John Thomson: Thinking out loud » Education

Perspectives on how computer technology is changing the education system

john — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:49:38 +0000

Ars points out that this week’s edition of Science addresses how computer technology is changing the education system. There’s likely nothing too surprising if this is something you follow, but it’s always a good idea to follow the press.

Does your University own what you discover (or learn)?

john — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 21:21:10 +0000

I’m no patent expert, but a not so recent article in the Times (recently highlighted on Slashdot) addresses how “colleges and universities own the ideas and technologies invented by the people who work for them, including professors and graduate students who are paid to do research.” This is a great revenue generator for cash-strapped institutions, but things get complicated when the inventor needs to obtain a license for their own idea, as happened to the student interviewed for the article.

Schools are by definition a place of learning, which is a process of self discovery. What does it mean for a school to own something that comes out of your head while you’re working or attending there? It’s true that these discoveries happen with the aid of school resources, but others might argue that the product of all of a school’s resources is learning (or at least maybe it should be).

Educational technologists have recently worried about student’s owning the copyight to their assignments (which now often appear online)–this is an interesting twist on a similar problem.

I’ll admit that my thoughts on this feel half-baked at the moment.

Resources on copyright for education

john — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:05:13 +0000

The Center for Social Media has created a Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education. Right at the start, the video addresses a misconception I’ve heard on my campus: “you can get in trouble for using videos in the classroom.” The principles listed in the report itself clearly state guidelines for when it’s (likely) alright to use copyrighted material in (and preparing for) class. While rights holders may dispute this, I hope these clear statements are the type that any educational institution could get behind.

I recently gave a brief talk on copyright for a Digital Storytelling workshop. I promised to share the materials, the slides and a quick summary of what I said for each slide are after the break.

Slide 2:
If you are using copyrighted materials in your course, you are in part relying on the doctrine of “fair use.” Fair use looks at how you are using the copyrighted work to see if you are doing so permissibly. This overview glosses over a lot of details, but you get the general idea.

If you are not making money off of your use (i.e. what you’re doing is not commercial), the use is more fair.

If you are copying someone’s creative expression, such as the framing of a photo or a turn of the phrase, your use is less fair than copying facts.

If you are taking a great deal or the “best part” of a copyrighted work, your use is less fair. A small part, like a single image from a movie, is more fair.

If someone might avoid purchasing a copyrighted work because of how you used it, your use is less fair.

As with most things in law, someone can still sue you no matter how fair you believe your use to be.

Slide 3:
A few rules of thumb for working with copyrighted works.

If it’s something that you’ve created (meaning you took the picture or wrote and performed the music)–it’s yours. There’s nothing to worry about (though you may want to license your work under Creative Commons).

If, however, you’re using materials that are not yours, you have some legal protection if they are in a password protected course management system. There, only students enrolled in the course can use the works for the duration of the course. Note that crafty students might still be able to copy these materials. If anything is to be publicly displayed, you need to get permission from the owner of the copyrighted work.

If you’re not sure what to do–contact a librarian. The first one you talk to may not know the answer, but they should know how to contact someone who does.

Slide 4:

Want to not worry about copyright? Here are a variety of materials licensed for you to use non-commercially under creative commons.

Drupal as a wiki

john — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 01:11:06 +0000

I felt like doing some web work this weekend and thought I would try my own take on how to make Drupal work as a wiki. My work colleagues are aware that I’ve been steeped in a fun Drupal project — taking the suggestions of the UW-Madison Teaching Academy and the Vice Provost for Teaching & Learning and designing their new website: Teaching & Learning Excellence at UW-Madison. It’s been a fun project and has whet my appetite to try a few more interactive websites.

Druwiki is nothing fancy. The main challenge is trying to keep some of what Drupal does so well, namely organizing content in taxonomies, while downplaying it’s more blog-like functions. I trust anyone who reads this blog to try it out, so I’ll leave registrations open for a bit if anybody would like to kick the tires. I’d love feedback, ideas, or to hear about strategies you’ve considered.

Stumbling into a “blicki”

john — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:27:23 +0000

I’ve joked about a “blicki” in the past (a merge of a blog and a wiki), and browsing around looking for the answer to one of life’s little technology questions, I stumbled by this post by Jim Groom of UMW. It looks like they’ve been doing some great stuff with WordPress, and have now integrated it with their support wikis in MediaWiki.

The Support pages are awesome, and this marks for me one of the most significant leaps forward over the last year. Namely, the Bliki has arrived people! … So support pages like the FAQ, WordPress Guide, and “10 Ideas for Using UMW Blogs” are all MediaWiki articles posing as blog pages.

Way cool!