Plagiarism / Fair use / Copyright
A curriculum for critical thinking and web research This plan is part of a Skill level: Advanced critical thinking and web School level: Middle school (11–13 years old) research curriculum High school (14–18 years old) developed by the International Society for Technology in Education Prerequisite skills needed (ISTE) and Microsoft. www.microsoft.com/education/criticalthinking Students need to have basic computer use skills, such as the ability to launch Internet Explorer®, type into search boxes, and validate the reliability of an Internet source. See the “Validity” lesson plans for ideas. Students also need to know how to navigate through webpages to locate important information, cite Internet resources, and paraphrase information for note-taking. See the “Citing web sources” lesson plans for ideas.
Description of plan The teacher describes the concepts of copyright friendly and fair use, why they are important, and how they can make a difference in research. The teacher shares copyright- friendly websites where students can use available materials.
Rationale for lesson Students who are researching information may need additional help to identify fair use and copyright-friendly materials while using Internet resources. They may also need encouragement to search this content. At this point, students can effectively search for information and paraphrase appropriately.
Essential concepts / questions Essential questions for teachers: How can I help direct my students to copyright-friendly and fair use websites? How can I support students in identifying and using information correctly? Essential question for students: How can I effectively search for copyright-friendly information? What is fair use, and how does it affect me? National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) NETS-T 4A: Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and ethical use of digital information and technology, including respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources. NETS-S 5A: Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology.
Teacher preparation
Teachers should prepare a discussion that includes an explanation of fair use. Teachers should prepare to show specific samples from copyright-friendly websites— pictures, websites, videos, and music. Teachers should decide what topic(s) they would like for their students to research. Teachers should decide how many samples of each they would like the students to locate. “Plagiarism – Teacher demo – Beginner” can be used by teachers as a quick reference. The document contains descriptions and sources for plagiarism, fair use, and copyright-friendly materials. There is a complete curriculum that highlights the use of creative content and copyrighted material at http://www.digitalcitizenshiped.com/.
Management issues Teachers must consider students’ availability for labs and should take into account the time spent on research and documentation. Also, if students are to locate and document information electronically, teachers should consider where those files will be stored. Teachers can develop storage folders on the school’s network or folders on Windows Live™ SkyDrive™. Teachers should determine how much time will be allotted for research, documentation, and preparation of the final product. Finally, teachers need to decide how the students will research: independently, in pairs, or in small groups.
Instruction The teacher models the use and importance of copyright-friendly websites. The teacher shares acceptable definitions of these key terms. After the students see the availability of copyright-friendly information, they search and document information for a research project. Student activities / guidance Teachers discuss fair use and the impact it has on copyright materials. Fair use is a term used to help define the limits of copyrighted material, although there is not a clear line. Fair use protects the user in the circumstances of evaluation or critique of material, a summary, a news broadcast, or limited use in an educational setting, among others. Teachers discuss the idea of copyright-friendly websites using http://creativecommons.org. First, the teachers choose a topic to walk the students through the Creative Commons website, reviewing topics like oceanography, the U.S. Constitution, the Dust Bowl, or mitosis. Then, teachers walk the students through the use of this website. 1. Go to http://creativecommons.org. 2. To search for copyright-friendly materials, click Find. 3. In the text search box, enter your topic. 4. Choose the type of material you would like to locate: website, images, video, or media.
Teachers assign topics for the students to research. Students can work independently, in pairs, or in small groups. Students are required to find a certain number of websites, images, videos, or media using the Bing™ search engine’s images and video search. Teachers should also encourage the students to use www.bing.com to search for more copyright-friendly websites to research their topics.
Assessment Students answer the essential questions: How can I effectively search for copyright-free information? What is fair use, and how does it affect me? Related resources and tutorials Search engine Bing www.bing.com Bing Users Guide: How to use Bing http://www.nirmaltv.com/2009/06/01/bing-detailed-user-guide Plagiarism Plagiarism http://www.plagiarism.org Note-taking Microsoft Office OneNote® http://www.microsoft.com/education/products/office/onenote/default.aspx#Tips Education World http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson/lesson322.shtml Citing sources Citation Machine http://citationmachine.net/index2.php Fair use U. S. Copyright Office http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html The Fair Use rule http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/article-30100.html Copyright-friendly Digital citizenship http://www.digitalcitizenshiped.com/ Creative Commons http://creativecommons.org/ Pics4Learning http://pics.tech4learning.com/ Closure and reflection Questions for closure and student reflection when reviewing student activity and learning: How does copyright-friendly material affect your research on the web? Who is planning on contributing to copyright-friendly sites in the future?
Teacher reflection questions
Ask students to reflect upon their own work and the work of the group. Were there any unforeseen management issues? Will students be able to complete this type of lesson more independently next time? What brief review will be provided to the students?
Supplementary materials
“Plagiarism – Teacher demo – Beginner”
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