Being Creative Using Creative Commons

Creative Common's web site has a search capability that allows users to find content licensed under one of CC's six categories.  For instance, if I want to find a picture of a computer that I want to use for non-commercial purposes, and only want to reuse it as is, I would perform the following search:

I can click on any of the tabs to search with a different service (Google, Flickr, blip.tv, etc.).

Using Flickr's tab, each result will show a small "i" when moused over.  If clicked upon, it will show the CC license for the image among other information.

The icons tell me I can use the image as long give credit ("Attribution") and use it for non-commercial purposes.

If you click on the "Some rights reserved" link, you learn in more detail how you are allowed to use the work:

Now that I know how I am allowed to use the photo, I am ready to move forward.  Say I just want to use it in a blog post.  Above the photo in Flickr is a drop-down menu.  When I click on it I can choose to "Share this on..." "Blogger" or another service.

Since this is a Blogger site, I would choose that option.  However, the "Share this on..." option is really only good if want to write a post about the image.

A better option is to "Grab the HTML/BBCode".

Remember to paste into the "Edit HTML" editor, not the "Compose" editor.

If you want to use a Flickr photo in a Google Docs presentation or some other online presentation service (Animoto, Prezi, etc.), you need a direct link to the image.  This is not intuitive because we would think that URL in the "Grab the link" field is what needs to be copied.  It is not!  

DO NOT USE THIS LINK FOR
ONLINE PRESENTATIONS!

  

Instead choose to "View all sizes" under "Actions".  

Then right-click (or Control-click if you are a Mac user) on the "download..." link and choose to copy the link.

Finally, in your Google Doc (or Animoto, Prezi, whatever) insert an image and paste in the the link.

And voila...

Thanks to Mediajon's work and allowing me to use it in this post!

Wikis- Teaching Skepticism

Wiki is a Hawaiian word meaning, according to Dictionary.com, quick.  There is an interesting Wikipedia article about the origins of the wiki web application created by Ward Cunningham in the mid-1990s.  Cunningham's simple idea of allowing users to collaborate online has mushroomed and is a major component of today's Internet.  Users now expect the ability to create knowledge, not just be consumers of it.  On the other hand, sites like Wikipedia create an enormous amount of controversy.  Many disregard Wikipedia as a database of inaccurate information.  Others see it as the democratizing of knowledge.  Take a look at the trailer of the documentary, Truth in Numbers? Everything, According to Wikipedia.  In just a couple of minutes you get a glimpse of both sides of the argument.

So, how as educators should we deal with Wikipedia?  When students do research on the Internet, a Wikipedia link is often one of the first search results when Googled, no matter the topic.  Many students will click on the Wikipedia link and take the information in its article to be fact, no questions asked.  Depending on the article, it could very well be.  However, it could just as well be opposite.

The problem is not Wikipedia, however.  To me, the problem is the lack of skepticism.  And this is not just a problem in the K-12 student population.  Many of us are guilty of it. 

Gone are the days that we can assume that any information from any source is definitively true unless we can verify it.  You can argue that there was never a time when the consumer could assume that any source provided absolutely true information without verification.  When I was student in K-12, I cannot remember my teachers teaching me to be skeptical of fact givers- textbooks, encyclopedias, nightly news, etc., but they should have been.  What I like about Wikipedia is that it forces teachers to teach their students to be skeptical.  I hope that skepticism transcends sites like Wikipedia and students find it when using any source.

So how do you start a lesson in skepticism?  Use Wikipedia, ground zero for supposed inaccurate information.  Whatever you are studying your classes, find out what Wikipedia has to report on it.  Have your students fact check the articles in Wikipedia.  Cross-reference the sources cited in its articles.  Where there are inaccuracies and missing information, have the students edit the article.  It is incredibly easy and incredibly empowering!  And then take that skepticism and empowerment and verfiy other sources of information- the omnipotent textbook, encyclopedia, nightly news, etc.  Have students create their own textbook by creating a wiki with PBWorks.com (click here for our EZ Guide) or Wikispaces.com.

Discuss Dynamically with Voicethread

VoiceThread is a great web tool if you have never seen it.  It allows someone to create a discussion around media, whether that media be images, videos, audio, text, whatever...  So, say for instance you want your students to discuss elements of Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa.  You could import an image of the painting from, say, Flickr's Creative Commons into VoiceThread, start the discussion by asking questions or making comments that will lead your students' comments.

Here is an example. The discussion creator explores the crisis in Darfur through political cartoons.

Math teachers often find it difficult to incorporate the web tools explored in the Challenge.  Here is a simple idea for using Voicethread to, literally, illustrate various problem solving strategies.

So, how do you create a VoiceThread?  Here is a short tutorial on the process created by yours truly!

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