Free Use Free Use, Use by Permission, Creative Commons and the Internet
Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, (2003) stress that current copyright law is not prepared for the “enormous complexity of protecting intellectual property rights” (p. 138) when it comes to the Internet, citing the Web-Based Educational Commission (2000) who called for "a radical rethinking of the relevant body of regulation and law (p.97)” (as cited by Simonson, et al, 2003, p. 138). Tavani, (2007) states a fear that if "public domain of ideas continues to shrink, our “intellectual commons” may eventually disappear” (p. 250). To deal with these concerns web designers like Creative Commons (CC) are establishing ways to share information through the web and “we can see how CC, via its creative and flexible licensing schemes, both encourages the flow of information in digital form and protects the legal rights and interests of artists and authors” (Tavani, 2007, p. 254).
The Creative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit organization, formed in 2001, whose principal goal is to provide creative solutions to problems caused by copyright law regarding sharing information. Tavani, (2007) describes the four types of CC licenses including: Attribution, Noncommercial, Derivative Works, and Share Alike. “By specifying one or more of these options, [the author] can retain the copyright for [the] creative work while also allowing for uses of it under some circumstances” (Tavani, 2007, p. 254). The four licensing options provided by CC are as follows (Tavani, 2007):
Attribution - Permits others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and derivative works based upon it only if they give you credit;
Noncommercial - Permits others to copy, distribute, display, and perform the work and derivative works bases upon it only for noncommercial purposes;
Derivative works - Permits others to copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of the work, not derivative works based upon it;
Share alike - Permits others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work (pp. 253-354).
Websites that provide free use or creative commons licenses to educational resources:
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) - Free teaching and resources from more than 35 federal organizations. Resources include teaching ideas, learning activities, photos, maps, primary documents, data, paintings, sound recordings, and more.
MIT Open Courseware - Searchable access to Web sites, syllabi, assignments, and other course materials for more than 500 courses developed by faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Free Foto - One of the largest collections of free photographs for private noncommercial use on the Internet.
Library of Congress, American Memory - A gateway to primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. This site from the Library of Congress offers more than seven million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.
Wisconsin-Online - More than 1,000 learning objects created by 188 faculty from the Wisconsin Technical College System in the areas of adult basic education, English as a second language, business, general education, health, professional development, service, and technical courseware.
Gateway to 21st Century Skills - A searchable database of more than 33,500 lesson plans, curriculum units and educational materials for all grade levels found on federal, state, university, nonprofit, and commercial Web sites. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Connextions - An extensive collection of free educational materials, learning objects and modules for educators and students.
Free Use
Free Use, Use by Permission, Creative Commons and the Internet
Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, & Zvacek, (2003) stress that current copyright law is not prepared for the “enormous complexity of protecting intellectual property rights” (p. 138) when it comes to the Internet, citing the Web-Based Educational Commission (2000) who called for "a radical rethinking of the relevant body of regulation and law (p.97)” (as cited by Simonson, et al, 2003, p. 138). Tavani, (2007) states a fear that if "public domain of ideas continues to shrink, our “intellectual commons” may eventually disappear” (p. 250). To deal with these concerns web designers like Creative Commons (CC) are establishing ways to share information through the web and “we can see how CC, via its creative and flexible licensing schemes, both encourages the flow of information in digital form and protects the legal rights and interests of artists and authors” (Tavani, 2007, p. 254).
The Creative Commons (CC) is a nonprofit organization, formed in 2001, whose principal goal is to provide creative solutions to problems caused by copyright law regarding sharing information. Tavani, (2007) describes the four types of CC licenses including: Attribution, Noncommercial, Derivative Works, and Share Alike. “By specifying one or more of these options, [the author] can retain the copyright for [the] creative work while also allowing for uses of it under some circumstances” (Tavani, 2007, p. 254). The four licensing options provided by CC are as follows (Tavani, 2007):
For More Information:
Creative Commons Website
Websites that provide free use or creative commons licenses to educational resources:
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence (FREE) - Free teaching and resources from more than 35 federal organizations. Resources include teaching ideas, learning activities, photos, maps, primary documents, data, paintings, sound recordings, and more.
MIT Open Courseware - Searchable access to Web sites, syllabi, assignments, and other course materials for more than 500 courses developed by faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Free Foto - One of the largest collections of free photographs for private noncommercial use on the Internet.
Library of Congress, American Memory - A gateway to primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. This site from the Library of Congress offers more than seven million digital items from more than 100 historical collections.
Wisconsin-Online - More than 1,000 learning objects created by 188 faculty from the Wisconsin Technical College System in the areas of adult basic education, English as a second language, business, general education, health, professional development, service, and technical courseware.
Gateway to 21st Century Skills - A searchable database of more than 33,500 lesson plans, curriculum units and educational materials for all grade levels found on federal, state, university, nonprofit, and commercial Web sites. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.
Connextions - An extensive collection of free educational materials, learning objects and modules for educators and students.
EDT 672: Teaching and Learning Online Wiki has a page of Learning Objects for K-12 educators that fall under CC