(2) Intellectual property. In the documentary I mention above and in just about all of the other work in my class, we discuss IP issues--and then claim fair use for the materials we borrow from within the class. We talk about Creative Commons and other forms of share-alike licensing. But then we often disregard those rules in the creation of the class student-produced materials. By that I mean, there are images and audio that are attributed, of course, to those who created them but nonetheless used in the production intended for our class and for pedagogical purposes only that would require fees and legal agreements were they distributed beyond the walled off class project. We are at such a strange moment in the history of intellectual property, with everything changing and no one quite knowing what they want or why since the business model of so much online property remains in flux. I want my students to understand the IP issues--but I don't want their intellect and imagination fettered by it.
Randolph Hollingsworth on 26 Jul 10Tony Hirst describing his thoughts on building a course for the British Open University and relying on Wordpress (due to its ability to handle RSS feeds so robustly) blogs to build a cacophony of blog entries by his students to craft pathways for the creation of new knowledge.
