Is there a student project that needs handling?

It seems like there is always a student project that has to be pulled together and produced in some manner. It could even be a yearbook or class field trip. Many teachers want to publish poems and stories written by their students. The variety of needs is outstanding.
Last year when I was at MacWorld I saw a company entitled, Blurb.
www.blurb.com
The company produces books for individuals or groups in softcover or hardcover on beautifully printed clay based paper. I thought it was too good to be true so I set myself down and put together a book and had it published. The process was really pain free and speedy. The result was also very satisfying. If you want to see it, check out my art blog at http://brushcolor.blogspot.com . There is a link to it on the blog.

One of the best factors for classroom teachers is the fact that Blurb will market it for you. For instance, a classroom teacher puts together a book on the poetry of a group of students and has it published. The teacher doesn't have to collect money and hand out books. The parents and grandparents can get a copy or as many copies as they want from Blurb. More importantly Blurb handle all the shipping, etc.

There is another company that also does a similar service. Lulu http://www.lulu.com/

Tips on copyright confusion

Copyright can be confusing in today’s world where students need to create multimedia projects transforming works of others. Hopefully some of the following sites will help clear up some of the shadow areas.

About Creative Commons
http://creativecommons.org/about/


Creative Commons defines the spectrum of possibilities between full copyright — all rights reserved — and the public domain — no rights reserved. Our licenses help you keep your copyright while inviting certain uses of your work — a “some rights reserved” copyright.

For a quick intro to Creative Commons, check out this short video, entitled "Wanna Work Together?"
http://support.creativecommons.org/videos#wwt
The Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License means
You are free:
* to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
* to Remix — to adapt the work
Under the following conditions:
* Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
* For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.
* Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder.
* Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

A link to a video that effectively uses comics to explain copyright:
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Howitworks_Comic1

The Center for Internet Safety @ Stanford Law School uses
Disney characters explain copyright.
http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/documentary-film-program/film/a-fair-y-use-tale
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo

Copyright for Document filmmakers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJn_jC4FNDo



A Positive Solution to School Copyright Issues presented at PETE&C Concurrent Session by Dr. Scott Garrigan can be found on J. Dorman site.
http://cliotech.blogspot.com/2008/02/positive-solution-to-school-copyright.html

Using CC search with Firefox
For a quick explanation of how to use this search with Firefox, including how to change your search engine, watch this video.
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Firefox_and_CC_Search

The Connected Classroom (Blog) by Kristin Hokanson posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008
“A Lesson on Reflection: MORE Copyright Confusion...”
http://khokanson.blogspot.com/

Temple University: Media Educational Lab presents:
The Cost of Copyright confusion. http://www.mediaeducationlab.com/pdf/The%20Cost%20of%20Copyright%20Confusion%20%282%29.pdf


Video http://www.mediaeducationlab.com/index.php?page=258