We have to remember that there is a difference between morality and = legality. Legality is a minimal level of morality that society sets as a = standard. Levels of morality above and beyond this are within an = individual's rights. IF someone posts something on the web, and they do = not copyright it (simply put the symbol with the year and their name) = then it is legally free for use without permission. On the flip side, I = personally would think that you would at least give credit in the = materials to the source. We all need to be cognizant of what we post = on the web. If we really don't want' someone else using it, it should = be in webct or blackboard or similar protected venues. On my website I = have a link for students entitled "Advice for Students." On it I have = several of the many common questions that students ask that are frankly = redundant and truthfully in many ways self evident. When the student = clicks on the question, audio clip from a movie appears in a uniquely = appropriate response. It gets a lot of laughs from the students. The = audio clips used were once free on the web during the mid-1990's. Now = you can't download the same clips without paying a fee. If someone = wanted to copy my website, they could, and frankly I wouldn't care! = They can link to it or whatever. On the flip side I have a number of = lectures that were frankly difficult to put together. IF someone needed = a lecture as a starting point I suppose they could ask, but I put them = in Web CT. That way my knowledge isn't being thrown around for free. = Frankly, what I know is my paycheck! If used a lecture freely available = on the web, I think I would let the person know. Chances are, it would = be changed enough by the time I gave it, that there would be little = resemeblance anyway. Credit should always be given! =20 Malcolm L. McCallum Assistant Professor Department of Biological Sciences Texas A&M University Texarkana 2600 Robison Rd. Texarkana, TX 75501 O: 1-903-233-3134 H: 1-903-791-3843 Homepage: https://www.eagle.tamut.edu/faculty/mmccallum/index.html =20
________________________________ From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news on behalf of = Jonathan Greenberg Sent: Thu 1/19/2006 11:54 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: Questions about using teaching materials from others Jim: I think you misunderstood my post -- I was asking if permission = is required from the author to use online class material in your own = course, or is it more like a citation -- hence, if the content is online we can = assume it can be used in our own course (e.g. "is fair game"). I suppose this = begs the question of what you would consider "stolen"? I can use other = published material in research papers without the permission of the authors = (=3D=3D citations!) but do we treat lectures as "data" or "finished citable material"? Personally, I've created an entire class more or less from = scratch (as have many of us), and I would be thrilled to know if someone is = using my lectures -- I think the only time I would be worried is if someone = turned in my lectures/syllabus as part of a teaching application (of course, this would be nearly impossible to catch). In terms of a class, it doesn't = hurt me for people to use my lectures, and I don't feel they need to take up = much needed powerpoint space to put my name on every slide.=20 On the other hand, many people make a living by the courses they teach, and class websites are often not password protected to let the students have easy access. There may be an implication that the = lectures are for university internal use only. =20 --j -- Jonathan A. Greenberg, PhD NRC Research Associate NASA Ames Research Center MS 242-4 Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 Office: 650-604-5896 Cell: 415-794-5043 AIM: jgrn307 MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2006 8:57 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Questions about using teaching materials from = others Ecologgers, As a web content developer who posts everything for free, I am offended that any educator would suggest that "if it's online it's fair game." Intellectual property is intellectual property, not something to be stolen. Cheers, Jim -----Original Message----- From: Jonathan Greenberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Sent: Thu, 19 Jan 2006 12:34:52 -0800 Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Questions about using teaching materials from others A colleague of mine recently asked me what my thoughts were on using other people's teaching materials posted on course websites for a class he is teaching. This was a very good question, so I thought I'd send it to you all for responses. For a class, how liberal/conservative are you all about properly citing other class websites/materials. If you use a lab exercise more or less verbatim, do you need to get permission from the writer to use it, or is that more of a courtesy (e.g. if it's online it's fair game)? Thoughts? --j -- Jonathan A. Greenberg, PhD NRC Research Associate NASA Ames Research Center MS 242-4 Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 Office: 650-604-5896 Cell: 415-794-5043 AIM: jgrn307 MSN: [EMAIL PROTECTED] =20
