copyright

====Analysis of **A Visit to Copyright Bay** [] ====


 * __Site description__**: The site is published by St. Francis University in Joliet, IL. However, the //About Us// page describes the authors as master's students at The George Washington University enrolled in the Educational Technology Leadership degree program. The site appears to have been originally created in 1997, but changes and enhancements were made in 2002, 2003, and 2004. As a result, some pages have more animation and interaction than others. Two features that date the website: the streaming video added in 2004 can be viewed by clicking either the "Dial Up" or the "Broadband" option and on the audio-visual page, the following quote actually exists: “DVD (digital versatile discs) //movies//, an emerging technology now hitting the consumer market.”

The intended audience is teachers at not-for-profit schools. The website is intended for informational purposes, and the reader is often reminded that legal advice is not being given. When entering the site, one encounters an aerial view of **Copyright Bay**. To navigate through the site, one must enter **Fair Use Harbor**. Different areas of the harbor have been labeled with links to pages, and a linked, sequential listing of those stations is given below the harbor. I chose to follow the sequential listing and worked my way through **Background Beach**, **Multimedia Wharf**, **Single Copying Inlet**, **Cove of Multiple Copies**, **Audio Visual Lagoon**, **Dist-Ed Point**, and **Pearls of Wisdom**.

At each station, I read a straightforward discussion of the laws and guidelines governing that station's copyright focus. Then, I read and answered questions over what I had just learned. The graphics after each answer were pretty basic, but still fun. If I got the answer wrong, I was re-directed to the question to choose the correct answer. I found the questions to be very beneficial, real-world examples of copyright issues educators and students face daily. Some of the answers were ambiguous, but the discussions following the answers helped to clear up the issues involved. One of the questions did not have a correct answer. Both answers directed me back to the question to choose the other answer. This was irritating, but the website's authors eventually made the point that the question dealt with an issue that does not have a clear, concise answer and that as educators, we must use our best judgment when faced with a similar dilemma.


 * __Use in classroom__**: Because this site is directed at teachers, it would work best in a professional development workshop. Teachers could be put into seven groups, and each group could be assigned one of the stations of the site to explore. After 10 to 15 minutes, the groups could come back together and each take turns describing its station to the group as a whole. The group presentations would need to cover the following:
 * 1) The predominant guidelines and/or laws applying to each station's copyright focus.
 * 2) Two or three real-world examples from that station's Q & A section.
 * 3) An opportunity for other groups to discuss and answer those questions before the correct answer is revealed.
 * 4) The biggest take-away from that station, answering the question: How does this information apply to our classrooms?


 * __Assessment of learning__**: The strength of this site is its use of real-world examples. The discussions following those examples would allow teachers to internalize what they've learned. As a workshop leader, I would assess their learning based on their discussions of the real-world problems they encountered and their proposed answers to those problems. If I had further contact with the teachers, I could assess their application of what they've learned based on changes in their daily practice of the guidelines discussed on this website.