the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies. (PSC 4.2/ISTE 5b)
Artifact: Copyright Presentation and Internet Safety Blog Post
Reflection:
As part of ITEC 7445, I was tasked with researching a particular area of copyright law and synthesizing my learning in a presentation that I could then share with other teachers. I chose to research and present about copyright and fair use as it pertains to sound recordings, because I thought this would be most helpful to both my music colleagues and myself. In the presentation, I discussed the general definitions and guidelines for copyright and fair use as well as specific guidelines and regulations for sound recordings. To further demonstrate my knowledge, I created three fictional scenarios that questioned whether certain uses fit within copyright law followed by the answer and rationale to these scenarios. Additionally, as part of ITEC 7430, I was tasked with maintaining a blog throughout the semester to discuss various topics pertaining to Internet tools in the classroom. In a blog post entitled “Internet Safety” I discussed methods for ensuring students’ safe, healthy, and responsible use of the Internet, both in terms of general use and publishing online.
The copyright presentation demonstrates my ability to model and facilitate legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies because I specifically cited and discussed several federal regulations and guidelines as they apply to the digital information of sound recordings. For example, I included a brief history of copyright laws as they apply to sound recordings leading up to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, which extended copyright protection to the life of the author plus 70 years, and the exclusive rights of the copyright holder, such as the ability to reproduce the work, create derivatives of the work, distribute copies for profit, perform the work publicly, and display the work publicly. I also distinguished between copyright restrictions and fair use allowances, as well as the difference between copyrighted material and public domain. This presentation specifically focused on the digital tool of sound recordings and not the larger category of musical works, because the latter may include manuscripts and other non-digital representations of music.
The Internet safety blog post demonstrates my ability to model and facilitate the safe and healthy use of digital information and technologies, as the post centered on promoting this type of use with students in the classroom context. For example, I discuss in the blog post how I think it is better to teach students how to seek appropriate information and what to do in the event that they accidentally come across inappropriate content, rather than schools or teachers taking it upon themselves to protect them from everything by way of Internet filters that can sometimes block out good and useful information. I also include a list and description of resources to help teachers model and facilitate this safe and healthy use of Internet tools, such as Common Sense Media’s K-12 curriculum for digital literacy and citizenship, including topics such as Internet safety, privacy and security, relationships and communication, cyber bullying, digital footprint and reputation, self-image and identify, information literacy, and creative credit and copyright.
Both of these artifacts represent my ability to model the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies, specifically the section in the copyright presentation where I created fictional scenarios about the application of copyright law and provided the answer and rationale and in the blog post where I discussed specific classroom practices, as these modeled the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical use in the classroom context. I could further model the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses by sharing these artifacts with both music teachers and colleagues within my building in a PLC meeting or via email. These artifacts also demonstrate my ability to facilitate the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies, as they were designed to teach others about these safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses for their own classroom practice.
From completing the Internet Safety blog post, I gained a deeper appreciation for teaching students about Internet safety, rather than relying solely on protective measures behind the scenes. I believe the same can be said for many things regarding child safety. As the saying goes, give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. Likewise, if we teach our students how to be responsible members of the Internet community, then they will be much more successful as they grow and become more independent. I also learned so much about copyright law in general and sound recordings specifically as a result of conducting the research for the copyright presentation. For example, I had head about “public domain” but I did not really understand the difference between public domain of published musical manuscripts and audio recordings of those compositions. For example, the musical score of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony may be in the public domain, but a 1995 recording of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performing that symphony is not. I also did not know that the sound recording retains its copyright for seventy years after the life of the author before going to the public domain. I previously thought the copyright would expire upon the author’s death. Although I created both of these artifacts with the intended audience of fellow teachers, I did not ever share these artifacts directly with them. If I were to do this assignment again, I would be sure to distribute the copyright presentation and blog post via email or share them during a PLC meeting so that others could benefit from them.
If distributed, the Internet safety blog post and copyright presentation could have a positive impact on faculty development, as they would help other teachers understand how to ensure both their own and their students’ safe, healthy, legal, and ethical use of digital tools in their classrooms. This impact could be assessed by creating and distributing a survey to teachers to gauge how much they learned from the presentation and blog post and perhaps asking them to cite specific examples of how they did not follow copyright before but will moving forward after viewing this presentation. This presentation and blog post could also have an impact on student learning, because the teachers who learned from the presentation would then be able to model best practices for their students who would in turn learn and use these best practices themselves. One could measure this improvement by comparing student projects and learning products before and after the implementation of this presentation to see how their practice has improved.
As part of ITEC 7445, I was tasked with researching a particular area of copyright law and synthesizing my learning in a presentation that I could then share with other teachers. I chose to research and present about copyright and fair use as it pertains to sound recordings, because I thought this would be most helpful to both my music colleagues and myself. In the presentation, I discussed the general definitions and guidelines for copyright and fair use as well as specific guidelines and regulations for sound recordings. To further demonstrate my knowledge, I created three fictional scenarios that questioned whether certain uses fit within copyright law followed by the answer and rationale to these scenarios. Additionally, as part of ITEC 7430, I was tasked with maintaining a blog throughout the semester to discuss various topics pertaining to Internet tools in the classroom. In a blog post entitled “Internet Safety” I discussed methods for ensuring students’ safe, healthy, and responsible use of the Internet, both in terms of general use and publishing online.
The copyright presentation demonstrates my ability to model and facilitate legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies because I specifically cited and discussed several federal regulations and guidelines as they apply to the digital information of sound recordings. For example, I included a brief history of copyright laws as they apply to sound recordings leading up to the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998, which extended copyright protection to the life of the author plus 70 years, and the exclusive rights of the copyright holder, such as the ability to reproduce the work, create derivatives of the work, distribute copies for profit, perform the work publicly, and display the work publicly. I also distinguished between copyright restrictions and fair use allowances, as well as the difference between copyrighted material and public domain. This presentation specifically focused on the digital tool of sound recordings and not the larger category of musical works, because the latter may include manuscripts and other non-digital representations of music.
The Internet safety blog post demonstrates my ability to model and facilitate the safe and healthy use of digital information and technologies, as the post centered on promoting this type of use with students in the classroom context. For example, I discuss in the blog post how I think it is better to teach students how to seek appropriate information and what to do in the event that they accidentally come across inappropriate content, rather than schools or teachers taking it upon themselves to protect them from everything by way of Internet filters that can sometimes block out good and useful information. I also include a list and description of resources to help teachers model and facilitate this safe and healthy use of Internet tools, such as Common Sense Media’s K-12 curriculum for digital literacy and citizenship, including topics such as Internet safety, privacy and security, relationships and communication, cyber bullying, digital footprint and reputation, self-image and identify, information literacy, and creative credit and copyright.
Both of these artifacts represent my ability to model the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies, specifically the section in the copyright presentation where I created fictional scenarios about the application of copyright law and provided the answer and rationale and in the blog post where I discussed specific classroom practices, as these modeled the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical use in the classroom context. I could further model the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses by sharing these artifacts with both music teachers and colleagues within my building in a PLC meeting or via email. These artifacts also demonstrate my ability to facilitate the safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses of digital information and technologies, as they were designed to teach others about these safe, healthy, legal, and ethical uses for their own classroom practice.
From completing the Internet Safety blog post, I gained a deeper appreciation for teaching students about Internet safety, rather than relying solely on protective measures behind the scenes. I believe the same can be said for many things regarding child safety. As the saying goes, give a man a fish, he eats for a day; teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. Likewise, if we teach our students how to be responsible members of the Internet community, then they will be much more successful as they grow and become more independent. I also learned so much about copyright law in general and sound recordings specifically as a result of conducting the research for the copyright presentation. For example, I had head about “public domain” but I did not really understand the difference between public domain of published musical manuscripts and audio recordings of those compositions. For example, the musical score of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony may be in the public domain, but a 1995 recording of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performing that symphony is not. I also did not know that the sound recording retains its copyright for seventy years after the life of the author before going to the public domain. I previously thought the copyright would expire upon the author’s death. Although I created both of these artifacts with the intended audience of fellow teachers, I did not ever share these artifacts directly with them. If I were to do this assignment again, I would be sure to distribute the copyright presentation and blog post via email or share them during a PLC meeting so that others could benefit from them.
If distributed, the Internet safety blog post and copyright presentation could have a positive impact on faculty development, as they would help other teachers understand how to ensure both their own and their students’ safe, healthy, legal, and ethical use of digital tools in their classrooms. This impact could be assessed by creating and distributing a survey to teachers to gauge how much they learned from the presentation and blog post and perhaps asking them to cite specific examples of how they did not follow copyright before but will moving forward after viewing this presentation. This presentation and blog post could also have an impact on student learning, because the teachers who learned from the presentation would then be able to model best practices for their students who would in turn learn and use these best practices themselves. One could measure this improvement by comparing student projects and learning products before and after the implementation of this presentation to see how their practice has improved.