Head for the Edge, Library Media Connection, May/June 2009

Dear Great Brain*

I need to write up my goals for the year and give them to my principal. I have a few general ideas such as collaborating with teachers as much as possible, becoming a good resource for them, teaching students to use the databases, starting a lunch time book club, and decorating the library with student art. If you could send me any other ideas that seem reasonable for a first year in high school it would be much appreciated…I love creative ideas.

Diane

I suspect quite a number of LMC readers are asking themselves Diane’s question as they read this final issue of the school year. Whether graduating from library school or beginning a job in a new building, newbies should give consideration to starting off on the right foot with students and staff a high priority. What’s the old chestnut? “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.”

While the tasks Diane lists in her e-mail are important, they aren’t particularly strategic. In other words, Diane is planning day-to-day activities. A big part of one’s first year ought to be laying the foundation for growing and strengthening the program in future years as well. One should plan for both a happy and a long tenure in any new position.

My advice to all LMSs beginning new jobs is based on Johnson’s Three Commandments of a Successful Library Program:

1. Thou shall develop shared ownership of the library and all it contains.
2. Thou shall have written annual objectives tied directly to school and curricular goals and bend all thy efforts toward achieving them.
3. Thou shall take thy light out from under thy damn bushel and share with others all the wonders thou dost perform.

Say, that’s pretty good. What do you think the job of biblical prophet pays nowadays?

Based on these commandments, I’d recommend these first year goals for any library program:

• Establish a library advisory committee comprised of teachers, parents, and students. The library programs that are the most effective, the most appreciated and the most secure are those that everyone in the learning community has a stake in. An official committee is the best way of creating that ownership and shared responsibility for success. Oh, get on your building’s improvement committee/leadership team ASAP as well. Shared governance goes both ways.
• Establish yourself and program as ally to your principal. If you know and can help solve your principal’s principle problems, you will establish yourself as an important member of her/his team. All the principals I know are being asked to make some serious changes in educational practices. If you can help midwife new methods of instruction and programs, you will be gold. If you are seen as irrelevant, you will be gone.
• Work with your committee and your principal to establish collaboratively created goals and a realistic budget. You may wish to conduct a library survey and do a collection evaluation to give direction to these goals. These do not need to be long and arduous, but the information should help you determine the past program’s strengths and weaknesses. Conducting a staff survey also shows you are genuinely interested in helping teachers meet their needs. A good collection evaluation will help form the basis of writing a budget that is specific, goal-oriented, and realistic.
• Quickly establish a formal communication plan. Think of the four main groups with whom it is vital to communicate: your students, your staff, your principal and your parents. Identify current communication tools (newsletters, web pages, e-mail lists, display areas) and establish a library presence in all of them. Develop your own means of communicating with those you serve or whose support you need. Parents, especially, need to know how the services, resources and skills your program offers benefit their children. And all this needs to be done on a regular, repeated basis.
• Start thinking about how you will demonstrate your program’s impact on student achievement. Start collecting data your first day on the job. Circulation stats, of course, but also track how many lessons you teach, how many collaborative units you do, and how many individual requests you fulfill. Figure out early what numbers are most meaningful to your principal and teachers. You will need numbers one day and you might as well have the right ones.

By all means, newbies, develop those individual collaborative projects with teachers right away. But don’t neglect a long-term, systematic approach to developing a program that has buy-in by the entire school and community. You need an entire learning culture that values and uses the library’s program and resources, not just a few enthusiastic teachers. Being strategic means getting off on the right foot – in anticipation of a long, successful journey.

* This e-mail was addressed to the collective brain that is LM_Net, not me. But you guessed that.

Head for the Edge, Library Media Connection, February 2009.

To avoid criticism do nothing, say nothing, be nothing. - Elbert Hubbard

My guess is that you’ve made some changes this year in your library – changes that you believe to be in the best interest of kids, parents or staff. I’m also guessing that these changes were not universally appreciated. Were a few of those people not liking the changes more than happy to let you know what an idiotic incompetent you are?

Never underestimate the importance of being able to deal effectively with criticism if you are to be a change agent.

This year my district’s teachers’ first workshop day was spent learning to use a new student information system. The implementation of big systems always include some, ahem, surprises, and of course, new ways of doing familiar tasks. Not everyone was happy and more than a few let me know that I was the source of that misery.

I take heart in knowing that by the time you read this, a few months after my writing it, teachers will be happy we made the change. It is a more powerful system that is more reliable and easier to use.

Changing computer programs is akin to moving to a new house. For the first few weeks, when you can’t find the light switches or where you put the screwdriver, you wonder, “What was I thinking moving to this new house?” But in short order, the new house becomes familiar and you appreciate the reasons for moving - bigger garage, nicer yard, more bedrooms, etc. The light switch location isn’t a big deal anymore.

But last fall I needed a pretty tough hide since the criticism flowed freely.

In situations where changes I’ve instituted are not immediately appreciated, I joke that I need to wear my “iron underwear” since everyone wants to take a bite out of my butt. But when it comes to criticism, a thick skin is much better than armor. Not all criticism ought to be deflected - some should sink in if one is to become a more effective and just plain better person.

I see the following “flavors” of criticism directed toward me regularly:

• Venting. I am too busy. I already have too much work to do. This means learning something new and I am about to retire. I am frustrated with my finances, my marriage, my own kids, or my health (but you are convenient.) This is venting. I tolerate little of it from anyone but my wife. If I feel another person is just venting, I will interrupt and simply say, “What exactly are you asking me to do?” If the person can’t articulate any solution other than inventing a time machine or changing human nature, I try to kindly say that it’s not my job to listen to problems I can’t do anything about.
• Criticisms about a policy or product. When we switched our web hosting from a regular web server to a content management system, 98% of our staff was happy and empowered. But for a few teachers who had learned HTML and had used it to create some extensive, useful and often beautiful webpages, the new system looked like a step backward. I found dealing with these criticisms difficult because I could appreciate the disruptive nature of the change for these few people. About all one can do is offer a cogent rationale for why the change was made. Oh, and NOT pass the buck and blame others for the choices made.
• Constructive criticism. I admit that I’ve done plenty of boneheaded things for which I deserve criticism. The first year we installed projectors in the district, I didn’t think to include our custodial staff in the planning. These building-proud people let me know just exactly what a stupid oversight I had made. It was justifiable criticism and I learned from it. The person who can set aside defensiveness and actually use complaints to design better ways to do things has turned a criticism into a benefit. But it is harder than it seems.

This last kind of criticism is why a “thick skin” through which some jabs can absorbed is better than “iron underwear” off which every complaint, valid or not, is simply deflected.

All of us are sensitive to criticism. What helps deflect the arrows is faith that what you are doing is in the best interest of others. Or as the Blues Brothers put it: “… a mission from God.” Without this faith in yourself and what you do, it won’t take much to turn you back.

You can’t let criticism stop you from doing what you know is right for your students and your school. Reflect, refocus and keep moving ahead.

Head for the Edge, Library Media Connection, January 2009

A group of Toronto researchers have compiled a body of evidence showing that bookworms have exceptionally strong people skills. … Their years of research … [have] shown readers of narrative fiction scored higher on tests of empathy and social acumen than those who read non-fiction texts.

The quote above comes from a fascinating article published by Globe and Mail about how reading fiction builds social skills and empathy:

Most of you reading just said, “Well, duh! Haven’t we known this for years?” But isn’t gratifying to have our observations confirmed?

Empathy? Social acumen? Are these essential skills for surviving and thriving in today’s economy? Our national associations and gurus seem to think so.

From ISTE NETS 2007 …

Students … develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. …use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.

From AASL’s Standards for the 21st Century Learner 2007 …

Students will: Consider diverse and global perspectives in drawing conclusions. …show social responsibility by participating actively with others in learning situations and by contributing questions and ideas during group discussions.

From Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind …

Not just logic, but also EMPATHY. “What will distinguish those who thrive will be their ability to understand what makes their fellow woman or man tick, to forge relationships, and to care for others.

The unsung hero of many a successful enterprise is empathy. Understanding the needs and desires of others is critical for leaders, salesmen, politicians, lotharios, preachers, CEOs, writers, teachers, consultants … well, just about everybody. The better one understands others, the more effective one can meet their needs, appeal to their self-interests or, I suppose, manipulate them.

With a global economy, our empathy needs to extend beyond our next-door neighbor. Multi-culturalism and global awareness simply means understanding, not necessarily accepting, the values, motives and priorities of cultures other than those in which we grew up. (You mean not everyone values lutefisk and lefse!)

The question is, then, can empathy be learned - and how? Is there a small muscle somewhere in the mind or soul that can be exercised, stretched and built that allows us to more fully place ourselves in others’ shoes? Or sandals? Or moccasins? Or bare feet?

Reading fiction - especially when the setting is another culture, another time - has to be the best means of building empathic sensibilities. How do you understand prejudice if you are not of a group subject to discrimination? How do you know the problems faced by gays if you are straight? How does it feel to be hungry, orphaned, or terrified when you’ve always lived a middle-class life? By harnessing the detail, drama, emotion, and immediacy of “story,” fiction informs the heart as well as the mind. And it is the heart that causes the mind to empathize.

Viewing the world through the eyes of a narrator completely unlike oneself, draws into sharp detail the differences of experience, but also the similarities of the narrator and reader. And it is by linking ourselves through similarities - common human traits - that we come to know others as people, not just stereotypes.

Happily, empathy building through reading doesn’t end with childhood. We adults can be just as moved – and influenced by novels. My nominees for best empathy-building novels I’ve read recently are Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (reading it left me with a better understanding of autistic children) and Hosseini’s The Kite Runner (the author’s experience of the horrors of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and difficulties of cultural assimilation are profound.)

Unfortunately, as school budgets are stretched, school library funds that purchase quality fiction and school library professionals who select and promote quality fiction are too easily axed, replaced by reading programs, specialists and tests of basic comprehension.

Our politicians and educational leader rarely ask: If one can read but is not changed by reading, why bother? Empathy is an ability that is difficult to objectively measure. As a result, many educators simply ignore it, like they do too many affective skills. It’s essential that we librarians fight for our programs and budgets.

Atticus Finch in Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird gave this advice to his young daughter:

“If you just learn a single trick, Scout, you’ll get along a lot better with all kinds of folks. You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

It’s perhaps fitting that those of us who have experienced Lee’s book have indeed had our quotient for empathy increased by reading it.

Mick, Haley “Socially Awkward? Hit the Books” Globe and Mail. 10 July 10 2008.
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080710.wlreading10/BNStory/lifeMain/home>

Head for the Edge, Library Media Connection, November 2008

… we as a profession have a history of dropping the ball when it comes to making new technologies our own… In how many schools is the librarian not seen as a computer expert, even though we all know that a tremendous amount of information is available to patrons in electronic format? In how many schools are word processing, database and spreadsheet use, and computer-assisted drawing no part of the media skills curriculum, even though two-thirds of our mission is teaching students to process and communicate information? – “Sound of the Other Shoe Dropping “Head for the Edge, March 1995

If we take an honest look at what we as librarians have done since technology has come into our buildings, as painful as it is to say, we have dropped the ball – big time. Why?

1. Sexism.
Ok, let’s just start out with the one reason that will get me in the most trouble. Our profession is comprised of about 90% women. Brilliant, dedicated, hardworking women, but women subject to the same sexism that pervades society as a whole. Ideas coming from the field of librarianship are not given attention and seriousness because the majority of its practitioners are women. Guys rule school administration, and as technology came into schools, its implementation was turned over to the guy math teacher, not the female librarian. In our district, 12 out of 17 of our principals are male; 11 out of 12 of our librarians are female. Who gets heard?

Our own profession has a gender-bias. When AASL closed its 2005 conference with “a panel of leading figures in the school library media field,” all five were men. What has the male/female ratio of keynote speakers at your library and tech conferences looked like over the last decade?

Is the subtext in education, been “don’t you librarians worry your pretty little heads about technology -just leave it to us manly men?” Well, girls?

2. Schizophrenia
The school library field divides itself pretty cleanly and clearly between the children’s/young adult lit people and the research skills/technology people. And to a large extent, the lit people are in control.

The Nov/Dec 2007 issue of AASL’s Knowledge Quest is a telling example. I was very excited to learn that the theme was “Intellectual Freedom 101.” But I was very disappointed in reading it to find that the majority of the issue was devoted to book challenges – not Internet censorship and filtering problems. What does this say about the librarian’s role in technology integration when we still seem to be more concerned about a few cranks wanting to strike a couple fiction books from our shelves than we are about an entire generation of children losing access to a broad range of online information sources and tools? The teachers I talk to don’t worry about kids getting access to Harry Potter, but to Wikipedia, YouTube, blogs and wikis.

Until our profession sees its primary instructional focus as teaching information and technology literacy skills, we will lack both credibility and voice in technology implementation efforts.

3. Strategy
If librarians had a coat of arms, collaboration would have to be one of the biggest symbols on it. Our profession has books, articles, standards, workshops, and probably t-shirts and coffee mugs all devoted to collaboration with teachers in designing and implementing good information literacy and technology experiences into the curriculum.

But the emphasis has always been one-to-one, never the kind of systematic, whole-school collaborative approach that Technology Learning Coordinators Justin Medved and Dennis Harter from the International School of Bangkok describe as their school-based approach to technology integration:

We had to create a shared understanding of what 21st century learning is and why it’s important. We had to allow them [teaching staff] to help frame the context in which this could work at ISB.

Do we need to ask ourselves if the library field has put the cart before the horse, working with individual teachers before there is a school-wide understanding of information and technology literacy in place? Should we have been “collaborating” with our curriculum committees, our leadership teams, assessment coordinators and our staff development committees instead - and first? Without whole school buy-in, we may have amazing successes with the few individual teachers, but not impact the entire learning community. Is it too late for us to re-strategize?

Every criticism I’ve made can be applied to my own district and its library/technology program. But if librarianship as a profession is to survive and thrive, we need to have some hard conversations about who we are, what we do, and how we do it.

I will end this column with the same words I ended the March 1995 column:

… if a critical mass of librarians don’t become the on-line information specialists…, the next sound we hear won’t be that of a ball being dropped, but the sound of the other shoe.

Head for the Edge, Library Media Connection, October 2008

Most of us shudder when asked a question about the fair use of copyrighted materials. “Uh, the poster over the copier says I can only use a poem of less than 250 words in my project and this poem is 251 words. Am I breaking the law?” Been to law school recently enough to know how to answer that question?

Actually law school may not help you much. Fair use guidelines are, well, guidelines, subject to interpretation. Temple University professors Hobbs, Jaszi, and Aufderheide wisely write: “Applying fair use reasoning is about reaching a level of comfort, not memorizing a specific set of rules.” There are no definitive answers to “is this fair use?”

So, how do we help our teachers and student establish an informed, personal “level of comfort?”

Few of us are comfortable at either extreme of copyright enforcement – playing the copyright bully or completely ignoring situations of questionable copyrighted materials use. Complicating the issue is that each of us is likely to arrive at his/her own personal level of fair use comfort, judgment of seriousness of possible use, and perspective of the morality of intellectual property use both personally and professionally.

I propose we re-brand ourselves, “copyright counselors” and do what good counselors have always done – help others reach good decisions about their actions rather than serve in a judgmental role.

Allow me to advance some practical steps to teach and enforce copyright compliance and other issues of intellectual property use. Raise your right hand, stand on one foot, and repeat after me:

1. I will acknowledge that the enforcement of all laws and policies is an administrative responsibility, not mine. Quite honestly, if building principals choose not to learn about copyright, about how materials are being used in his/her building, or about whether district policies are being broken, it is not LMS’s job to make him. They’re the ones getting paid the big bucks. Let them earn them.
2. I will rat out my fellow teachers only under a very narrow set of circumstances. There are copyright infringements so egregious that you should bring them to your boss’s attention. But, they need to be something that carries a genuine risk of generating a lawsuit. Put your concerns in writing, include examples of this type of use causing harm to other schools, send it only once, and keep a CYA copy. (See Carol Simpson’s database of copyright lawsuits <http://carolsimpson.com>. E-mail me if you want to know what CYA means.)
3. I need not commit any acts I deem illegal. If a teacher asks you to make a copy of something and you feel it does not fit under your personal view of fair use guidelines, you will politely say no and explain why. And probably teach him/her how make the copy.
4. In inservices and communications, I will emphasize what can, not what can’t be done with intellectual property. You will stress “fair use,” give open source options to software, and alert your staff to royalty free and public domain sources. Change your role from enforcer to enabler. If someone asks you specifically whether a use is legal or illegal, you will respond: “It depends on your personal philosophy. If you can justify that the use meets fair use guidelines, is transformational, and sets a good example for your students, go for it!”
5. I will make sure any signs about fair use will be accompanied by a caveat. If you have a sign hanging over the photocopier with a long list of copyright and fair use guidelines like the one produced by Hall Davidson., make a sign of your own that reads, “This chart states only ‘safe harbor’ guidelines and is not an authoritative legal statement. More flexible uses and amounts may apply under certain circumstances.” Paste it to the other sign.
6. I will teach copyright to students from the viewpoint of the creator. You will ask students to assign a Creative Commons designation to each piece of original work they produce – especially those items they will be sharing online or publishing. By thinking about how one wants his/her own work treated, one is forced to consider the rights and wishes of other IP creators as well. Counsel teachers to use a CC designation on their work as well.

My long-standing philosophy is that education is about teaching others to think rather than to believe. It’s our job as LMSs to help both students and teachers arrive at personal comfort levels when using protected creative works.

* Hobbs, Renee, Peter Jaszi and Patricia Aufderheide “Ten Common Misunderstandings about Fair Use” Temple University Media Education Lab http://mediaeducationlab.com/index.php?page=274

Head for the Edge, Library Media Connection, September 2008

You Know You’re a Librarian in 2008 when…you know more librarians in Texas than you do in your home state because of LM_Net.

Peter Milbury and Mike Eisenberg, the founders and moderators par excellence of LM_Net for the past 15 years, announced last November that they are passing the torch.

For the one or two of you reading this who don’t know about LM_Net, it has been the mainstay electronic mailing list for an estimated 100 million school librarians in 2 million countries, on a dozen other planets, and at least two identified alternative universes. It produces in excess of a billion e-mail messages each day - 10 billion on “recipe day.” (These numbers are rough estimates.)

I was an early subscriber and participant on LM_Net using my university “vax” account back in 1992 when I first joined. This was 1200 baud modem dial-up, line interface, pre-WWW, uphill-both-directions-in-the-snow Internet days. Not soft and cushy like young‘uns have it today with your graphical interfaces and wirelessness. The computer screen was hard to read by lamplight, too.

Anyway, LM_Net became my first Internet “continuing education” experience. And the learning began early.

It was my second year as library media supervisor and I was getting lots of push-back from the district librarians I had inherited. I was determined to make them tech integration specialists and they seemed just as determined to remain print-only librarians. After one particularly frustrating day, I turned on my computer, opened my e-mail, and just let rip about the reactionary, troglodytic, myopic, nature of school librarians, concluding that they had better damn well wake-up and smell the coffee or they would all be replaced with techs and not to let the door hit ‘m where the good lord split’m on the way out. And off the rant went to LM_Net.

Let me put it this way - I got some reaction. I knew librarians had good vocabularies, but even I learned some new words. I believe after that other LM_Netters opened my e-mails simply wondering what idiotic thing I might say next. In LM_Net I found my voice.

But more importantly, I found colleagues who offered information, encouragement, and support. It was my first true “continuous learning” experience not because I was the one doing the teaching, but because we were all learning together – as we do to this day. The virtual community built by LM_Net (a professional learning community before they were so named) was a lifeline and sanity-keeper for many of us.

Continuing education prior to LM_Net consisted of reading professional journals, attending library conferences, and taking college classes. These activities are still available and important. But given the pace and amount of change, they alone are insufficient to keep most of us current with the happenings in librarianship and information technology. Thank goodness for these online continuing education options:

• Electronic mailing lists (aka listservs) continue to be a valuable means of locating of “primary source” information – human expertise. While LM_Net is the granddaddy of such resources, you might also be reading AASLForum, ISTE SIGMS, WWWEdu, and your own state’s mailing list. A simple query to such lists often results in not just recommended published information, but in shared experiences and wisdom as well. Don’t forget that some mailing lists like LM_Net archive their messages for later retrieval.
• Smaller “professional networks” such as Joyce Valenza’s TeacherLibrarian Ning <http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com> are complimenting listservs by providing a forum along with a means of sharing photos, videos and other resources with fellow network members. Aimed at creating links for professionals, these operate much like the larger social networking sites Facebook and MySpace.
• Blogs and their aural cousins, podcasts, let library media specialists read or hear, react and converse on the latest thinking by leaders in the school library field. (You can find my personal list of influential blog writers here: < http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blogsiread/>). Information on blogs tends to be timely, short and often opinionated. Pick the ones that are fun to read and you, like me, will become addicted.
• Webcasts, presentations and workshops done via an Internet website like GoToMeeting or Elluminate qare becoming increasingly popular. Watch your e-mail for these “web seminars.”
• Finally, Multi-User Virtual Environments (MUVEs) such as Second Life are offering a growing number of opportunities to interact and learn with colleagues. Your Second Life avatar can attend a presentation, communicate with fellow professionals in real time, and even build virtual learning resources using this new but powerful information and communication interface. Watch for SIGMS offerings on ISTE Island.

These are just a few of the growing number of “continuous learning” opportunities the Internet is making available to those of us engaged in the rapidly evolving field of school librarianship.

Does your school’s mission statement include the words “life-long learning?” It should. And the sentiment should also apply to us as well.

Creative Commons and why it should be more commonly understood

Library Media Connection, May/June 2009

You’ve heard yourself countless times tell students, “Assume everything on the Internet is copyrighted!”

Sorry. That’s not exactly good advice anymore. Authors, videographers, musicians, photographers, well, almost anyone who creates materials and makes them publically available, has an alternative to standard copyright licensing: Creative Commons. As library media specialists, we need to understand this relatively recent invention and its implication for our staff and students.

Why Creative Commons?

The Creative Commons website explains its mission as:

Creative Commons provides free tools that let authors, scientists, artists, and educators easily mark their creative work with the freedoms they want it to carry. You can use CC to change your copyright terms from “All Rights Reserved” to “Some Rights Reserved.”

In other words, Creative Commons (CC) is a tool that helps the creator display a licensing mark. The creator can assign a variety of rights for others to use his work – rights that are usually more permissive than copyright, but more restrictive than placing material in the public domain. CC makes sharing, re-using, re-mixing and building on the creative works of others understandable and legal. While it has always been possible for a creator to grant rights for others to use his/her materials less restrictively than standard copyright’s “All Rights Reserved,” CC standardizes the process.

Inspired by the Free Software Foundation’s GNU General Public License, the non-profit Creative Commons organization was founded in 2001 by Stanford Law professor Lawrence Lessig. As a part of the “copyleft” movement, Lessig and others believe traditional copyright restrictions inhibit cultural and economic growth. A growing number of content producers want to allow others to use and remix their materials – and in turn be able to use and remix the content of others. CC licenses make this legal.

While Creative Commons was started in the United States, about 50 other countries (as of late 2008) have ported CC licenses to work with their copyright laws. More countries continue to be added. The “International” tab on the CC homepage lists the cooperating jurisdictions.

Understanding Creative Commons Licenses
While initially it looks complex, a basic understanding of the types of licenses and how they can be combined is relatively simple. There are only four “conditions” of a CC licenses:

Screen shot from < http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses>

These four conditions can be combined to form six different licenses that specifically describe the conditions creators wish to apply to their works. These are, from least to most restrictive, as described on the CC website < http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses>:

Attribution Share Alike
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial reasons, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use.

Attribution No Derivatives
This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in whole, with credit to you.

Attribution Non-Commercial
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms.

Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike
This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. Others can download and redistribute your work just like the by-nc-nd license, but they can also translate, make remixes, and produce new stories based on your work. All new work based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also be non-commercial in nature.

Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives
This license is the most restrictive of our six main licenses, allowing redistribution. This license is often called the “free advertising” license because it allows others to download your works and share them with others as long as they mention you and link back to you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

Two terms that may not completely familiar are “remix” and “share-alike.” Remix, which began as a recombination of audio tracks to create a new song, has become more generic and now implies using parts of many works (photographs, sounds, videos and text) to create a new product. “Share-alike” means that others may use one’s work on the condition that any work derived from the original carries the same licensing permissions as the original. In other words, if you borrow you must also commit to share.

How to use CC for one’s own work

Determining which license one wishes to use has been made simple by Creative Commons. By answering just two questions at http://creativecommons.org/license

Allow commercial uses of your work?
Allow modifications of your work?

the appropriate license will be generated for one’s work, either as embeddable HTML code for a webpage or as text that looks like this:

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

That’s it!

Implications for K-12 education
Consider these scenarios:

• A student needs photographs and music for a history project but can’t find what he needs in the public domain or in royalty-free collections.
• A teacher has developed outstanding materials that teach irregular Spanish verbs. She has posted them on a website and now regularly gets e-mails requesting permission to use the materials.
• The media specialist is frustrated trying to help his junior high students understand the rights that intellectual property creators have over their own materials. The kids just aren’t able to see the issue from the creator’s point of view.

In each of the scenarios above, Creative Commons licensing may offer a solution. There are three primary uses:

1. Students and teachers need to be able to find and interpret CC licensed materials for use into their own works. Common advice given to both students working on projects and to teachers creating education materials is to abide by the fair use guidelines of copyrighted materials, search for materials in the public domain, and to use royalty-free work in order to remain both legal and ethical information users. But now understanding and finding CC licensed work is another source of legal materials that students and teachers can use in their own creations.

There are three main ways to find Creative Commons licensed materials. CC has a specialized search tool at <http://search.creativecommons.org>. There is a list of directories by format at <http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Content_Curators>. Google Advanced Search also allows searching by “usage rights.” All can be effective.

2. Teachers should assign a Creative Commons license to materials that they are willing to share with other educators. As K-12 teachers produce and make available course materials on the web, they will need to understand how to give rights to others to use their work. (Check with your local school district to see who owns the copyright to materials that are teacher produced.) MIT’s OpenCourseWare and Rice University Connexions, two formal post-secondary learning materials repositories, are good models of using Creative Commons licensing.

3. Students should be required to place a Creative Commons license on their own work to increase their understanding of intellectual property issues. Only when students begin think about copyright and other intellectual property guidelines from the point of view of the producer as well as the consumer can they form mature attitudes and act in responsible ways when questions about these issues arise. As an increasing number of students become “content creators” themselves, this should be an easier concept to help them grasp:

The Pew Internet & American Life Project has found that 64% of online teens ages 12-17 have participated in one or more among a wide range of content-creating activities on the internet, up from 57% of online teens in a similar survey at the end of 2004. (Teen Content Creators, 2007)

Students need to know what their rights as creators and IP owners are. This may help combat the misperception that only big, faceless companies are impacted by intellectual property theft, and that it is acceptable to steal from big companies but not from the small fry. Too often students and adults forget that many large companies are made up of small stockholders and employees. Publishing companies also represent the interests of individual artists, writers and musicians - whose ranks students themselves may one day join.

Developing empathy toward content creators, who hope to profit by their work, helps everyone place copyright into context and perspective.


In recent years, the legal aspects of intellectual property sharing have been out-paced by the mechanical means of copying, distribution and access. Understanding and using Creative Commons both as content consumers and content producers will help narrow the technology/acceptable use gap.

Spread the word.


Resources:

• Creative Commons website < http://creativecommons.org/>
• Creative Commons wiki <http://wiki.creativecommons.org/>
• “7 Things You Should Know about Creative Commons” EDUCAUSE <http://connect.educause.edu/Library/ELI/7ThingsYouShouldKnowAbout/39400>

Videos

• A Shared Culture <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DKm96Ftfko>
• Wanna Work Together? < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3rksT1q4eg>

These rubrics primarily address professional productivity. They are the foundation on which more complex technology and technology-related professional skills are built. Teachers who have mastered these skills are able to use the computer to improve their traditional instructional tasks such as writing, record-keeping, designing student materials, and presenting lessons. These skills also build the confidence teachers need to use technology to restructure the educational process.

I. Basic computer operation (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use a computer.

Level 2 I know the basic operations of using a mouse and trackpad, clicking, and working with a windows-type interface. I can use the computer to open, run and close a few specific, preloaded programs. Computer use has little effect on how I work. I am somewhat anxious I might damage the machine or its programs.

Level 3 I can set-up my computer and peripheral devices, load software, print, and use most of the operating system tools like the clipboard, clock, note pad, find command, and trash can (recycling bin). I can connect to my school’s network and access programs and resources on the network. I have a virus protection program that scans my files on a regular basis. I can identify the type and version of operating system my computer uses. I can put my computer in a sleep mode for energy conservation.

Level 4 I can run several programs simultaneously, and have multiple windows open at the same time. I can customize the look and sounds of my computer. I use techniques like shift-clicking to work with multiple files and right-clicking to access contextual menus. I can so some basic trouble-shooting if my computer is not working properly. I feel confident enough to teach others some basic operations.

II. File management (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not save any documents I create using the computer.

Level 2 I save documents I’ve created but often have difficulty finding them. I store duplicates of my files on disks, servers or flash memory for back-up purposes on an irregular basis.

Level 3 I have a filing system for organizing my files, and can locate files quickly and reliably in folders and subfolders. I can use the search command in my operating system to locate a file by name, type or content. I back-up my files to writable CD or DVD disks, separate hard drive, network file server, or Internet storage site on a regular basis. I use local network or Internet file storage server when provided so I can access my files from any computer, including my home computer. I save my files with the appropriate extension (.txt, .jpg, doc, , etc.) to facilitate cross-platform use. I can use a portable flash drive to transport my files.

Level 4 I regularly run a disk-optimizer on my hard drive, and use an automated back-up program to make copies of my files on a regular schedule. I have a system for archiving files which I do not need on a regular basis to conserve my computer’s hard drive space. I keep my back up files in physical locations that are at a distance.

III Time management and organization (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use electronic tools or devices to help me keep a calendar or organize my tasks and address book.

Level 2 I can access the school’s calendar for basic schedule information. I can use the directory on the school’s website to locate staff e-mail addresses.

Level 3 I use an integrated electronic calendar program, to-do list, and address book that includes e-mail addresses to help organize and schedule my professional activities. I can synchronize the information on my computer with that in my PDA (personal digital assistant) or cell phone and my shared online calendar. I can set alerts to help remind me of upcoming meetings or events.

Level 4 I store my calendar, task manager, web bookmarks, and address book online so it can be accessed from any Internet-worked computer. I can access the shared calendars of other staff members to help schedule meetings and events. I help my students with using technology for time management and organizational purposes.

V. Word processing (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use a word processor, nor can I identify any uses or features it might have which would benefit the way I work.

Level 2 I occasionally use the word processor for simple documents that I know I will modify and use again. I generally find it easier to handwrite or type most written work I do.

Level 3 I use the word processor for nearly all my written professional work: memos, tests, worksheets, and home communication. I can edit my document using commands like copy and paste, find, undo, and save as. I can spell check, and change the format of a document. I can paginate, preview and print my work. I can use tables within my documents and insert graphics. I can save my document as a .pdf file. I feel my work looks professional.

Level 4 I can save my document as a text or rtf document so it can be opened by others who may not use the same word processor I use. I take advantage of collaborative writing/editing environments when available, including online word processors and wikis. I can suggest an open source word processor for those who wish or need to use one. I use the word processor not only for my work, but have used it with students to help them improve their own communication skills.

V. Spreadsheet use (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use a spreadsheet, nor can I identify any uses or features it might have which would benefit the way I work.

Level 2 I understand the use of a spreadsheet and can navigate within one. I can create a simple spreadsheet that adds a column of numbers. I understand the basic types of data that can be placed in cells: labels, numbers, formulas, and references.

Level 3 I use a spreadsheet for several professional applications such as keeping a budget or analyzing student data. I can change the format of the spreadsheets by changing column widths and text style. I can use the spreadsheet to make a simple graph or chart. I can import and export data from a spreadsheet. I understand the difference between a workbook and a worksheet, and can create a workbook with multiple worksheets.

Level 4 I can import or link a spreadsheet into a word processing document or presentation program when needed. I can custom design a variety of graphs and charts. use the spreadsheet not only for my work, but have used it with students to help them improve their own data keeping and analysis skills. I can use cloud-based spreadsheets for collaborative and shared work.

VI. Database use (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use a database, nor can I identify any uses or features it might have which would benefit the way I work.

Level 2 I understand the function of a database and can locate information within one that has been pre-made. I can add or delete data in a database.

Level 3 I use databases for professional applications. I can create a simple original database that has a professional application such as an address book by defining fields and creating layouts. I can find, sort and print information that is useful to me. I can use database information to do mail merge in a word processing document. I can use my building’s student information system database to find information about students in my class.

Level 4 I can use formulas with my database to create summaries of numerical data. I use the database not only for my work, but have used it with students to help them improve their own data keeping and analysis skills. I can use cloud-based databases for collaborative and shared work.

VII. Graphics and digital image use (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use graphics in my word processing or presentations, nor can I identify any uses or features they might have which would benefit the way I work.

Level 2 I can open and create simple pictures with stand-alone painting and drawing programs or with graphics tools within wordprocessing documents. I can use photo-editing software to crop and resize digital photographs.

Level 3 I use both pre-made clip art and simple original graphics in my word-processed documents and presentations. I know sources of royalty-free clipart and photographs. I can edit clip art, change its size, and place it on a page. I can use most of the drawing tools, and can group and un-group objects. I can use the clipboard to take graphics from one application for use in another. I can take, import, edit, and use images from a digital camera in my work. I can use a scanner. The use of graphics in my work helps clarify or amplify my message.

Level 4 I use graphics not only for my work, but have used them with students to help them improve their own communications. I can use graphics and digital images to create a professional looking newsletter and website. I can do basic editing of digital video production. I can share my photographs and artwork with others using file sharing Interent sites. I can use cloud-based image generation and editing tools.

VIII. Presentation software use (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use presentation software, nor can I identify any uses or features it might have which would benefit the way I work.

Level 2 I can navigate through a pre-made presentation program. I can create a simple presentation using a program’s templates or wizards.

Level 3 I can create my own computer presentations that can be used to accompany a lesson in my classroom. These slideshows use navigation buttons, dissolves, graphics, and text fields. I can embed sounds, movies, and links to other files and to websites. I know basic rules of graphic design that apply when designing the presentation. I can use an LCD projection device to display the presentation to a class. The computer generated slides help reinforce or amplify my message.

Level 4 I use presentation programs with students in their own information keeping and communication efforts. I can use cloud-based presentation creation tools and can share my slideshows with others using file sharing Interent sites.

IX. Network and Internet use (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use the on-line resources available in my building or on the Internet, nor can I identify any uses or features they might have which would benefit the way I work.

Level 2 I understand that there is a large amount of information available to me as a teacher that can be accessed through networks, including the Internet. With the help of the media specialist, I can use the resources on the network in our building. I use the online student information system to take attendance and record grades. I can do a simple search for information on the World Wide Web. I can send and receive e-mail.

Level 3 I use the networks to access professional and personal information from a variety of sources including on-line library catalogs, periodical databases, and the World Wide Web. I use my e-mail account on a regular basis to communicate with parents and other professionals. I use the district-specific networked resources that are available to me such as file storage space, student information systems, IEP forms, curriculum guides, and online forms. I have a strategy for analyzing the quality of information I find online. I maintain a professional website for my classroom that includes information of use to students and parents. With the assistance of the media specialist, I can created a content-specific webquest.

Level 4 Using telecommunications, I am an active participant in on-line discussions, can download files and programs from remote computers. I use the network to share documents with my colleagues for collaborative review and editing. I accept student work sent to me electronically. I read blogs and track them with RSS feeds and use a variety of social networking tools to create a personal learning network. I use telecommunications activities with my students.

X. Student Assessment (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I do not use the computer for student assessment.

Level 2 I understand that there are ways I can keep track of student progress using the computer. I keep some student produced materials on the computer, and write evaluations of student work and notes to parents with the word processor. I use an electronic gradebook and electronically complete report cards/progress reports.

Level 3 I effectively use an electronic grade book to both keep track of student data and to give students and parents access to real-time information on assignments and outcomes of projects, tests and quizes via a student/parent portal. I keep portfolios of student produced materials on the computer. I use the electronic data during parent/teacher conferences. I can access my district’s data-mining program to find useful data about my students. I can use a rubric/checklist generator to create authentic assessment tools for formative assessment.

Level 4 I rely on the computer to keep track of outcomes and objectives individual students have mastered. I use that information in determining assignments, teaching strategies, and groupings. I have access and use the district curriculum management and common assessments systems.

XI. Safe and ethical use understanding (NETS TBD)

Level 1 I am not aware of any ethical or safety issues surrounding computer use.

Level 2 I know that some copyright restrictions apply to computer software and I can advise students on some safety issues surrounding Interent use.

Level 3 I clearly understand the difference between freeware, shareware, open source, and commercial software and the fees and responsibilities involved in the use of each. I know the programs for which the district or my building holds a site license. I demonstrate ethical use of intellectual property and let my students know my personal stand on legal, moral, and safety issues involving technology. I know and enforce the school’s technology policies and guidelines, including its Internet Acceptable Use Policy. In each lesson I teach that involves technology, I address issues of safe and ethical behaviors online. I have a personal philosophy I can articulate regarding the use of technology in education.

Level 4 I am aware of other controversial aspects of technology use including data privacy, equitable access, and free speech issues. I understand and teach copyleft practices such as Creative Commons and ask that students license their own creative works. I can speak to a variety of technology issues at my professional association meetings, to parent groups, and to the general community.

Beginning (2009)

Beginning (2002)

Internet (2002)

Advanced (2002) (Rubrics for Restructuring)

Administrative (2002)

Validity testing

D’Onofrio, A. & Bowes, K. (2005). The Internal Consistency of the Mankato Scale: Laying the Foundation for Valid Professional Development Decisions. In C. Crawford et al. (Eds.), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2005 (pp. 66-73). Chesapeake, VA: AACE.

Draft of paper

Contact:

Dr. Kathleen Bowes
Widener University
Center for Education

http://muse.widener.edu/~kab0306/index.html
Kathleen.A.Bowes (at) Widener.edu

Handouts