Thing #8 Using Creative Commons

I love Creative Commons. It has made my job sooo much easier. I am constantly looking for good quality images to illustrate different science concepts particularly in Earth Science. As a classroom teacher it wasn't such a problem because I could generally use a picture in my classroom under fair use rules. Now that I need to put together materials to post for many others to use, it is a big problem. So I had to start taking the pictures myself, or get permission from someone else to use theirs. I have found pictures protected by the big C and gotten permission to use them but that process is very time consuming. Before so many CC images were available, a group of local science supervisors even banded together to create our own image bank.

Now I use Wikimedia Commons all the time. That is where I first learned about CC licenses. I also use the Earth Science World Image Bank which gives educators rights to use the images but doesn't use CC licenses. I intend to upload some of my images to Wikimedia and feel very guilty that I use that resource extensively without giving back. I just can't seem to find the time to get it done. Really the only negative to using CC images is keeping the proper attributions linked to the photo. Usually when I save the photo, I put all that information in the properties of the photo so it doesn't get separated. So, if I have pictures that I own, they are still the easiest to use.

I was very excited about OER Commons when I first heard about it but really haven't found much that is useful at the level I teach. I need to remember to keep checking back. I didn't realize I could do a Google search specifying to only find pages with CC licenses. I'll have to try that more.

Who owns the teaching materials that I produce on the job? Mesquite ISD does. Since they pay me to produce curriculum materials, they retain the copyright on those materials.