Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines

I really enjoyed the presentation on Copyright and Fair Use Laws today. We watched a short film created by Professor Eric Faden of Bucknell University titled A Fair(y) Use Tale (The film can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo). This video was both hilarious and informative. I didn't realize how many restrictions there were on copyrighted materials! I felt a bit overwhelmed by what we can and cannot use, but I understand the importance of following these guidelines nonetheless. If someone used my work without crediting me, I would probably be upset, so there has to be some type of accountability to make sure people don't plagiarize or misuse someone else's work. But seriously, some of the laws are intense. I wish teachers had more freedom for instruction in the classroom in regards to copyright and fair use guidelines, but alas, one can only wish!

After the discussion on Copyright Laws, a few of us still had to present our WebQuests. I was very happy with my lesson considering this was the first WebQuest I ever created! I used Henry James' The Turn of the Screw as my novel, and I think it worked well! If I ever taught this book in a real classroom, I would definitely use this WebQuest, but I think I would still have to add more details and more resources. All in all though, I think it turned out better than my original!

Last, but not least, we discussed some plans for the Film Clip Lessons we will be presenting next week. We have to create a lesson plan where we use a film clip to accompany our lesson. My brain is blank right now, so I think I'll just wait until I can browse on the net. I'm sticking to Henry James, so who knows what I'll be able to find! :-) :-/ :-D