One of the big issues that we are facing when trying to integrate Web 2.0 into the classroom is the huge gap between the two cultures... Web 2.0, which is all about sharing, mashing, remixing and embedding (see this presentation from Faris Yakob), versus the strict copyright rules and policies of our institutions.
Spend some time looking at Gen Y's home-made online videos, and you'll soon see that it's common practice to integrate video, music and images without the permission of the copyright owner. Although this is a clear breach of current copyright law, when was the last case where a teenager was dragged before the courts for using their favourite song in a shared YouTube video?
So, when we set an assignment, giving our students the opportunity to present their work in video format, and share it with others online, guess what they do?!
There is some hope - the US guidelines for fair use have been recently updated to reflect current practice in education.
Will Australian laws and institutions ever accept the unwritten rules of Web 2.0 culture? In the meantime, what's your approach to this problem? Turn a blind-eye, or enforce the rules to the letter of the law?
1 comment:
hi there!
lawrence lessig has some good thoughts about this:
http://farisyakob.typepad.com/blog/2007/11/read-write-cult.html
fx
Post a Comment