Learning to Walk in a Digital World - Whose Responsibility is It?
The children we teach are living in a digital world -- socializing, learning, entertaining (or being entertained), and making sense of the universe -- online. How can we, as educators and parents, help them to navigate safely and responsibly in a space they know better than we do? The realm of information responsibility may encompass a number of skills and concepts that criss-cross school, home, and social environments. Working together, teachers, librarians, and parents can help students develop awareness, discipline, and problem-solving skills as they use technology in:
- Social media (academic, non-academic, and professional uses)
- Original Research
- Academic Papers
- Short Stories, Poetry, Rap
- Creative Works (music, videos, digital stories)
- Projects/Project-based Learning
- Inventions
- Websites/Blogs/Wikis
- Maker Projects
- Privacy and Safety
Creating a Culture of Creative and Responsible Information Use
Today, everyone can be an author, a storyteller, a podcaster or a videographer. But what are the legal and ethical responsibilities of publishing on the Internet, and when should students begin learning about them? The following tips may help educators determine when and how to introduce information responsibility to their students.
- Model appropriate use. Demonstrate how to find royalty-free media and how to cite it properly. Be ethical in your own use of digital and print materials for instruction, creative work, and entertainment.
- Adopt a just-in-time (JIT) approach. Teach students what they need to know when they need to know it. Make the learning activity as specific as possible, and keep it relevant to the assignment at hand.
- Make it fun. Topics such as copyright violation, fair use, and plagiarism and aren't inherently fascinating. However, there are some excellent resources (see links below) to help you make lessons more engaging and student-friendly. Take it from an instructor who has learned the hard way: only a handful of students get it when you approach information responsibility as a set of rules with penalties.
- Create a culture of responsible use. Among the many things that students can learn while working in project teams is how to hold themselves and one another accountable for the accurate/appropriate use of information and media in their work products.
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Image licensed for reuse under Creative Commons by rawpixal.com at pixabay.com
Copyright and Fair Use Chart - This chart was designed to inform teachers of what they may do under the law. TECHNOLOGY & LEARNING has granted permission for educators to download/make copies of this PDF. More information about fair use guidelines and copyright resources is available at www.halldavidson.net.
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Common Sense Education - The Common Sense Media website contains a wealth of resources for educators, including videos, lesson plans, games, posters, and toolkits. The Copyright video is a good place to start when students are working on multimedia projects.
Copyright with Cyberbee - Cyberbee's interactive classroom is a fun way to learn about copyright and fair use. Laura Keamming's lesson plan on copyright appeals to students because they listen to music and consider court cases that involve copyright and fair use.
Creative Commons - There are more than 1.1 billion works in the Creative Commons. It is a place where artists, writers, scientists, researchers, musicians, photographers, and educators come to share their work with others and "light up the world" with knowledge and beauty.
Goblin Threat - Students learn about plagiarism by clearing out the goblins who want to steal the academic integrity of Lycoming College.
What is Plagiarism? - Disguised as humor, this series of videos covers the various ways a student might inadvertently plagiarize an academic paper or project.
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Information Responsibility Game (Kahoot) - You can use this game with students to reinforce information responsibility concepts. (Kahoot will ask you to sign in with your own - free - teacher ID.)
Play Kahoot! - after you launch the game, students follow this link to play.
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