Copyright and Plagiarism

Copyright and plagiarism are two very important topics that need to be addressed throughout one’s educational journey.  Students should be introduced to these terms and what they mean in kindergarten.  Subsequently, each year should build upon the next as it relates to curricula.  

There are strategies you can use to increase students’ awareness of copyright.  First, you must explain what copyright means.  For example, one cannot copy a book on the copy machine and sell it as their own. There are copyright laws that protect the author, the illustrator, and the publisher.  The same laws apply to downloading music and movies. If you do not pay for the music or the movie, you are breaking the law by not abiding the copyright law. A second method is to deliberately allow one student to copy another student’s work without their knowledge.  Allow the students to share their writings or artwork and wait for reactions. This is a great way to     
connect emotion to learning, which is very powerful. 

What strategies can reduce plagiarism in student work?  The emotional learning experience of having one student deliberately copy another is one powerful strategy.  A second strategy is to have students practice written response to text. Students can collaborate and discuss the text, putting it in their own words.  Graphic organizers are useful tools to assist students in organizing their thoughts.  A third strategy is to have students use a free online plagiarism checker. 

As a visual arts teacher, it is imperative that I teach my students that copying another artist’s work is not acceptable.  Students are free to use an artist’s work as inspiration but not to copy. To assist with this, I use a visual example of Van Gogh’s sunflowers and a painting that I created of sunflowers.  The students can see that my work is completely different, although it is the same subject matter.       

These strategies address skills from NETS-S.  When students work together, they communicate and collaborate to produce original works and solve problems.  They also demonstrate digital citizenship and take personal responsibility for lifelong learning.

To modify, students can use digital graphic organizers instead of written ones. This modification would address the Technology Operations and Concepts Standard and allow students to transfer current knowledge to learning new technologies.    

How can understanding Creative Commons (CC) impact student understanding of copyright? 
According to the CC website, CC licenses allows rights holders to offer certain usage rights to the public, while reserving other rights.  If a right holder wishes to hold all of their copyrights, they are not advised to use CC.  For example, if a student wanted to use a picture from CC, they could access freely useable media files via Wikimedia Commons.  Students must abide by the some rights reserved on CC.    

ISTE Standards for Students. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/

Frequently Asked Questions. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://creativecommons.org/faq/#is-

creative-commons-against-copyright

Wikimedia Main Page. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page