Of Icebergs and Ownership: A Common-Sense Approach to Intellectual Property
February 18, 2013 | Filed in: Open Education
by Robin Wharton
Instead of taking decisions out of the hands of students by establishing bright lines about what they may and may not do with their own and others' work, we should instead concentrate on the pedagogical goal of helping them hone their rhetorical awareness. As a general rule, addressing intellectual property issues as part of the rhetorical context within which students are working can help them cultivate a better understanding of discipline-specific attitudes towards ownership, sharing, and attribution. Rather than focusing on regulatory compliance, classroom discussions of copyright and intellectual property should center around ethos and the implicit and explicit obligations professional communities impose upon their members and “outsiders” who wish to communicate effectively within them.
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Instead of taking decisions out of the hands of students by establishing bright lines about what they may and may not do with their own and others' work, we should instead concentrate on the pedagogical goal of helping them hone their rhetorical awareness. As a general rule, addressing intellectual property issues as part of the rhetorical context within which students are working can help them cultivate a better understanding of discipline-specific attitudes towards ownership, sharing, and attribution. Rather than focusing on regulatory compliance, classroom discussions of copyright and intellectual property should center around ethos and the implicit and explicit obligations professional communities impose upon their members and “outsiders” who wish to communicate effectively within them.
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Bright Lines and Golden Rules: Copyright, Fair Use, Critical Pedagogy
September 05, 2012 | Filed in: Open Education
by Robin Wharton
The slippery semiotics of the word “fair” render fair use/dealing a murky and changeable concept. What is “fair” in one set of circumstances will not be “fair” in another. […] When I was a practicing attorney, I thought answering the question, “Is this fair use?,” with the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” was a pretty good strategy. Because context matters in the fair use/dealing analysis, many professionals can do a quick fairness check by asking how they might respond as a copyright owner to whatever use they might be contemplating.
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The slippery semiotics of the word “fair” render fair use/dealing a murky and changeable concept. What is “fair” in one set of circumstances will not be “fair” in another. […] When I was a practicing attorney, I thought answering the question, “Is this fair use?,” with the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” was a pretty good strategy. Because context matters in the fair use/dealing analysis, many professionals can do a quick fairness check by asking how they might respond as a copyright owner to whatever use they might be contemplating.
Read More...Digital Humanities Made Me a Better Pedagogue: a Crowdsourced Article
July 10, 2012 | Filed in: Digital Pedagogy
by Leeann Hunter, Pete Rorabaugh, Jesse Stommel, Robin Wharton, & Roger Whitson
Pedagogy is inherently collaborative. Our work as teachers doesn’t (or shouldn’t) happen in a vacuum. In “Hybridity, pt. 3: What Does Hybrid Pedagogy Do?,” Pete and Jesse write, “Teaching is a practice. Good teaching is an engaged, reflective, and generous practice. Pedagogy is not just talking and thinking about teaching. Pedagogy is the place where philosophy and practice meet (aka “praxis”). It’s vibrant and embodied, meditative and productive.” There is an important distinction here between teaching and pedagogy, between work that is productive and work that is productive and also reflective.
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Pedagogy is inherently collaborative. Our work as teachers doesn’t (or shouldn’t) happen in a vacuum. In “Hybridity, pt. 3: What Does Hybrid Pedagogy Do?,” Pete and Jesse write, “Teaching is a practice. Good teaching is an engaged, reflective, and generous practice. Pedagogy is not just talking and thinking about teaching. Pedagogy is the place where philosophy and practice meet (aka “praxis”). It’s vibrant and embodied, meditative and productive.” There is an important distinction here between teaching and pedagogy, between work that is productive and work that is productive and also reflective.
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