Week 3- 2

Why is intellectual property and creative rights an important topic for students?
It is important for students to understand that stealing is wrong and also against the law, whether its physically taking an item that doesn’t belong to you and calling it yours or using information, pictures and music and calling it yours. It is important for anyone using the internet to know that creators should be recognized for their hard work. There are many aspects that go into pictures, logos and music such as time, energy, effort, cost of equipment education and vital experience. To not recognize these steps is basically rude.

“Writer Ayn Rand has argued that the protection of intellectual property is essentially a moral issue. The belief is that the human mind itself is the source of wealth and survival and that all property at its base is intellectual property. To violate intellectual property is therefore no different morally than violating other property rights which compromises the very processes of survival and therefore constitutes an immoral act.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellectual_property

Here is a Wordle using the article from the link below.


http://designinformer.com/2010/why-intellectual-property-rights-are-so-important/

Another good reason to make students aware of creative rights is the problem with plagiarism. I would establish guidelines that coincide with the schools rules on plagiarism but also include creative rights if not already suggested by school. My feeling on the matter of recognizing owners of intellectual property is, ‘better safe, than sorry’. In this instance more is better, at the moment most teachers feel that using an un-cited photo or music in a presentation is fine for a student as long as it doesn’t generate monetary value. However I’m not sure how long that will be allowed and students are generating pretty amazing projects and it is only a matter of time before someone gets offended.

The internet is the main tool for research in most class projects. Students must learn to research properly and recognize their sources. After school, student will be expected to use the internet for all types of jobs, anything from arranging travel to sales. I will prepare students for the workforce by conveying the importance of intellectual property.