"Rules of Thumb" for Fair Use

According to the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education, "Educators can rely on 'Rules of Thumb' for fair use guidance" which is simply a myth. They go on to state that basically there aren't any "cut-and-dried rules" that state what can and can't be used according to Fair Use like we originally thought. Before we were told that we could only use a portion of a song, or only so many words from a poem for it to still be considered Fair Use. The article says that really the Fair Use guidelines are "situational"  and one reading the guidelines should take them as simply that....a guide to help you make a decent decision as to whether or not you are going against what is considered fair use. 

There really isn't an exact science to Fair Use because it was really meant for allowing the user to decide what is or isn't Fair Use according to the guidelines stated in the Fair Use policies. The code of practices is not telling you the limits either. It describes how things "should be done" and then lets the user decide based on situational experiences. 

I can't find anything regarding Fair Use in relation to my school or district. As the media specialist I need to make sure that my teachers understand that importance of copyright/fair use and how it applies to the classroom. Of course it is easier to do a quick Google image search and bam....slap it on a presentation calling it 'yours'. There are ways to go about things that adhere to the policies, they might not always be the quickest or easiest route, but it is the safe one. If we as educators can't follow the rules due to lack of time or patience, what do we expect out of out students? 

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy Education. Media Education Lab. Retrieved from http://mediaeducationlab.com/sites/mediaeducationlab.com/files/CodeofBestPracticesinFairUse_0.pdf 

It's all about the money, money, money

As I read the myth, “If I’m not making any money off it, it’s fair use. (and if I am making money off it, it’s not.” As a student and as an educator I can’t tell you how many times I have pasted a picture I found on the internet and pasted it into my PowerPoint or Prezi. Should I have contacted the owner of that picture and asked permission? If we look at the “noncommercial” argument, I as an educator am not making PowerPoint presentation and using those pictures to sell my work. I am using those pictures to enhance the learning that is taking place in my classroom. It is all about the money, the almighty dollar. I am taking and using someone else’s work that is valuable to them and their bank account and using it as mine. I might not be making any money, but that does not give me a fair use pass.

I thought about the saying that ignorance is bliss. Our teachers cannot be ignorant in regards to copyright and fair use laws. Much is at stake for them if they misuse materials. It is essential for media specialist to impart their knowledge to their teachers about copyright and fair use laws. This year each teacher received a copy of this law and the Griffin-Spalding County policy in their handbook and I reviewed the law with plenty of examples in our faculty meeting during pre-planning. I also explained that there were pamphlets in the media center if they had further questions. As media specialists, we need to make sure our teachers are not fearful of copying materials, but they are educated about the policies and laws of copyright and fair use. I find that Mark Twain said it best when he stated, “Only one thing is impossible for God: To find any sense in any copyright law on the planet”.

In the News...

In my first year in an elementary school media center, the school had a daily news show.  It began five minutes before the bell rang and was broadcast over the distribution network.  Four fifth graders were the newscasters and one was the camera operator.  The news consisted of reporting the date, weather, lunch choices, reciting the Pledge, the school’s Commitment to Success, the moment of silence, and a “Did You Know?” fact, along with any announcements that were sent to the media center before the newscast was over.  The news crew rotated classes each grading period, with the fifth grade teachers sending down whichever students they chose.    It was my job to type scripts in the teleprompter, which the students read verbatim.  The news was broadcast from the “newsroom,” a room off the media center that has the ability to hook up a small sound board and video camera to broadcast to the school.  The office has to “push the button” to allow the key to override the intercom system – the video broadcasts over all channels and the audio is through the intercom system rather than the TV. 

We only ran into minor problems like – 1) teachers not sending the news crew to the media center, 2) students not able to read the prompts smoothly, 3) the mike getting switched off during the broadcast.  These were overcome by 1) grabbing whatever student happened to be in the media center at the time and surprising their teachers when they saw them on the air, 2) trying to do a run-through or stage whispering to students when they couldn’t make out a word/phrase, 3) ducking under the camera and duck-walking to the news table to turn on the mike and hand it to a student without being seen on the broadcast. 

Once the county decided to share the media parapro position between two schools, the broadcast died off; it’s now just the principal leading the pledge, Commitment to Success, moment of silence, and reading any announcements that were sent to the media center. 

Fast forward to this year - the leadership team of my second school decided to once again have a news crew.  (Currently, the Principal or AP leads the Pledge, moment of silence, and any announcements over the intercom.)  While everyone in leadership loved the idea, nobody thought to check with the media specialist – the equipment that had been used years ago was given away (when it was decided to no longer have a news show), and the ability to broadcast had been lost when the intercom system was changed several years ago – while there is audio capability, there is nowhere to broadcast a live video feed…Needless to say, W.O.K.E. was never brought to life.

I spoke with a friend of my at the high school level – they have a news show that is broadcast at the beginning of 3^rd period every day.  It is done over the distribution system and broadcast over every channel.  It begins with a teaser (what will be covered in the newscast) and a pre-produced opening (like the da da dum, da da dum on ESPN) it includes the news announcers leading the pledge, moment of silence, a cheesy reminder of “teachers, check for dress code violations,” reading announcements, tossing the view to sports (two different announcers), back to news desk, and sometimes has a “commercial” or video that the students have put together for a closing.  It’s produced by the broadcast teacher, but the students do the technical work.  Announcers are in Broadcast II, and switch 2^nd semester.  Besides giggling, issues encountered include batteries of mics going out during the broadcast (at which point the students share mics), and once, a broken splitter or switch (Engineering teacher to the rescue!). 

While I enjoyed seeing the students in my elementary school on the “news,” having a production that is more than just the basics can be rather time-consuming.  We didn’t have graphics or green-screens or play pre-produced video; there was simply no time.  With the focus on squeezing every instructional minute out of every school day, news production simply isn’t a priority. 

Still, seeing how excited the students were to “be on TV” was priceless.  They learned they needed to enunciate, speak slowly to be understood, and have proper posture.  They knew they needed to behave in class and work hard to be chosen by their teachers to be part of the news crew.  They took their responsibilities seriously (well, as seriously as 10 year olds can).  I do hope to bring the news show back if 1) my position is reinstated full time at that school or 2) I become media specialist and am at the school full time. 

And with that, I’m signing off…

NEWS CREW

I think it's fabulous that both the elementary and the middle school I've worked for take part in some sort of morning news broadcast. And, actually, I find it hard to believe that every school doesn't.  Morning announcements are an integral part of any school, and the live news method is a fantastic way to express them. Kids like routine, so nothing fancy is truly necessary, although I believe that a little spice now and then will keep the viewers attention. 

Students at Hightower Trail Middle School follow a script as follows:

"Good morning Hightower Trail.  Today is ____________________________.

If you are in the hallway would you please stop and stand quietly, if you are in the classroom please respect a moment of silence.  (Count for 15 seconds.)

At this time please stand for the pledge to the flag.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Stated of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Please be seated for the Words of Wisdom

(Read the words of wisdom including the “this day in history” event.)

With something to think about, this is __________(Name)____________, make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.

Please be sure that you have read through all of the announcements."

 A different home room is picked each week to carry out the news. Then they are giving a character word of the week and required to provide one quote of the day related to the word of the week, as well as a this-day-in-history-fact. In addition to this short broadcast, there are scrolling video announcements that carry on throughout the day with such information as the lunch menu, and which clubs are meeting when. 

The principal has expressed that she'd rather nothing be added or subtracted than the prescribed script. I think the media specialist would add more featured segments now and then, and she realizes that she could do so with very little effort, and yet, it would draw a lot of attention.  Either way, I think it's a good start, especially when it would appear that many schools do nothing. 

#socialnetworking #slmc

Social networking has to be one of the biggest #trends that is booming in not only society, but schools today. I was surprised after reading Jones (2008), that "texting, chatting, virtual worlds and popular social networking sites like MySpace are the tools least utilized in elementary, middle and high school curricula". I feel like that might have been the case in 2008, but I don't personally feel like that is the case now in schools. I know personally, our school uses Facebook to put out important information and it is constantly viewed all day. Our neighboring high school media center has a Twitter account created where students can follow and tweet what they are currently reading. The media specialist there says she loves it, and it is the most used application that she has ever integrated. 

I think the use of social networking becomes what we want it to be and we decide how much it gets used in schools. I don't mean we as a media specialist group, I mean we as in a person affiliated with schools. 

I feel like social networking could be a big integral part of schools and the media center, but a problem goes back to our previous posting regarding internet filtering. What we are using right now, Blogger, is a great social networking tool that I think students would love to use if they were led in the right direction, but that is going to be a no go in my county. We use Google, which offers Blogger as one of the apps, however, in my county, that app is turned off...period. Even the override login can't break into that one. This just doesn't go for Blogger, it goes for ANY blogging site. The reason being is that the teacher doesn't have a fair way of monitoring comments being made to posts because essentially anyone can find your blog and comment on it. The county would rather block them all instead of giving the teachers and students a chance to prove they are worthy to manage their own sites. 

This is where media specialists can come in with new knowledge on new social networking sites that do work and can be accessed. We already know the teachers are probably not going to take the time to find another way around the blockage. We could essentially come in and 'save the day'. With the right research and back knowledge, a solution could be found. 

Jones, Melissa. (2008). AASL’s second longitudinal survey reveals schools’ acceptance of social networking tools American Online Association. Retrieved from http://www.ala.org/news/news/pressreleases2008/june2008/AASLsurvey

To be Social or Not. That is the question.

Brian Mathews begins Chapter 7 “Online Social Networking” by stating, “It’s not what you know, but who you know” (Courtney, 2007). In today’s society of social networking and all the different apps that people use to network there is never a truer statement. The allure of social networking is not just being able to connect with family and friends, but it allows the user to connect globally and expand the user’s social realm. I can remember when I joined Facebook in 2007. I started out with only a few friends and my co-workers that were my friends and now I am friends with people all over the world. Just as my networking has grown, the types of social networking apps that are available to everyone have increased dramatically. Many people still look at Facebook and Twitter as the two that is most used, but within the world of a teenager WeChat, Vine, and Flickr are the three most used mobile apps among teenagers. (Olson, 2013) How do we as educators use these social networking apps to entice our students and enhance the learning environment and should these networks be allowed in the classroom?

I was shocked to read that in 2008 the ALA launched a survey on the use of social networking tools by school library media specialist and teacher collaborators. They found that 53% of educators used some sort of collaborative tools to aid instruction. I can honestly say that in the school where I taught in 2008, social media was not used, nor would the words classroom and social media had been spoken in the same sentence. Forty-one percent used podcast and Twenty-nine percent used blogs.  But the one finding that I could not believe was that “integrating social networking tools into instruction is widely accepted by public and private school alike” (Americal Library Association, 2008) In 2008, I knew from experience that Facebook was looked down upon and with great ire from the higher ups at my school system’s Superintendent’s Office. There was no way Facebook or any other social media would be used as a tool in a classroom. It took five long years for my system and many others to understand that Facebook and other social media’s, if used correctly and supervised correctly, could be a highly rated tool among educators and students.

Although teachers and students love to use social media for personal use, finding ways to incorporate it into the classroom and school can sometimes be difficult. I incorporated Facebook and Skype into my Gifted 8^th Grade ELA class last year. We partnered with an ELA class in New Castle Upon Tyne in the United Kingdom. Students read the same books and collaborated on projects and written assignments together; all the while using Facebook to communicate. They loved when it would be Skpye days and they would meet in my classroom at 8:00 a.m. and talk with the other students. These students also used Flickr to take pictures and share with them with the students in New Castle. For many, this was a time to see a different part of the world, maybe a part they would never see. It certainly opened several of their eyes to what is out there.

When I began working as a Media Specialist this Fall I wondered how I could incorporate a new network I had recently learned about in the Media Center. It is called LibraryThing. LibraryThing is a social cataloging web application where you can store and share book catalogs with others. I use something similar with my book club called Good Reads, but liked LibraryThing for school. I researched how it would be used and decided to give it a whirl and my readers love it! They log on to the website and search a book they are wanting to read and read the reviews or use the tags to find books under a specific subject or genre. LibraryThing enhances their experience in the Media Center. It allows them to have a voice in what they are reading. Most importantly, they don’t have to wait until they return to school to use LibraryThing. It is accessible where ever there is Internet.

I am a huge advocate in using and incorporating social media in the classrooms and schools, but I also realize that there are downfalls to this practice. To make using Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, and other social media a success educators and students have to follow guidelines when using them. Supervision is a must and teachers must keep a watchful eye out for any illegal sites and cyber-bullying.

Just like everything in life, you make the experience what you put in to it. Make the experience fun and exciting for your students. Take a leap of faith and try social media, you will see your students open up and embrace assignments and you will love watching them learn.

Media Center Web Pages

When looking to find information on a place, be it a doctor’s office, a school, a company, or a vacation spot, my initial inclination is to go look them up on the internet.  I’m sure I’m not alone in this preference – when I have minimal knowledge of a location and want to learn, I want to discover it on my own rather than making a phone call and/or asking questions.  I don’t know why.  That’s just how I function.  I hit the internet when I need directions, hours of operation, specialties, mission statements, reviews, or anything else that strikes my fancy. 

While reviewing various media center websites for this assignment, I found many that appealed to me.  They typically included names (sometimes with bios), schedules, policies, helpful links, and most important (at least to me) pictures!  I love when pictures of libraries are included with websites, because they let me be a part of their world.  There are several I’d like to visit, for no other reason than they look really cool.  (Check out McClure Middle School’s media center pictures on flickr: http://mccluremediacenter.edu.glogster.com/mcclure-media-center/  There are two pages, be sure to see both!)  I loved those with links using logos rather than just urls.  (Same information, just more visually appealing.)  I was particularly impressed with media specialists who were able to keep up with a daily blog. 

Those that I didn't particularly care for were those that were overcrowded with information, especially in small font, had broken links, or hadn't been updated in quite some time (we’re talking years, not months here). 

I was surprised to find that some of the websites included social media.  It makes sense with this generation of students, though.  I do find the idea appealing for high school students, though I’m undecided about middle school and elementary.  Though I know students at this age have access to their own devices, I just wonder about the level of interest they'd have in Media Center tweets...

Overall, when creating a media center webpage, I agree with both Jurkowski and Warlick that keeping the intended audience in mind is essential.  Only when a media center webpage is utilized by its patrons is it a truly effective tool. 

References:

Jurkowski, O. L. (2010). Technology and the School Library : A Comprehensive Guide for Media Specialists and Other Educators. Lanham, Md: Scarecrow Press.  Retrieved from: http://web.b.ebscohost.com.proxygsu-wgc1.galileo.usg.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzMzNzQzOF9fQU41?sid=268b3564-4048-4cb6-8277-a40542129e91@sessionmgr110&vid=1&format=EB&rid=1

Warlick, D.  (2005, January/February). Building websites that work for your media center. Knowledge Quest.  Retrieved from: http://medt7477spring2014.weebly.com/uploads/7/5/8/9/7589068/warlick_lmc_websites.pdf