I feel a little relieved that there are some resources for us to use without having to worry about the big C. I hate to admit this publicly, but I rarely use the traditional (and expensive) textbooks. So much of what I use to reach my students is stuff that I find, modify, reuse, and create. Because of this, I live in fear that the C police will barge into my classroom and take me away to C jail. I do not live riskily, however, because I follow policies and copyright regulations. I just worry that I miss something somehow somewhere.
I've never even heard of or noticed CC on any websites that I've visited, but I'm not one for the little details and fine print (hence my fear for the C police). I tried to play around in the CC world to look for some material, but I wasn't really successful in finding anything. I haven't given up though; I'll keep at it.
Because we do live in a visual world, I use visual images all of the time in my lessons. I have students create stories based on pictures. I use images and commercial clips when we discuss rhetorical techniques and advertising. I show "clips" of movies to increase understanding of novels. I use songs and music when we study poetry and the Harlem Renaissance. If CC provides us with C-free material, then it liberates educators and other creative people.
It did occur to me that because of the big C, my creations (my lessons) are copyrighted. I feel a little powerful :) It's mine, all mine!!!! Haahaahaahaa!!!!
Seriously though, I really don't see it as "Mine, all mine!!!" I've stood on the shoulders of my peers, other artists, musicians, many creative groups to create my lessons. It is hard to believe that there is anything completely original and unique out there anymore.
Because of our sue happy society, we just have to be careful and fair. I do feel badly for the artists/musicians who have lost income because of places like limewire. Here's where technology has its disadvantages because we can find material so easily and so often without giving credit where credit is due; however, the WWW provides many artists/musicians/authors with opportunities that would not have otherwise existed for them.
The copyright world is changing. It's nice to have options as an educator who must use every little bit of help to get to such a variety of learners.
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Copyright is always a scary "thing" if you are worried about it and want to do the right thing. So many people just don't care and use items incorrectly. It's nice to have a Creative Commons area where we can share and enjoy what others have without trying to reinvent the wheel everytime we need a photo for a project.
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