Images, Copyright, and Fair Use

Picture Perfect?

Students today are using technology to complete assignments more often. Therefore, it is imperative that my students know the correct way to use images, so that they are not using images "illegally".

I think the only way you can truly prepare students to use images correctly in class is to educate them on the proper ways to use them. Just like teachers educate and teach students how to line up, how to transition from math to science, or where to put their tests after they are done, the procedure of using images will also need to be taught.

First and foremost, it is important that I, as a teacher, am setting a good examples when using images in my PowerPoints, presentations, lessons, or activities. For example, I should be citing where I am getting images from, etc. Teaching students about what copyright is and why it is important is one of the first steps, while practicing using legal images is the second step. Copyright gives the original owner of the artwork, image, etc. the right to decide under what conditions other people can use their work. Some owners give other people full access, while other owners deny full access. It all just depends! In this class, we will be copyrighting some of the work we create.

In order to prepare my students, I will take these options for legally using pictures in steps. For example, for the first nine weeks I will only allow my students to use original photos or illustrations! So for the first nine weeks, every assignment or project we do in class will need to have original pictures. We will do this in class using the chrome books or iPads. We will also use original pieces of art (hand drawn own painted). I will educate my students to let them know that if they take pictures of people, they need permission unless it is at a public place and the picture is being used for journalistic purposes or if you cannot make out the individual's face. Part of the students' grades will be whether or not the picture is original and whether or not the actual images are legal to use and post.

The next nine weeks we will focus on using Creative Commons images for our activities, lessons, and projects. I will provide the different websites my students can find pictures on. I will also make them aware of what all of the licenses mean. For example, you can use this picture in your project, but you won't be able to use this picture because all of their rights are reserved. I will make my students provide the Title, Author, License, and Source for all images they are using as good practice, even if they do not require attribution. This expectation will be in place for all activities, projects, or assignments, even those that need to be turned in physically.

These topics are super important, especially when my students will publish their own stories electronically. It is important to consider the copyright when making these electronic books. However, with the plan I have in place (using original work one nine weeks and Creative Commons images the next nine weeks), I feel confident that my students will not publish any illegal images in their ebooks.

Image provided by Pixabay