Teach Students the Importance of Copyright-4 Sites for Stock Images
One of the major pitfalls of students (and teachers) using technology as a tool to produce is disregard for copyright. This failure to respect copyright is the by-product of the freedom of information on the internet.
For instance, if a teacher asks a student to make a PowerPoint, the images for the PowerPoint are usually copy-pasted from a Google Image search. Students (and many teachers) do not question who owns the image and treat it as if it were in the public domain. So, how can we stop this practice?
The first step is to teach students about copyright. While most teachers are familiar with copyright law, students are woefully ignorant. Many falsely assume that anything available on the internet is free for use.
To address this lack of knowledge, consider taking students to the Creative Commons website. Creative Commons is the leading online organization providing licenses for content posted to the internet. At the site, you can discuss the 6 licenses offered and the differences between each.
Also, consider taking the lesson a step further by having students create an original work, post it to a blog or website, and attach a Creative Commons license along with a rationale for the license chosen.
For instance, if a teacher asks a student to make a PowerPoint, the images for the PowerPoint are usually copy-pasted from a Google Image search. Students (and many teachers) do not question who owns the image and treat it as if it were in the public domain. So, how can we stop this practice?
Creative Commons
The first step is to teach students about copyright. While most teachers are familiar with copyright law, students are woefully ignorant. Many falsely assume that anything available on the internet is free for use.
To address this lack of knowledge, consider taking students to the Creative Commons website. Creative Commons is the leading online organization providing licenses for content posted to the internet. At the site, you can discuss the 6 licenses offered and the differences between each.
Also, consider taking the lesson a step further by having students create an original work, post it to a blog or website, and attach a Creative Commons license along with a rationale for the license chosen.
Stock Images
When assigning students the task of creating a product incorporating images, teach the students where to find free stock images. If you are not familiar with stock images, they are images provided by an artist/photographer that are free for commercial or personal use. Below are some of my favorite collections:
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| Image from Unsplash |
Unsplash
Unsplash offers a collection of beautiful photographs that are free for any use. All of the images have a similar look and usually focus on perspective. The photographs are listed on a single blog page. They add 10 images per day. The one drawback to the site is that there is no way to search the images. However, when I need a free image, I immediately turn here.
morgueFile
morgueFile offers a collection of stock images that vary in quality. The images are not as homogenous as those on Unsplash and are submitted by a variety of users, but morgueFile offers a very useful search function. When a specific image is needed, morgueFile is a great place to start.
openphoto
openphoto offers a curated collection of stock images. The photographs on openphoto are beautiful and high resolution. Like morgueFile, openphoto offers a search function. Additionally, openphoto arranges images into categories so that you can browse them more easily.
Freerange Stock
Freerange is one of the first stock image sites I used. It features an easy to use search function, but the images on Freerange are limited. There is not much variety in the photos offered and the resolution of the images varies greatly.
Conclusion
Teach your students about copyright. Teach them where to get appropriate images and how to copyright their work. Don't steal images for your presentations! Students learn from example.
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