Learning your copy(rights)...

"Copyright 101," by attorney Kate Thompson, is a great outline of the key points in intellectual property or copyright laws. The basis of copyright law is that people should be able to receive compensation for creative works and have control over how their work is distributed or used. Only the owner of the copyright may reproduce the work, create works derived from it, distribute or sell the rights to their work, and perform or display it publicly. However, fair use allows copyrighted material to be used for educational use, as long as you aren't just trying to avoid buying the materials. Educational use means that it copyrighted materials can be used for "teaching, scholarship, and research." Courts use four criterion to decide whether or not using copyrighted materials falls under fair use. They example the purpose of the use, and determine whether or not it had any commercial benefit, the nature of the work (if it's fact-based or creative), how much of the work was used, and whether or not the use would hurt the income that could be generated by the copyrighted work. Thompson provides examples of fair use and instances of copyright violation. For instance, a teacher can copy an article from a magazine and use it in their curriculum as long as the article is only for personal use, and he or she could even make multiple copies to solely be used in the classroom of that specific article. Videos can also be shown for educational use, as long as no admission price is charged. An example of copyright violation would be copying an entire textbooks (or a large majority) for a classroom so that the textbook doesn't have to be purchased. Finally, Thompson talks about works that in the public domain, meaning their copyrights were created before 1923, or the works were created by the U.S. federal government. She mentioned to be careful because many works do have exceptions, and a book form may be in public domain, but a film of the same story may not be.

I thought this was a good outline, and applicable to our class since we are starting to incorporate copyrighted materials into our presentations and coursework. I would say it was VERY broad, and brought up questions of how much is too much to use of a work before it becomes a violation. I also began to wonder especially how music falls into this category. Because I teach piano, I often have to tweak certain music arrangements for students, but I often wonder if this is copyright infringement, or if it falls under fair use for education and how much I can change, and whether or not it could be performed. Anyway, I believe this article made me want to learn more about the "gray areas" of copyright law, and made me think more consciously about making sure that I am very careful not to partake in copyright infringement.

This article can be found in ISTE Learning and Leading with Technology Vol. 32. No.9 , June/August 2005.

Point/Counterpoint: Is Gender Still an Issue?

"Has the Gender Gap Closed?" poses this very question to both contributors of the article, Gertrude Abramson and Chris Stephenson. Abramson argues that both genders now have an equal opportunity and college courses have a mix of female and male students that would have been unheard of even twenty years ago. She argues that women are represented and excel in professions that have been historically "male" and that women are certainly catching up in the domains of science, engineering, and math. Abramson does admit that she feels women are not nearly as equipped in educational technology and that the "digital gap" still exists. Stephenson argues that while the gap is closing, there is still a huge gap between male and female students when it comes to computer science, and that national studies on computer science curriculum have found it to be distant, unappealing, and at times, even hostile towards women. She also agrees that math, science and engineering have become much more accessible careers and areas of study for women, but that computer science is an area that women not only do not excel in, but are not given an equal opportunity to do so. While it has improved in the last twenty years, Stephenson highlights that only 28.4% of the bachelor’s degrees in computer science are awarded to women, and only "5.7% of full-time professors in computer science were women." She argues that the entire culture of computer science discourages women from studying it and certainly from pursuing a career in the field.

After reading this article, I began to think that both of these authors actually held fairly similar views, it's just that Stephenson highlighted how huge the gap between men and women in computer science actually is. I tend to see valid points in both arguments. I think today that in most fields, women do have an equal (or nearly equal) opportunity as men to succeed academically, BUT that their social and cultural expectations, background, and manner and attitude in which certain subjects are presented may hinder their ability to fulfill these potentials. When I read Stephenson's article, I also began to wonder if the gap in computer science comes down to more than just a hostile environment, but a general lack of interest. To me personally, that sounds like a horribly boring major, in all honesty. That doesn't mean that I don't want to learn about technology and have a good working knowledge of computers and their software. There are definitely fields that women tend to excel in, but that more males are entering such as nursing, etc. In speech-language pathology, the field I wish to pursue, there are far more women than men, but it's probably more of an accessibility and general interest issue. However, if coursework and general attitudes towards women studying and entering the fields of computer science are in fact, biased and hostile, this needs to be changed to give both genders an equal opportunity.

This article can be found in ISTE Learning and Leading with Technology Vol. 34. No.2 , May 2006.

Mentoring: A New Way to Help Girls Step Outside of the Gender Box

"Getting Girls E.X.I.T.E.D. about Project Management," by Bjorn Norstrom, Carol Smith, Annika Haglund, describes a program, called E.X.I.T.E., that paired female IBM engineers with female students at a middle school in Colvester, Vermont. The hands-on project hoped to get female students who typically don't pursue careers in science, technology, and engineering to develop a proactive interest in the field, and to become more assertive in project management. The mentors from IBM formed a long-term relationship with the students from Colvester Middle School and visited them several times during the given school year. The students were assigned the task of designing, building, and managing a pet day care, and were required to keep "documentation" of their interactions with their fictitious client. The girls involved in this project learned how to use a number of technological tools, including basic skills such as proper phone etiquette, word processing, basic database management, voice recorders, and Internet use. However, these students also utilized more sophisticated tools such as design software, web and video editing programs, and multimedia programs to create a commercial advertising their program. At the completion of their project, the Colvester students presented what they had learned to their parents, school staff, and their IBM mentors.

I particularly enjoyed that the girls were able to build a mentorship relationship with the IBM engineers, and make engineering, math, and science more appealing to female students. I personally believe that many of the testing and performance differences between male and female students in math and science simply have to do with socialized concepts of which genders are good at which subjects approaching the subject material in an unappealing manner. I think we see a similar performance gap in male students in language arts because traditionally, they are not presented in a hands-on, approachable format. This project was fantastic because it was long-term, and is certainly something that the students will remember. The fact that these girls became excited and personally involved in such a complex project was not just a way to get them excited about math and science, but also seemed to build their confidence. The writers of the article said that many girls that were noticeably introverted gained confidence in managing the project and were actually excited to present their work at its conclusion.

This article can be found in ISTE Learning and Leading with Technology Vol. 36. No. 3, November 2008.

Schools: The New Prisons?

The response to U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan's proposal to increase the length of the school year and weekly schedule comes with alarming responses as Diana Fingal highlights in her article, "One Man's School is Another Man's Prison." According to the article, Duncan stated that he believes that schools should be up and running 6 days a week for 11 months of the year. Because of the failing economy and job outsourcing to other countries, Duncan believes that more time in school will help students improve their test scores in order to compete with international students. Diana Fingal listed several responses of educators that were outraged at this suggestion, including a blogger named David Warlick, who suggested that school would become a retention facility similar to jail should these changes be implemented. One comment that I personally resonated with was that "They (kids) don’t need more school. They need better school." An American educator who works in Korea, named Kelsey Freeman, discussed how Korean students are in school on a similar schedule, but have no passion for learning and "have no lives outside of school." All of the comments believed that extending school hours would be a decision with huge negative consequences for both students and teachers.

When I read this article, my guttural response was, "Six days a week?!?" Really?" This is a heated issue that has incredible political implications, but I truly believe that the budget cuts and shortage of teachers that have resulted from our flailing economy could not support extending school hours. The teaching programs that currently exist are struggling to survive in spite of massively decreased funding. The test scores of American students especially in mathematics and science are appalling, I won't disagree with that, but forcing students to attend more school time isn't going to motivate students or ensure that they receive quality, efficient instruction. Comparing American students to students in India in China isn't necessarily the best basis of comparison, either. Perhaps, they are both two unhealthy ends of the spectrum. In my personal experience, I teach music lessons to a family that recently moved to California from Chinese Taipei, and have listened to their opinions regarding the American school system. Their consensus is that American school standards are too low. I tend to agree. However, they believe that their education in Taiwan was far too time consuming and didn't allow them to pursue any other interests besides homework. While I don't have any specific solutions as to how to efficiently improve the quality of the American school system (that''s a complex issue that would take more than just a blog to address), I'm not at all convinced that just adding more hours into the school week is the best solution.

This article can be found in ISTE Learning and Leading with Technology Vol. 36. No. 8, June/July 2009.