In case you haven't heard, Getty images now allows free embeds of their images. Here is an article that explains why they did it: http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/5/5475202/getty-images-made-its-pictures-free-to-use.
Finally someone has figured it out. Copyright is about creativity. If you want the images, you can still buy them, but Getty figured out that what they were doing was actually encouraging people to violate copyright. More than that, encouraging people to embed directly from Getty gives them the power to market and control their images in the future.
Unfortunately the current trend in copyright enforcement is to go "all the way" to prohibit any kind of use or display of any copyrighted material without very clear legal rights from the copyright holder. While this sounds good in theory (at least for anyone who creates original work, or holds copyrights) it seems to be backfiring in several ways. The first, and probably most significant way is that this attitude is actually stifling creativity. Poke around the interwebz for a few minutes and you will probably find many examples of copyright "trolls" suing the pants off of anyone and everyone who might possibly be infringing in the smallest way. A few of these cases (like Apple's suit against Samsung) have made headlines, but there are many others that haven't even made the AP wire, so the only people who notice are those being sued and geeks who follow copyright law and technology. The most recent slap from the copyright militia is known as "Take Down, Stay Down" http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2007/05/take-down-stay-down. Basically, if a copyright holder claims that a work is infringing it is automatically taken down (big whoop right? YouTube has been siding with copyright holders for years now). Nevermind that the claim doesn't even have to be legit. If a copyright holder claims that a video, image, or audio infringes, it comes down. No questions asked. The original poster can repost and repost and it will just come back down. If it is a legitimately infringement, that is fine, if not, it sucks. Fair use covers a pretty broad spectrum of use, but most sites don't care. If they get a copyright infringement claim, it comes down. Take Down, Stay Down takes this one step further. Once a work has been taken down, it can't go back up. Even for a purpose which is protected under fair use.
So what? The problem is that if a new artist performs an original work, or creates an original piece of art, and a copyright holder thinks it is too similar (or even just too good) they can file an infringement claim and the new, creative work automatically comes down. Creators end up spending endless time, usually on a very limited budget, fighting the claim, leaving less time for creating. See where this is going. Status quo people.
What does this mean for educators? The children we teach are the inventors, artists, and creators of the future. If they are stifled by copyright trolls (often companies who don't even make anything, but just buy rights to stuff others have already created), where will we be in 10, 20, 50 years. At the very least, not as far along as we could be. Creators have a right to benefit from their creative efforts. That is why copyright exists, to insure that those who contribute new ideas and products don't end up losing out even though they got there first. This encourages creativity and innovation. But, when the innovators of today are attacked by they copyright holders of yesteryear, copyright is ironically working counter to its original intention.
Educators need to pay attention to copyright and fair use and open dialogue with our students about what is going on in the world of invention and innovation. It is their world and they need to know why it is wrong to steal someone else's ideas, but also why it is wrong to stop new ideas under the guise of copyright violation.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Googliness
Friday night I watched The Internship, with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. While there are many problems with this film on a variety of levels, the idea of "googliness" struck a chord with me. I've heard this word before, but it has been a while and, honestly, I never really understood what it meant. I suppose it means different things to different people, but there is an underlying theme to the variety of definitions. To be googley means to be kinder, harder-working, more creative, team-oriented, all the really good things. Here is a former Google employee who sums it up pretty nicely: http://read.bi/14Ka0TX. Not everyone likes Google. In fact, many people openly despise all things Google, either because of privacy concerns, or because of the gigantic proportions to which the company has grown. While privacy issues concern me, and I am not a fan of ginormous, soul-sucking corporations, I like Google. Google doesn't pretend to be anything they are not. Information that you store with Google is secure from everyone but Google. They tailor ads in-house without sharing your personal information directly with their advertisers. In other words, they always maintain a buffer between users and advertisers. While getting ads in your email inbox may seem intrusive, they aren't selling your personal information to advertisers, just matching ads to users. And, unlike government tracking, anyone may opt-out of Google tracking at any time by simply using a different product.
If you're looking for a good, tracking-free search engine you might try Duck Duck Go. But I digress. Googliness is a concept that we, as teachers and administrators, can model for our students. These are all positive traits, and focusing on a different one every week can have a lasting impact on our lives and the lives of our students. I know I struggle with some (or all) of the traits that Jens lists in his post, but they are certainly worthy aspirations. The cynics of the world would point out that even Google itself does not live up to all of these standards all the time. We have, however, far too many cynics in this world already. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all be a little more Googley?
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Education with Integrity
Snow days are great for both relaxing and getting things done. Things you wouldn't normally do because you don't have time. So today, in addition to catching up on some work, and watching a few episodes of Doctor Who? I watched a the documentary Inside: Chipotle. Chipotle isn't the only "fast casual" restaurant out there. The fast casual category includes restaurants like Panera and Five Guys. They are markedly more expensive than their less classy counterparts, but usually serve fresher food, and they do it quickly and at a lower cost than most full service restaurants.
Their business model is based on using the best people, the best ingredients, and a loyal customer base. The founder, Steve Ells, started Chipotle because he needed capital to open a gourmet restaurant. He believes in using top quality, organic ingredients, prepared fresh in the restaurant every day. The food doesn't sit under warming lights, it is prepared in front of the customer, and made to order.
Why would I talk about food on a blog that is dedicated to education? Partly because I'm a foodie, but also because I think we can learn something from this business model. No, education isn't a business, and it doesn't make sense to run a school like a business. For one, our primary customers generally won't be able to afford to pay for our service for another 15-20 years. Also, because education isn't about making money. Our children need an education in order to become productive and responsible workers, voters, and citizens. The current public school model may not be the best way to achieve this goal, but it is the model we have to work with for the moment. While we can work for change, we cannot ignore the children who are attending school right now.
Enter the Chipotle business model. In education we often prefer quantity over quality, and standardized testing has driven this even further. That doesn't mean we can't try. We need to have a people culture. That means treating everyone, students, parents, teachers, custodians, coaches, paraprofessionals, administrators and everyone else like people. Making our schools good places to work and learn. Helping each other improve and reach our full potential and finding ways to create a culture that attracts the best employees. Get ready for the shocker. We don't need more money to do it. Money is great, and most teachers would like to make more, but as long as they are fairly compensated they will keep showing up for work. More money won't make them happier. In Inside: Chipotle Steve Ells says, "I would go back 20 years ago to when I was starting Chipotle in the first place. If I had thought about making money instead of creating a great restaurant experience I would have thought about oh I need to buy cheaper ingredients I need to buy things that are highly processed and easy for an inexperienced, low-performing team to consistently produce."
While, ultimately, the goal of any business is to produce, and thus, make money, great businesses do not focus on production, but rather on providing the best product or service at a fair price. Here is the lesson that we can use in education. The fair price for us is a reasonable tax rate. The service we provide is an education, ideally an excellent one. Most Chipotle workers start at around $21,000 a year. That, according to Chipotle's website, includes benefits. While their workers have a career path that can lead to a six figure salary, most of them won't ever get there. No, they aren't college educated as most teachers would be quick to point out, but they also don't get any vacation or sick leave, and their work is very physical in nature, but I'm not writing to compare teachers to Chipotle employees. I am making the point that the Chipotle culture motivates employees in a fast food restaurant to make fresh, quality food, every day. Teachers, administrators, and other school employees and leaders can work to build positive cultures in their schools without extra funding or new "stuff" simply by recognizing and rewarding what is positive in the school.
I am fortunate to work in a place where, more often than not, our leadership recognizes that climate and culture are an important part of having a great school. We all forget, or get overwhelmed sometimes, but in business and politics they often use the phrase, "staying on message." Which mean essentially, "don't get distracted by things that are of little or no consequence at the end of the day." Stay focused on providing a quality service at a reasonable price. Bad things are going to happen almost every day. Especially when you are a teacher or a school level administrator, you are in the trenches, getting your hands dirty, fighting the good fine, I could go on with more cliches... Stay on message.
Their business model is based on using the best people, the best ingredients, and a loyal customer base. The founder, Steve Ells, started Chipotle because he needed capital to open a gourmet restaurant. He believes in using top quality, organic ingredients, prepared fresh in the restaurant every day. The food doesn't sit under warming lights, it is prepared in front of the customer, and made to order.
Why would I talk about food on a blog that is dedicated to education? Partly because I'm a foodie, but also because I think we can learn something from this business model. No, education isn't a business, and it doesn't make sense to run a school like a business. For one, our primary customers generally won't be able to afford to pay for our service for another 15-20 years. Also, because education isn't about making money. Our children need an education in order to become productive and responsible workers, voters, and citizens. The current public school model may not be the best way to achieve this goal, but it is the model we have to work with for the moment. While we can work for change, we cannot ignore the children who are attending school right now.
Enter the Chipotle business model. In education we often prefer quantity over quality, and standardized testing has driven this even further. That doesn't mean we can't try. We need to have a people culture. That means treating everyone, students, parents, teachers, custodians, coaches, paraprofessionals, administrators and everyone else like people. Making our schools good places to work and learn. Helping each other improve and reach our full potential and finding ways to create a culture that attracts the best employees. Get ready for the shocker. We don't need more money to do it. Money is great, and most teachers would like to make more, but as long as they are fairly compensated they will keep showing up for work. More money won't make them happier. In Inside: Chipotle Steve Ells says, "I would go back 20 years ago to when I was starting Chipotle in the first place. If I had thought about making money instead of creating a great restaurant experience I would have thought about oh I need to buy cheaper ingredients I need to buy things that are highly processed and easy for an inexperienced, low-performing team to consistently produce."
While, ultimately, the goal of any business is to produce, and thus, make money, great businesses do not focus on production, but rather on providing the best product or service at a fair price. Here is the lesson that we can use in education. The fair price for us is a reasonable tax rate. The service we provide is an education, ideally an excellent one. Most Chipotle workers start at around $21,000 a year. That, according to Chipotle's website, includes benefits. While their workers have a career path that can lead to a six figure salary, most of them won't ever get there. No, they aren't college educated as most teachers would be quick to point out, but they also don't get any vacation or sick leave, and their work is very physical in nature, but I'm not writing to compare teachers to Chipotle employees. I am making the point that the Chipotle culture motivates employees in a fast food restaurant to make fresh, quality food, every day. Teachers, administrators, and other school employees and leaders can work to build positive cultures in their schools without extra funding or new "stuff" simply by recognizing and rewarding what is positive in the school.
I am fortunate to work in a place where, more often than not, our leadership recognizes that climate and culture are an important part of having a great school. We all forget, or get overwhelmed sometimes, but in business and politics they often use the phrase, "staying on message." Which mean essentially, "don't get distracted by things that are of little or no consequence at the end of the day." Stay focused on providing a quality service at a reasonable price. Bad things are going to happen almost every day. Especially when you are a teacher or a school level administrator, you are in the trenches, getting your hands dirty, fighting the good fine, I could go on with more cliches... Stay on message.
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