In this weeks class we watched a documentary called RiP! A Remix Manifesto.  This 90 minute show talks about the “war” of copyright between people who use material created by someone else and expand, adapt, change, and use it for their own work, and those who created the original material.  It is a long standing battle with strong opinions supporting both sides of the argument.  I would say, at this point, I sit somewhere in the middle.  I can understand the frustration and anger of those who work hard to create something, especially if it is their means of income, only to have others access the work for free and then take it and change it into work of their own.  However I would also agree with what was said in the documentary that “everything comes from something.”  People do not live and create in a vacuum, and so their ideas are always influenced (either consciously or subconsciously) by something else.  From this standpoint, we are all guilty of breaking copyright laws.  I think especially in today’s digital world, where everything is so easily accessible through the internet, copyright laws need to adjust and fit into our modern reality.

Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash

We also learned about open educational resources today.  These are educational resources that are shared freely through creative commons, and so are accessible for all to use/change/redistribute.  These are very useful tools to have access to as a teacher, as you do not need to worry about copyright.  I think that it is important for teachers to make sure that they follow copyright protocol with the resources they use as it not only is good practice, but also models it for their students.  I thought the Open Resource Commons was a convenient and easy way to access many learning resources.  I would still encourage teachers to look critically at the resources they find through OER Commons and other OER tools.  Just because the material is meant for educational purposes, and made accessible to teachers, it is still our responsibility to ensure that the information we find this way is credible.

This is a link to an article that examines open educational resources in depth, their pros and cons, and who it is that is creating these resources.  This is a longer article but it contains some helpful information for those who are interested in learning more about OER, and what the benefits and challenges might be in using them.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jan_Hylen/publication/235984502_Open_educational_resources_Opportunities_and_challenges/links/54d321a80cf250179181779b.pdf