How Can Students Know Fair Use if Teachers Don't?

With kids doing a majority of their research online these days, it's really important they be able to figure out which web sites are good reference sources for information, which are not, and how to correctly cite the information gleaned for reports. It's something I am hoping my kids' teachers are talking about often in the classroom.

So I was not happy to see this Ars Technica report about an American University study that found most teachers are not trained on copyright law and fair use principles. Many wing it by being either too conservative in what they allow their students to do or too liberal, allowing them to pull from bits and pieces of copyrighted materials off the web without attribution or proper citation.

AU's Center for Social Media report notes that a "code of practice" would be really helpful for teachers and students for navigating copyright law and fair use. But Ars Technica rightfully points out that litigation-leery school districts may be loathe to adopt one that is not overly conservative to ward off lawsuits. Which would be regrettable since, as the report notes, "copyright law permits a wide range of uses of copyrighted material without permission or payment."

You can find the full report here. And for guidance on copyright laws and fair use, check out the center's copyright backgrounder and these fair use scenarios. You'll find both PDF pages and  other helpful resources for teachers, students, and parents on this Center for Social Media page.

LINKS: Teachers' lack of fair use education hinders learning, sets bad example [Ars Technica] 

Copyright & Fair Use in Teaching [American University Center for Social Media]