A Penn State colleague who we were fortunate enough to meet at (and before) Drupal Camp WI blogs about how we might keep the momentum of this event going. He’s right that there are a number of similarities between our schools, and hopefully this will be an incentive to keep the connection alive. Sharing ideas about technology was great, but the real take-away was the idea of forming a Drupal in Higher Education consortium. What makes this idea special is that we, as universities, face challenges that are different from other sorts of Drupal users–both technological and political. I’m not sure whether it would be attached to other Drupal camps, the CIC, or just be an online group (one thing that ComETS has taught our campus is that events are key to keeping connections alive). I wonder if a good way to start might be to find out who is interested, and then to find out what the strengths/needs of each are. We found a lot to agree about–even regarding the role of central vs distributed systems–so it would be a shame to let geography keep these good ideas from coming to fruition.
Category: Education
Perspectives on how computer technology is changing the education system
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)?
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
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.