The world of content ownership, copyrights, open and closed resources, and everything in between is extremely overwhelming to me. The thought of having a misstep in this domain as a teacher and possibly seeing the consequences of a wholesome mistake is so worrisome. I did, however, find some comfort in a few points from our latest lesson.
Fair Dealing
The fair dealing provision allows teachers to use portions of copyrighted works in their lessons. Although this is helpful, it’s critical to know how to use this within it’s limits, as they vary based on the type and length of copyrighted content. I was relieved to learn of the fair dealing decision tool that helps teachers navigate if the resource they’d like to use is allowed or not.
Teacher-specific resources
Websites like Teachers Pay Teachers, are another way to get safely access content for classes. Educators offer their resources (for free or for a fee) to fellow educators, ensuring that permission is given by those submitting their content to those purchasing.
Creative Commons
Creative commons is a varying set of licenses, less strict than copyright, but still to be payed attention to, as some are still quite restrictive where as others are more open to use.
Open Educational Resources
These online resources such as OER Commons, OERu, and OER Hub, just to name a few, are free to be shared, used, improved, and distributed to anyone (this includes students and teachers!).