The penultimate session of the Technology Enhanced Learning and Teaching (TELT) module (for the MEd in Academic Practice I’m currently studying) was based on exploring the module’s learning outcomes, talking through our developing Mahara portfolios (basically like internal blogs through Moodle, BCU’s Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)), the learning artefact that we will produce as a module outcome, open educational resources (OERs), Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and copyright…all with a little fear as we realised the end of the module and assessment is looming. Another module nearly done – indicating to me that PhD is nearly done too. Eek!
The fifth session was mostly run by Beverly Cole from Centre for Enhancement of Learning and Teaching (CELT) at BCU who opened the day by asking – What were you doing in 1996? This was when the worldwide web (www) was born. I posted the question through my Facebook page and this is what my friends came back with – a real sign of the 1990s times…funny right? What was I doing in 1996? Living in Newcastle-Under-Lyme, aged 13, year 8 or 9 at school, already surrounded by tech as my brother was one to be in the know as he was studying computer programming. You name, he knew about it. I was lucky in that respect in growing up digitally-minded.
“Content is King”…”Intellectual Property has the shelf life of a banana.” – Bill Gates
In this session we were encouraged to:
- Be more discerning
- Be more critically aware
- Look at quality
- Look at provenance
- Stay legal, including attribution
With digital and online access you need to consider whether it is:
- Free to view
- Free to Download
- Free but registration needed
- Authentication/passwords
- Format e.g. XML, Mac, Streamed
- Browser, OS Platform, mac…
- Can it be used as a stand alone resource
- What about the Dark Web?
It is also important to consider accessibility in terms of creating learning resources that can be used by EVERYONE!
What is an OER?
“Open educational resources (OER) are free and openly licensed educational materials that can be used for teaching, learning, research, and other purposes.” – Creative Commons
What is attribution?
It is a concept in copyright law requiring an author to be credited. This is very important for free resources. Always check Terms of Use or Privacy Policies/Statements where available.
The first activity of the day was to list ‘Where do you find stuff?’ by using Padlet, which I realised I love using as an information sharing and response tool. (We used Padlet in the first TELT session.) There are a few screenshots of the Padlet session below. My list (as expected) was pretty long and once written out on the webpage, it felt a bit stale…time to find other sources and OERs? I’ve realised I’ve forgotten to put TED on there, how can I forget TED?!
We were then asked to look at an OER we had not used before. I decided to indulge in BoB (Box of Broadcast) National – a shared online off-air TV and radio recording service for UK Higher and Further education institutions. On first use, it’s INCREDIBLE! I knew there were going to be TV shows on China and Chinese art on there (having recently watch The Story of China (2016) and Art of China (2014)) but I never thought there would be this much content! What’s great is that you can take short clips from the TV episodes, that it is available for use by students AND staff, and there is also an archive of radio clips.In the discussion afterwards, I further discovered that it automatically creates Harvard citations. Time to delve deep into this as it’s got pre-session learning activities all over it. My only question is about the quality of the information on there – it is vital to be selective – also, is it innovative? Would be good if there was the option to comment/make comments especially from a student perspective.
I also dipped into Khan Academy – ‘a platform dedicated to providing free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.’ They focus on maths, science, computer programming, history, art history, economics and more and have partnered with globally-renowned institutions including The Museum of Modern Art. Again on first use, I discovered there were great introductory courses on ‘Art of Asia’ (with a subsection on China) and ‘Towards a Global Culture’. When I have more time I’m going to spend more time “learning” on this platform.
Others in the group talked about their OER searching and finding including platforms MIT CourseWare (academic repository for all their work), Thinkstock (image database), TED (do I need to explain TED??? Get to know it NOW, I’ve been in love with it for many years), MERLOT (curated collection of free and open online teaching), Jorum (a simple search platform) and more. Technology overload and a need for time to find out more about these platforms.
“Technology, time and digital platforms. Three things that constantly change and stop for no one.” – Rachel Marsden
In the afternoon, Stephen Gough, Librarian for Learning and Teaching at BCU, presented on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) and copyright (as examined in the pre-session activities) and the implications of re-using learning resources in relation to issues:
- Who owns the intellectual property right?
- Licenses
- The state of publishing
- Avoiding being sued
What is copyright?
Copyright is a property right which subsists in the following descriptions of work:
- Original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works
- Sound recordings, films or broadcasts, and
- The typographical arrangement of published editions
Copyright is owned by the creator of the work. The creator can be the maker, the commissioner, the employer of the creator if the work is created during the creator’s employment, anyone else who had a role in creating the work who can meet certain conditions.
An important question and very relevant to my work in China was, if I own the copyright, as defined by UK legislation, do I own it in all countries? Stephen stated – ‘No. In Europe, North America and Australia/New Zealand there is a high level of agreement. For other countries different laws may apply.’
Stephen went on to talk of licenses and where to source them including Copyright Licensing Authority (CLA), Educational Recording Agency (ERA), Creative Commons and the specific legislation for different types of licenses. Every word I’ve ever written and published, every image I’ve ever posted online suddenly came into focus with a question mark over the top – who owns it all?
If you notice, in the top left hand text column of my blog, I have actually added a Creative Commons license now after a recent issue and email exchange over a conference write-up – all resolved now! This incident happened at the same time as this TELT session…timing and incredibly useful to have the knowledge on hand straight away. Thanks Stephen! It’s best to avoid being sued. Here are Stephen’s pointers below…
Rachel Marsden's Words 