Week 8 Roadmap

1. Complete and submit presentation software lesson
2. Read chapter 10
3. Read about open source and open content.
4. Read about copyright.
5. Post a review about a copyright resource.

Fun

The Internet Movie Database. If you are a movie fan like I am, this is a great resource--a massive searchable database of films and anyone credited in them from actors to crew. And of course we must have lists of the best movies of all time-- from Cinepad, Mr. Showbiz, and American Film Institute.

Speaking of movies , I would be glad to know what your favorite movies are. If you want to take the time, on our wiki post a list of your favorite movies. Here are some of mine, in various categories (I had a good time putting this list together).

Links

Here's a collection of books to read in educational technology, along with other sub-disciplines in instructional design and technology (see the links near the top left). This is larger view of the site we saw last week with the "top 10" lists from various authors.

Complete and Submit Presentation Software Lesson Plan

Turn in your presentation software assignment via WebCT. As usual it is due Wednesday night by 11:30 P.M..

Read Chapter 10

on educational software.

Open Source and Open Content

The open source "movement" has significant ramifications in the world of teaching and learning.

Read the Wikipedia entries on Open Source, and then Open Content.

EduForge is a community site about open source software in schools. MIT OpenCourseware is an example of a university freely publishing course material.

Copyright

There are so many issues related to copyright, that I scarcely know where to start. This is such an important issue now for educators and instructional designers, and will be increasingly important in the coming years.

To begin, read this quite hilarious fictional story about Disney exploiting copyright. It's no stretch to say that copyright has been extended to "70 years after the holder's death" to satisfy corporations such as Disney.

Next read the text of this keynote address entitled Free Culture, by Larry Lessig, professor of law at Stanford, and expert on digital copyright law. I had the opportunity to meet him and Stephen Downes at a Utah State IT conference.

Copyright resources:

• Benedict.com: including a basic overview of copyright law.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: a non-profit advocacy group for digital rights.
• 10 Myths about copyright law, from Brad Templeton, Internet guru and chairman of the EFF.
• Creative Commons, a non-profit organization creating tools and licenses for distributing content.

Choose one of these resources above, or choose another high-quality resource related to copyright. Write a review of at least 250 words about your chosen copyright resource. Write with a scholarly tone, with correct spelling and grammar. Post your review in the WebCT discussion forum called "copyright review".

We're having a yard sale tomorrow morning, which should be fun. We're clearing out the attic, including some baby stuff that our still-very-young girls have outgrown. We're even selling some stuff for some friends.

This next week we are starting a "home group" with people from our church, so we'll have about ten people from our church who we will meet with weekly to enjoy life together. I may be leading the group, but we haven't decided that yet.

Remember, you can always contact me via phone, IM, or email if anything is unclear. I've enjoyed interacting with so many of you thus far. Have a great week,

Dr. M.