Group+E+7-C-2

=Home > Group E Workspace > Learning Activity 7-C-2=

= Scenario = Your Monera kingdom group has been doing extremely creative work on a class wiki, and has created an impressive presentation on bacteria. The group has received a request by a teacher to use some of their graphics on bacteria cell structure for a project at a school in a nearby state. The students who created the work would get credit for their contribution, and the request is for two graphics out of over a dozen in the presentation.

= Introduction = While a request of this type is an honor for students, teachers, and even a school, care must be taken to ensure the safety and respect of everyone. Within this scenario we are taking the viewpoint that the work created by the students and requested by another teacher is original. It might be drawings, diagrams, etc that students generated on their own. With this in mind we recommend the following steps to be followed in order, to ensure safety and propriety.

= We suggest taking the following steps =

1. Verify that the request is real
The instructor should first verify that the request is legitimate. This can be done checking the school's website for the teacher's name. The teacher can also be contacted by email or phone to verify the request. The instructor can also contact the supervisor of the requesting teacher's school to verify the request. Along with verification the instructor should make sure the requesting teacher will give credit to the students in the manner outlined below.

2. Check district Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
Every district should have a written AUP on file within the district offices. It is strongly recommended that teachers and administrators consult the policy to determine any legal parameters that the district has instituted when publishing and sharing student work publicly. This would include work published and shared beyond class community websites, such as this case of sharing work with another school in a different state. Be sure to determine what guidelines the AUP requires when publishing and sharing student work (i.e. student identification, type of work, credit of work given, information shared, etc.)

3. Administrative input
Once the request has been validated and the district AUP checked, the teacher should discuss the situation with a supervisor / department head and building principal, presenting our findings from steps 1 and 2, and laying out steps 4-6 for their approval. Any concerns brought up here would have to be addressed before moving on to step 4.

4. Student consent and parental permission
Now would be the time to present the request to the students in the Monera kingdom group, congratulating them on their success, but also outlining the steps still needed to be taken, and explaining why certain safety precautions are necessary. Assuming the group as a whole decides that they would like to share their graphics, the teacher would inform parents via phone or e-mail, and either attach or send home with students a parental permission form, which would have to be returned signed and dated. This form would need to briefly explain steps 1-6, and inform parents of additional measures, such as > Assuming that some or all parents provide their written consent, we would move to the next step.
 * use of student initials, instead of student names, to avoid identification even of student gender
 * no mention of the school name, only the state
 * possibility for parents to monitor the process, since it will take place through flickr
 * possibility to opt out on an individual basis

5. Create Flickr account with creative commons license
The best method to transfer the images from the students to the requesting teacher is to set up a Flickr account with a creative commons license. The instructor can do this easily. All the instructor needs is a yahoo e-mail account to start a Flickr account. Once the account is created a creative commons license can be set up to protect the students' intellectual property rights. Consistent with step nr. 4 only the students' initials be used for identification. We suggest using the "attribution non-commercial no derivatives" license that allows use only by giving credit, for non-commercial use only, and without any alteration of the work.

6. Provide information to requesting school
The final step in processing the request for student work would be to provide the requesting school with access to the work via Flickr. It would be wise to get a written response either by e-mail or snail mail, verifying that all items requested would be used in an appropriate, educational manner.