Most of the media in these collections are attached to generous copyright licensing. Though you may not need to ask permission to use them when publishing on the Web for educational purposes, you should cite or attribute these images to their creators unless otherwise notified! If you see any copyright notices on these pages, read them for further instructions.

The Cost of Copyright Confusion for Media Literacy, is a research-based report on scores of longform interviews with teachers. It shows that the fundamental goals of media literacy education-to cultivate critical thinking and expression about media and its social role-are compromised by unnecessary copyright restrictions. The report concludes with a call for educators to develop a consensus around their interpretation of their most valuable copyright tool: fair use.This project was funded by the MacArthur Foundation.

The Cable Industry's effort to educate parents about protecting their child's identity online. Click on the video link at the bottom of the page to access six flash videos: Internet Safety Pledge, media literacy, phishing and predators, kids' blogging content, privacy issues, etc. Resources are in English and Spanish.

Fair use is a doctrine within copyright law that allows use of copyrighted material for educational purposes without permission from the the owners or creators. It is designed to balance rights of users with the rights of owners by encouraging widespread and flexible use of cultural products for the purposes of education and the advancement of knowledge.

The activities and assignments in the elementary-level curriculum introduce children to some basic ideas in media literacy, such as attention-getting techniques, interpretations by different audiences, and the values that make certain stories newsworthy.

Do you suffer from Copyright Confusion? This is another great video from the Center for Social Media that describes the new Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Media Literacy. This is a great video to show at an educator workshop as a segue into the new thinking on Copyright Law and Fair Use. The Fair Use document was developed and funded by a MacArthur Foundation grant after a research study revealed that rigid interpretations of copyright law are actually strangling educational practice rather than enabling it.

BEST PRACTICES IN FAIR USE from the folks at Temple University's Media Literacy Education Lab. This is a case study of PROJECT LOOK SHARP and their use of media literacy materials. Included are discussion questions that would be appropriate for teaching teachers and/or students.

According to a recent study from the Pew Internet & American Life project (Lenhardt & Madden,2005),more than one-half of all teens have created media content,and roughly one-third of teens who use the Internet have shared content they produced.In many cases,these teens are actively involved in what we are calling participatory cultures.A participatory culture is a culture with relatively low barriers to artistic expression and civic engagement, strong support for creating and sharing one's creations,and some type of informal mentorship whereby what is known by the most experienced is passed along to novices.

From Temple University Media Literacy Lab. Catchy little tune to introduce copyright and fair-use concepts to students. Sing along to understand copyright and learn about your rights to fair use.

Propaganda Techniques in Literature and Online Political Ads
In this lesson, students draw conclusions from an analysis of propaganda techniques used in a piece of literature such as the novel Brave New World, the play The Crucible, or the movie Dr. Strangelove and political advertisements posted on the Internet. Students also make connections to their own world by looking for examples of propaganda in other media, such as print ads and commercials.

With the increasing popularity of e-mail and online instant messaging among today�s teens, a recognizable change has occurred in the language that students use in their writing. This lesson explores the language of electronic messages and how it affects other writing. Furthermore, it explores the freedom and creativity for using Internet abbreviations for specific purposes and examines the importance of a more formal style of writing based on audience.

Inquiry on the Internet: Evaluating Web Pages for a Class Collection
In this lesson plan, students explore a class inquiry project, collecting Web-based resources that can be used for further study during the course of the class or for more in-depth projects. Students use Internet search engines and Web analysis checklists and questions to find and evaluate online resources then write annotations that explain how and why the items they have found will be valuable to the class.

Students explore a range of resources on fair use and copyright then design their own audio public service announcements (PSAs), to be broadcast over the school's public address system. Work can also be published as podcasts on the Internet. Students tap research and persuasive writing strategies as they design announcements for an audience of their peers.

Printable lesson plans and activity sheets for Grades K-8 on Cybersafety Curriculum.

The Copyright Police are checking student multimedia projects for possible copyright violations. Ignorance of the law is no excuse, and violators will be prosecuted under the federal law. The Copyright Police are having some difficulty checking leads because there are so many students creating multimedia projects. You and your group have been hired by the Copyright Police to monitor multimedia projects created in our school. The Police Chief will give you information about a multimedia project to investigate and provide some Copyright Guidelines for your group.\n

Digizen.org's documentary film on Cyberbullying produced by Childnet International. Includes teacher's guide and lesson plan. The film is based on a composite of real events using professional actors. It depicts the story of a teenager who becomes the target of bullying via the Internet and by his mobile phone. The film shows a number of ways that cyberbullying can occur, who it involves, and how it can affect different people (including the teacher, who is in this film also subject to humiliation).The film and teacher's guide are designed for classroom or assembly use.

Copyright Infringement or Not? The Debate over Downloading Music
Students discuss their own experiences and conduct further research on the controversial topic of sharing music and other audio content on the Internet. Based on their research, students take a stand on the controversy and develop persuasive arguments on their position that they present in a class debate on the subject of downloading.

This issue of Curriculum Connections provides educators with the tools to increase awareness about the problem of cyberbullying among their students. Each lesson introduces age appropriate information and skills that encourage youth to think critically about Internet communication, develop empathy for others, respond constructively to cyberbullying and online aggression and interact safely on the Internet. The resources in this edition of Curriculum Connections will be an important part of your school's broader efforts to foster an increased culture of e-safety and respect for differences among youth.

A webquest about Internet Safety for 6th Grade Computer Literacy.