Find a image that you can legally use

This photo is called, "Jayatii Laughing" used with permission via Creative Commons from Premasagars' Flickr Photostream.

One of my tasks this week was to find an image that I can legally use and explain how I know that I can legally use it.

This image came from www. flickr.com. I searched for the word, "laugh". The next page showed me many images. I clicked "Advanced Search" and ticked the boxes at the end of the search for "Creative Commons" and "Adapt and build on".

Once I found the image itself, I clicked on the link on the right called, "Some rights reserved". This link told me that I could copy and distribute this image legally.

Personally, I love the dynamic nature to information on the Internet. I freely post images, media and documents that I create for both work and personal uses and allow anyone to copy, distribute and alter it to their liking. I do this since I am a happy consumer of media on the Internet as well. So, I should be willing to share what I create in order to use freely the works of others.

Now, some things are off base with me. For instance, I do not share my quizzes freely with others for security reasons. If I create a tailored message to my students about their past activities in class, I keep this type of information in our classroom. Information about how my students are doing in class and any media that I create to comment on it is not for public consumption, in my opinion.

Flickr

I have had a flickr account for several years. Besides my Facebook page, it's my preferred method to share images with others.

Why do I prefer flickr? Here is just a small list of reasons.

1. Most of the people that I know are already on Flickr and my accounts are linked to them. When you have been using a service like this for several years with lots of content, it makes it difficult to move to another resource.

2. Uploading images is streamlined and easy. I can highlight several images on my computer at one time and have Flickr upload them with one click. I don't have to select the images individually.

3. I am allowed to type the labels and descriptions of the images from a bulk upload all at one time. I can give them all the same labels with one click.

4. Flickr has a search feature that allows you to look for Creative Commons content.

Flickr is popular for a reason, it works beautifully and is very intuitive.

CopyLeft

This week, we read and watched some resources about copyleft and the Creative Commons. This is not my first experience with creative commons. In fact, I use several images from flickr in my online classroom that I found with a Creative Commons license. Flickr actually allows you to search for images searching content with a Creative Commons license.

I was first introduced to Creative Commons thanks to a copyright expert that GTCC hired to talk to our faculty about four years ago. He scared us to death which is his job, but one of the solutions that he suggested was looking for resources with a Creative Commons license.

I think this concept of "right to distribute copies", make changes and allow those changes to be protected by the same license agreement as the original is overdue. The Internet is full of data and "stuff". Find the owner to ask permission can hinder the creative process. Plus, many of us, myself included do not create things with the intent of making money on them. Information is dynamic. I find it excited, for example, that someone can download a tutorial that I created and make it better.

My way of thinking is not commonplace at community colleges. Some instructors get nervous about this concept since they also write textbook or create resources for sale. The old model of one person creating, altering and controlling the text has made them money. If it becomes more dynamic and anyone can add and alter it, their abilities to make money change. And we all know how much people love change.

I do agree with Lawrence Lessig that the ability to read-write using the content on the Internet is the literacy skill of the 21st century. My students want to turn in their projects as a webpage instead of a Word document. They need to learn how to collaborate with others online to be effective workers of tomorrow.