Entry #9

Reflecting on chapter 5 from Hicks (2009), I think this chapter has some of the most important information teachers can take from the book. We, as teachers, need to fully examine the different processes that writing for digital outlets forces students/authors to operate in. Each medium, whether a blog/blogfolio, class anthology, or audio anthology, requires focused attention to different details by the author. For instance, an audio anthology requires the author to fully examine his/her “text” as the audience, thus, aiding his/her understanding of their work. 

Before taking this class, I knew that writing in digital spaces was going to be the push in education. I did not have a good idea of what each of those writing spaces were. Thankfully, Hick’s outlines specific writing spaces, like the ones in this chapter. As teachers, we should be excited about the new digital spaces because they offer authentic writing for students. And the authenticity of traditional written papers is becoming less prominent when compared to the digital writing spaces we have discussed in class.

Blogfolios, class anthologies, and audio anthologies can be great outlets for our students to express authorship. I think students will be excited about using technology to express their ideas. Also, the collaboration that students and teachers are required to have while working with these mediums mirrors the collaboration needed when students leave school. It’s important to note that we must always keep our writing purpose(s) at the forefront of any of these projects so that we do not get “caught up in the tools” (Hicks, 2009, p. 95).

If nothing else, I hope that everyone takes a better understanding of fair use with them when they leave this class. As leaders of our students and hopefully of our professions, we need to have a strong understanding of what is ethical and sound regarding use of secondary material in digital texts. We need to educate other teachers, possibly hosting school wide workshops, and we need to educate our students as early as possible.

The Code of Best Practices for Copyrighted Material includes a key component for protecting educators and students: the fair use bargain. The fair use bargain states:

“we as a society give limited property rights to creators to encourage them to produce culture; at the same time, we give other creators the chance to use that same copyrighted material, without permission or payment, in some circumstances. Without the second half of the bargain, we could all lose important new cultural work” (Code of Best Practices in Social Media Website).

The most important kernel from this quote is that cultural growth is the deciding factor in usage being sound or not. As long as the creator is “re-presenting” the material for purposes of educational and/or cultural growth, the use is protected under fair use. The user of the copyrighted material cannot simply repeat the work at “the same intent and value as the original” (Code of Best Practices in Social Media Website). No, teachers and students cannot simply steal or plagiarize material. The material needs to be transformed for a different purpose.

Please take this information and, as mentioned in the video, talk about it! The more everyone knows the more widespread our protection will be!