Creative Commons

Creative Commons

In the world of digital media it has become so easy to post our personal pictures to sites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Flickr.  I am guilty of using Facebook as my own personal cloud storage of pictures.  However in doing so I am opening myself up to my pictures of my favorite vacation spot becoming part of a school project.  Sure I have a great black and white of the Eiffel Tower and the Emperor Palace in Tokyo, but do I want anyone to have access to them. 

Since the onset of digital media and students using the web to research, a struggle has begun of what content should be allowable and what is a violation of copyright laws.  Students think it is okay to Google a topic and get any image they would like to use in a project. “Hey, if it’s on the internet, I can use it”.  The introduction of Creative Commons in 2001 provides a broader range of digital media which students can use properly.  In 2007, Creative Commons expand to have resources directly related to education (Creative Commons). 

A tool such as Flickr allows educators and students to use digital images in projects which following the guidelines of Creative commons and copy right laws.  Creative Commons allows business and the public to determine how they will allow their work to be used.

After reviewing the various websites in the module, I have learned Flickr can be used to help students distinguish vocabulary words and display math concepts.  In my own social studies class, I thought of instead of word clouds on a topic or events why not a picture cloud.  The students can then annotated each of the images to provide the importance of the image to the cloud (Richardson, 2010 pg104).

It is amazing how more and more social and digital media sites are becoming part of the educational process.  Before I know it one of my pictures may show up for a student to use on a project.

References

Creative Commons. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://creativecommons.org/education

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. California: Corwin.

Issac, J. (Photographer). (2001, March 25). Infrastructural and Environmental Damage during Iraqi Occupation of Kuwait [Web Photo]. Retrieved from http://www.flickr.com/photos/35483578@N03/5559102272/in/photolist-9teRqU-7wejNR-BDLLN-a8io71-9SnFUu-ac3Nnt-9Z2u9S-9p237w-a7A1YT-9iy9ka-a5WgQ2-dFzVWZ-9hRWXm-9nGjj8-7wr83w-83afMJ-dDY5dV-7GZS3u-7JQPbX-bUo9dJ-7FBJDe-aGd2Ge-aGd2AR-aGd2CD-9YaSuF-82zFdf-9ipWog-YuBeS-Yqb86-9tmgqB-97L9EW-9d8ZVo-9RaM32-bjBHmg-aqMHTX-bjBxPk-dBnwxp-sm7oK-7eiz3Z-bk3vgy-bxXpw2-bxXow8-bxXnBz-bk3vnN-bxXp9X-bxXnXv-bxXp2x-bxXoW2-bxXnzn-bk3vNs-bxXokk