Module 2 Blog Post September 3rd

 Copyright, OERs and Social Media

Copyright

I studied copyright in ISCI 701, so this was a welcome refresher on the copyright policies.  I am relieved to understand through the module readings and lectures that I will not be the "copyright police" for the school where I will work.  However, I appreciate having an understanding of copyright and fair use which I can provide professional development lessons to school educators and administrators.  Teachers and administrators should have a basic understanding of what is protected by copyright and also the different items that are not protected and how this applies to education.  Russell's (2019) article addresses copyright by recording and publishing storybook readings on the Internet.  Through analyzing the four factors of fair use, Russell discusses how these stories published on the Internet have a low risk of copyright infringement.  The article applied the four factors test of fair use in an easy-to-understand scenario and I feel that this is the type of scenario that can be addressed for professional development within the school. 

Open Educational Resources

As an educator, I appreciate and value the use of open educational resources (OERs) for student learning and advancement.  OERs can create equality among varying educational systems through the flexibility and convenience of valuable resources being available to all students.  Not all schools can afford textbooks and OERs can provide schools with a cost-benefit by offering students access to high-quality resources.  The only caveat is that the student must also have access to technological supporting devices to access the OERs.  In addition, I value the learning experience of students through the engagement of OERs, students are not passively learning (IFLA, n.d.).

Social Media

Librarians are transforming the outreach to patrons, students, parents, and community members through the utilization of various social media outlets.  I was energized and motivated by the various articles that addressed how librarians are using social media to reach their communities. For example, Jones's (2020) article inspired me to set goals for myself when posting about library initiatives. Parents and caregivers of students need to see what their students are learning in the library. I already follow many librarians on Instagram and TikTok. I love the ideas that librarians post for read-alouds and activities in the classroom. As a future librarian, I will be posting weekly about library initiatives, book reviews and student involvement.

References

IFLA. (n.d.) Open educational resources and libraries: a briefing. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.

Jones, A. Get your self(ie) out there: My year as an AASL social media superstar. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.

Russell, C. (2019). Tackling copyright concerns when taking storytime online. [PDF]. Blackboard. https://blackboard.sc.edu.