As week #3 was a challenging week trying to sort through the large amount of content, I’m still trying to digest information. After reading a blog post by Tracy Cameron about Creative Commons, I decided to try and create a CC license that I can put on my blog.
While reading over the different licenses, I was able to create one for my blog. With a CC license, “I have the ability as the creator of my work to choose if I “give people the right to share, use, and even build upon”
my work” (Cameron, 2013).
This week I’m going to try and gather tidbits of information from a variety of sources and then “share” them with others on my blog. As a first step, I have decided to watch Dean Shareski in his video Sharing, The Moral Imperative. At the beginning of this video, I found myself thinking back to some of the people I have shared with and who have shared with me over my teaching career and to my early days of teaching. I remember the days when (I know I may be sounding like your parents, but you will be saying it one day) I was given a few older resources to use to teach my students. If I wanted anything new for my students, I had to go out and buy it myself. Often I found myself spending hundreds of dollars for individual units and thousands of dollars every school year. Today, with the availability of teaching resources on the internet, I am finding myself not spending any money on teaching resources. I have created, borrowed, modified and redistributed a lot of material from grades 4-7 in a variety of subject areas throughout my career. Similar to Dean Shareski , I have a difficult time claiming ownership for work
that I have created (Shareski, 2010).
that I have created (Shareski, 2010).
Most of what I have created is a remix of what others have created. As I have mentioned in a previous blog post, I am always open to sharing material that I create/remixed with my colleagues around the district and I am open to allowing them to adapt and modify the material. I am even open to sharing material with other teachers around the province, country or world as long as users agreed not to take
ownership of the content. When it comes to student learning, teachers have a habit of sharing knowledge and resources. Although many teachers are very open to sharing, there are some teachers that are very reluctant to share their resources. According to Greg Webb, the reasons teachers unwilling to share resources include: lack of quality, fear of being judged by peers, loss of intellectual property,
inequity and loss of power (Webb, 2000).
Much like Dean Shareski, many of the people that have contributed to my learning, embrace “a culture of sharing” (2010). In my OLTD course, there is a tremendous learning network where we all get to share our knowledge, resources and experiences so that we can learn. As educators who see the learning potential of online learning, we have a new “obligation of sharing” (Shareski, 2010). I also found it very interesting listening to Dan Meyer describe how he has created some math resources and shared
them for free online. I too am very interested in doing something similar. One of my goals over the next two years is to take twenty art lessons that my students enjoy, and create videos to use and share online with other grade 5 teachers. Just imagine creating a data base of art videos from all grades that could be shared around the world.
ownership of the content. When it comes to student learning, teachers have a habit of sharing knowledge and resources. Although many teachers are very open to sharing, there are some teachers that are very reluctant to share their resources. According to Greg Webb, the reasons teachers unwilling to share resources include: lack of quality, fear of being judged by peers, loss of intellectual property,
inequity and loss of power (Webb, 2000).
Much like Dean Shareski, many of the people that have contributed to my learning, embrace “a culture of sharing” (2010). In my OLTD course, there is a tremendous learning network where we all get to share our knowledge, resources and experiences so that we can learn. As educators who see the learning potential of online learning, we have a new “obligation of sharing” (Shareski, 2010). I also found it very interesting listening to Dan Meyer describe how he has created some math resources and shared
them for free online. I too am very interested in doing something similar. One of my goals over the next two years is to take twenty art lessons that my students enjoy, and create videos to use and share online with other grade 5 teachers. Just imagine creating a data base of art videos from all grades that could be shared around the world.
As I continued to search the web for information on sharing, I came across a blog post by Di Mace titled “Why Copying Inspires Creativity.” According to Di Mace “we are in a continuous cycle of copying” and “are inspired to remix, recreate and reimage new and different derivatives of the original.” “The true essence of this argument is the ‘thinking’ that’s done behind the copying. (Mace, 2011). When educators share their work and allow others to remix, recreate and reimage, they are allowing others to learn by creating their own reinterpretation. After reading this blog post by Di Mace, I think back how have learned by copying and how I have progressed as teacher over the last 20 years. By sharing information and resources with others and allowing them to copy remix, recreate and reimage what I have copied, remixed, recreated and reimaged, I have continued the cycle of learning. According to Jason Cohen “copying is one of the best ways of learning, growing, evaluating, and exploring. It’s a valid tool so long as we regard it as a means to an end (2012).
Although I have always believed that technology itself is the most important factor to enhance the learning potential of our students, I have now begun to shift my thinking. Because technology is allowing greater access to information and resources, technology is allowing educators and students to share, copy, remix, recreate and reimage more information and resources. It is the sharing, copying, remixing and recreating of information and resources with technology that is enhancing the learning potential of our students.
References:
Cameron, T. (2013, May 07). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://tracyslearningjourney.weebly.com/12/post/2013/05/creative-commons.html
Cohen, J. (2012, February 28). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.asmartbear.com/learn-by-copy.html
Mace, D. (2011, August 25). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://writetodone.com/2011/08/25/why-copying-inspires-creativity/
Shareski, D. (Producer). (2010). Sharing: The Moral Imperative [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://blip.tv/k12online/sharing-the-moral-imperative-4216381
Webb, G. (2000, October 31). Why teachers don't share resources, and what we
can do about it. Retrieved from http://nw2000.flexiblelearning.net.au/talkback/p41.htm
References:
Cameron, T. (2013, May 07). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://tracyslearningjourney.weebly.com/12/post/2013/05/creative-commons.html
Cohen, J. (2012, February 28). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.asmartbear.com/learn-by-copy.html
Mace, D. (2011, August 25). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://writetodone.com/2011/08/25/why-copying-inspires-creativity/
Shareski, D. (Producer). (2010). Sharing: The Moral Imperative [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://blip.tv/k12online/sharing-the-moral-imperative-4216381
Webb, G. (2000, October 31). Why teachers don't share resources, and what we
can do about it. Retrieved from http://nw2000.flexiblelearning.net.au/talkback/p41.htm