1 The Internet

The Internet in the Classroom Issues Copyright and Plagiarism K. Harper Georgia Southern University FRIT 7330 July 10, 2011

2 The Internet The Internet in the Classroom Issues Copyright and Plagiarism

Policy 1: NYC Department of Education Internet Acceptable Use Policy. (2006). NYC Department of Education. Retrieved from http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/EnterpriseOperations/DIIT/WebServices/iaup/default.htm #copyrights Internet Acceptable Use Policy: Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement The plagiarism policy states that users will not plagiarize works located on the Internet. The policy defines plagiarism as the act of taking the ideas or writings of others and using them as your own. Pertaining to copyright infringement the policy states that the users will respect the rights of copyright owners. The policy defines copyright infringement as a user inappropriately reproducing copyrighted material. The policy also states that if the work specifies the acceptable use of the work, the student should follow those requirements. In addition, if the work does not specify or if the student is unsure if they can use the work, then permission should be requested from the copyright owner. Policy Strengths: This policy includes an acceptable statement describing plagiarism. The policy states that plagiarism is not allowed and also provides the students with a definition of what plagiarism is. I think this is important; in order for the students to follow the schools plagiarism policy they must understand what plagiarism is. The copyright policy states that students will respect the right of copyright owners and not infringe on those rights. This policy also provides a brief description of what copyright infringement is. This is great for students who may not have a very good understanding of what copyright infringement means. The policy also tells the student what to do if the work specifies acceptable use of it and also that the student should request permission from the copyright owner if the student is unsure whether or not they can use the work. Policy Weaknesses: This policy is good to include a brief description of what plagiarism is, but it should also include additional information, resources, or links so students can learn more about plagiarism and specifically ways to avoid it. This is a good copyright policy, but it does not provide the student with resources on where to go to find more information defining copyright laws. The policy should include additional information, resources, or links that will help the student gain the knowledge they

3 The Internet need to comply with school policy. This policy could also include a statement instructing the student to talk to their teacher or media specialist for assistance if they are unsure or need help understanding copyrighted material or copyright laws. Policy 2: Chicago Public School Student Acceptable Use of the CPS Network. (2003). Chicago Public Schools Policy Manuals. Retrieved from http://policy.cps.k12.il.us/documents/604.2.pdf Unacceptable Uses: The policy states that improper use of the network is prohibited. The plagiarism policy states that plagiarizing any information is unacceptable. The copyright policy states that it is prohibited to use copyrighted material, including commercial software, without permission from the copyright owner. The policy also states that if a student is unsure if the material they want to use is copyright protected they should contact their teacher or school technology coordinator for assistance. Policy Strengths: This policy states plagiarizing any information gained on or through the use of the CPS Network is prohibited. This lets the students know that plagiarism is not allowed at the school. I thought the copyright policy was acceptable. The policy states that using copyrighted material is prohibited. I also thought it was good to include the use of commercial software, as this has become more of an issue as software becomes more readily available. Another strength of this policy is that is includes a statement to the student of what to do if they are unsure of whether or not they are violating copyright laws. This gives the student a resource to go to in order to ensure that they are complying with school policy and state and federal copyright laws. Many policies state that violating copyright laws is prohibited, but do not provide students with information about where to go for help with understanding how to use copyrighted material. Policy Weaknesses: This policy states that plagiarism is prohibited, but does not define what plagiarism is. Many students may have heard the word plagiarism and know that it is not allowed, but if they do not understand what plagiarism is then this policy statement is useless. The policy should include a brief definition on exactly what plagiarism is, in a way that is easy for the students to understand. In addition, this policy should include a link to additional resources that will allow the students to gain additional insight and become more educated on ways to avoid plagiarism. This policy states that using copyrighted material is prohibited and also tells the student where to go if they are unsure or need assistance, but it does not fully explain what copyrighted material is. If the student does not understand the meaning of copyrighted material then it is

4 The Internet going to be difficult for them to adhere to copyright laws. The policy should include a brief definition of copyrighted material. It would also be beneficial for the policy to provide links to additional resources so the students may become familiar copyright laws and how to avoid violating them. Policy 3: Lockhart Independent School District, Texas Technology Acceptable Use Policy. (2010). Lockhart IS. Retrieved from http://lockhartisd.livesitehost.com/files/tech_acceptable_use.pdf Technology Acceptable Use Policy: Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement This schools AUP states that when using the Internet students will not plagiarize information they locate on it. The policy defines plagiarism as the taking of ideas or writings of others and using them as your own. The copyright policy states that district policies on copyright will govern the use of material used on the district system. The policy also states that copyrighted material will not be placed on the district system without permission from the copyright owner. The policy states that permission must be obtained directly from the copyright owner, be on the system, or specified on the works by the owner. Policy Strengths: The statement on plagiarism is somewhat acceptable. It states that the students will not plagiarize and defines plagiarism to ensure the students understand what plagiarizing material means. The policy also states that copyrighted material will not be used without permission from the author. The copyright policy does state that the school policy is governed by the district copyright policies. The policy also provides a brief description discussing where students may find or obtain permission to use copyrighted material. Policy Weaknesses: The most common reason for plagiarism is that students just do not understand when they are paraphrasing and when they are plagiarizing. This policy states that plagiarism is not acceptable and provides a brief definition, but it does not provide resources for the student to learn more about plagiarism or how to avoid it. This policy should also include either additional information on how to avoid plagiarism or a link so the student can locate the additional information. I found this copyright policy to be somewhat confusing. As a teacher I understand what the policy means by district policy will govern district systems, but as a student this may be a bit confusing. In addition, the policy states that copyrighted material will not be placed on any system without the authors permission, would this statement make sense to a student? The student does not want the material on the system they just want it for their paper, so does that mean they can use it? I think that this copyright policy needs to updated to ensure that the

5 The Internet students understand exactly what copyrighted material is and how to avoid violating copyright laws.

6 The Internet

Technology Acceptable Use Policy

Copyright and Plagiarism: A. Students will respect the rights of copyright owners. Copyright Law is the federal law that grants the creators of original works the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, perform, and display their works. Copyright infringement occurs when a student inappropriately reproduces a work that is protected by copyright law. If a work contains language that specifies appropriate use of that work, follow the expressed requirements. If unsure whether or not work can be used, request permission from the copyright owner. If the student is confused about copyright laws or material, ask a teacher or media specialist for guidance. Copyright Fair Use (for educational use ONLY) guidelines are as follows: Motion media: up to 10 percent of the total or three minutes, whichever is less. Text material: up to 10 percent of the total or 1,000 words, whichever is less. An entire poem of less than 250 words may be used, but no more than three poems by one poet or five poems by different authors in an anthology. For poems exceeding 250 words, 250 words should be used but no more than three excerpts from one poet or five excerpts from different poets in the same work. Music, lyrics, and music video: up to 10 percent of the work but no more than 30 seconds of the music or lyrics from an individual musical work. Illustrations or photographs: no more than five images from one artist or photographer; no more than 10% or 15 images, whichever is less, from a collection. Numerical data sets: up to 10 percent or 2,500 fields or cell entries, whichever is less, from a copyrighted database or data table. Copying of a multimedia project: no more than two copies may be made of a project. Please review the following link for additional information outlining copyright laws, http://www.copyright.gov/ B. Students will not plagiarize works that are found on the Internet. Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of others ideas or writings and presenting them as if they were yours. Additional information about plagiarism can be found at, http://plagiarism.org/