room KA 209
Developing a Module on Copyright for Applied Science Students in Canada
Teslenko, Tatiana, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
In the globally-networked economy, knowledge is produced in the interdisciplinary marketplace of ideas. Teachers and students pursue research projects that involve data mining and primary analysis of sources; they extensively use copyrighted material.
Canadian copyright discourse developed at the crossroads of key dimensions: values, policies and technology. Attempts to reform copyright laws resulted in polarized media coverage and an emotionally-charged public discussion. Such a polarized context makes copyright education extremely important for schools and universities. Educators have to inform students about the responsibilities involved in using copyrighted material not only because students are the knowledge-makers of tomorrow, but due to their collaborative and highly personal approach to learning. Students already consume and generate content from a broad range of online sources and view remixing and mashing-up as a standard process for developing their own multimodal texts and objects. Questions of copyright ownership and permissions are often overlooked.
Canadian universities recently updated their policy frameworks to articulate the obligation to respect copyright laws. The University of British Columbia was the first to independently license teaching materials. This presentation is prepared from a country-specific perspective and discusses the module on copyright in a technical communication course for applied science students at UBC.
