PLO 5

MATLT Program Learning Objective(s): Program Learning Outcome 5 "Exemplify ethical practices of technology usage."

This project illustrates the ethical use of resources, copyright laws and fair use guideline.

Introduction

 Fair Use and Copyrights laws was established to protect the integrity of other people's hard work and to keep others from claiming that work as their own.  Copyrights laws make sure that when we use other people written, audio, and visual work, we give credit to those individuals.  The Fair Use guidelines allow us to use up to 10% of other people's work while giving credit where its due.

Prior MATLT Activity of Program Learning Outcome 5

This prior MATLT program course below is an assignment I completed last year in course EDU600: Introduction to Online Learning.    It exemplifies the ethical practices of technology usage.

I will redesign this assignment/activity, (which consists of just this one page) by using instructional design principals and theory. 

1.

Fair Use reproduction by a teacher or student of a small part of a work to illustrate a lesson; reproduction of a work in legislative or judicial proceedings or reports; incidental and fortuitous reproduction, in a newsreel or broadcast, of a work located in the scene of an event being reported.” TEACH Act The TEACH Act authorizes us to digitize works for use in digital distance education, but only to the extent we are authorized to use those works in Section 110(2), and so long as they are not available digitally in a format free from technological protection. Copy Rights Compliance •Literary works •Musical works, including any accompanying words.  Dramatic works, including any accompanying music.

Copyright: has to do with "laws that protect the interest of those who own creative works, whether 

text, music, artwork, software, or any other creative product" (Lever-Duffer & McDonald, 2011, 

p.364).

Fair Use Guidelines:  With all the information on the World Wide Web, someone has to be given 

credit for all that’s available to us.  Even when the work is not copyrighted, we have to assume that 

someone owns it or came up with it on their own, therefore, they should be credited when we borrow 

their words or work.  It’s only fair. It does not mean that you can use 100% of their work, there are 

limits.  Below are some general guidelines for copyrighted materials as provided in Lever-Duffer & 

McDonald (2011, p.365):

•For motion media: You can use up to 10% or 3 minutes (whichever is less)

 •For text: You can use up to 10% or 1,000 words (whichever is less)

 •For audio: You can use up to 10% but no more than 30 seconds for a single event

 •For images: You should use no more than 5 images by a single artist/photographer

 •For images: You should use no more than 10% or 15 images (whichever is less) from a collection of

 work

Principal and Theory Chosen and Why

I have chosen to use option one, dealing with the issues involved in the ethical use and following

the rules of technology use.  I chose this theory because I’ve been guilty of plagiarizing, not 

citing my work, and giving credit where it’s “Digital citizenship can be defined as the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use” (Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship, 2016).  My research from Nine Elements, are two of the elements that closely speaks to the appropriate digital usage, elements 5 and 7 below, as written.

“5. Digital Etiquette:   electronic standards of conduct or procedure.

Technology users often see this area as one of the most pressing problems when dealing with Digital Citizenship. We recognize inappropriate behavior when we see it, but before people use technology they do not learn digital etiquette (i.e., appropriate conduct).   Many people feel uncomfortable talking to others about their digital etiquette.  Often rules and regulations are created or the technology is simply banned to stop inappropriate use. It is not enough to create rules and policy.  We must teach everyone to become responsible digital citizens in this new society.” (Nine Elements, 2016)

 “7.   Digital Rights & Responsibilities:   those freedoms extended to everyone in a digital world.

Just as in the American Constitution where there is a Bill of Rights, there is a basic set of rights extended to every digital citizen. Digital citizens have the right to privacy, free speech, etc. Basic digital rights must be addressed, discussed, and understood in the digital world.  With these rights also come responsibilities as well.  Users must help define how the technology is to be used in an appropriate manner.  In a digital society these two areas must work together for everyone to be productive.” (Nine Elements, 2016)

In the case of our hypothetical scenario:

1.      Could you record and reuse the Hangout for another class?

·         The term ‘record’ in this case is not necessary, because all digital/technology activities online or text in this case are recorded automatically.  So, now the question becomes… “Can you reuse the Hangout activity for another class?”  Possibly!  I think that based on the privacy and fair use guidelines, you can use a portion of the Hangout activity, which is 10% or 1,000 words (whichever is less), being cautious as to the exact information you choose to use, so that you don’t embarrass the author in any way.

2.      Could you prevent students from recording and distributing the Hangout?

·         Unfortunately, you have no way of physically stopping other students from “recording and distributing the Hangout”.  The best you could do is educate students and make them aware of the privacy and fair use guidelines available to all technology users, and try to appeal to their ethical sense of right and wrong.  We all have responsibilities to protect ourselves and others from unethical and illegal behaviors on the World Wide Web.  So, before this Hangout activity was to take place, students should have been educated and reminded over and over about privacy, and rights of all users of technology, and the consequences of not following those guidelines.

3.      How would you design the synchronous study session to exemplify and ensure ethical usage of the technology?

·         Since I have no control of what students might do outside of the discussion group, the first thing I would implement is create an agreement prohibiting the reproduction of any and all Hangout activities pertaining to this discussion.  Each student will be asked to sign by printing their name and dating such document. The document would have to be in a PDF format so that no changes can be made after everyone signs it.  Along with this agreement, I would post the Nine Elements of online etiquette and The Fair Use guidelines.

Challenges and How They Were Overcome

Obviously, my previous MATLT activity above was very short and lacked information.  I’ve learned a great deal about digital responsibilities and etiquette 9 classes later.   I would be the first person to say that I’ve been guilty of plagiarism, due to lack of proper time management, lack of information about the topic, and plain laziness.  I’ve turned in assignments that earned me bad scores because I was lazy and unprofessional.  If I were to advise anyone about ways to avoid plagiarism, I would tell them to start their research days ahead of time, and if they’re going to use other people’s work, be professional and cite the work, and don’t use more than 10% of other people’s work.   This level of academic status deserves professionalism and proof of your knowledge and capabilities, because in the real world, you won’t be able to get away with stealing other people’s ideas and make them your own.  If you can’t get away with it in school, what makes you think you can get away with it in the

real world!

Conclusion

The fact that we're able to research our subjects and come up with so many information to help us complete projects and reports, is very humbling.  It shows that we're not all knowing.  Authors who put in the work to write and or create works of art (written, created, painted, drawn, or recorded) need to be properly acknowledged when their works are cited.  Unfortunately, not everyone may want to comply with this simple ethical guideline, so, to ensure that these brilliant creators are not taken advantage of, Copyrights laws and Fair Use guideline were created to make sure that all of us practice professional etiquette.

Reference

1.)   Lever-Duffer & McDonald, 2011, p.364.  Teaching and Learning with Technology, 4^th Edition.

2.)   Nine Elements: Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship (2016).  Retrieved from http://www.digitalcitizenship.net/Nine_Elements.html

3.)   Copy Right Crash Course. (n.d.) Retrieved fromhttp://copyright.lib.utexas.edu/teachact.html

4.)   Copyright Fair Use.  Retrieved from http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html

5.)   Copyright Basics.  What is Copyright Law?  Retrieved from https://www.copyright.com/Services/copyrightoncampus/basics/law.html