"Common Sense" Copyright Licensing

We spend a lot of time in our Laptop Prep classes talking about copyright, copyright law, and fair use.

In these days of great amounts of information -- with so much available at the click of a mouse -- the issues involved in complying with copyright, in spirit and by the letter of the law, is daunting.

The Ceative Commons movement seems to be gaining more prominence as more of a "common sense" response to the challenges to copyright.

Creative Commons is a way to license creative works so that they can be more widely shared while maintaining some protections for authors/creators.

To quote their opening paragraph:

Creative Commons licenses provide a flexible range of protections and freedoms for authors, artists, and educators. We have built upon the "all rights reserved" concept of traditional copyright to offer a voluntary "some rights reserved" approach. We're a nonprofit organization. All of our tools are free.

This is a subject worth exploration in much greater depth. I hope to cover it next year in the unit on copyright.

Welcome | Creative Commons

Leonard da Vinci -- The Real Artist, Not The Movie

I'm not sure how I feel about the release this week of the movie based on the book, The DaVinci Code. I've never read it and there has been so much publicity -- and this week so much hype -- about the movie that I'm going to stay on the sidelines and not rush out to this flick.

However, da Vinci, the artist, deserves on-going attention in a big way. I've run across an online exhibit at the Institute and Museum of the History of Science called:

The Mind of Leonardo -- The Universal Genius At Work. Get your mouse pointing in this site's direction. A wonderful site. (This site, by the way, is available in both Italian & English.)

Oddly Enough There Is News Of The Weird

Once you've been to and left the Oddly Enough site at Reuters news service, click your way to Craig Shepherd's News Of The Weird. Check 'em out!!

In Case You Don't Have Enough To Do

Why not check out the case against Ken Lay and cohorts at the Enron trial. All you'll ever want to read and know is right here at the US Department of Justice site.

National Baseball Hall of Fame - Dressed to the Nines

Now that baseball season is underway, why not have a link to a historical look at one of the distinctive aspects of the game: the uniform.

Click on the following link:

National Baseball Hall of Fame - Dressed to the Nines

The Immigration Debate in the Classroom 2006

Today President Bush is making a speech to the nation on the subject of immigration. Some educational resources for this important topic and its many implications are available at the links below.

The Immigration Debate in the Classroom 2006

Public Agenda Issue Guide: Immigration

The Price Of Gold Back When

I'm not sure why this resource seems so fascinating to me. It's a site that will tell you the value of gold by various measures --- the official British price from 1257 to 1945, the official US price from 1786 to 2001, the London market price from 1718 to 2001, among others. All you have to do is select the price measure you want, plug in the year or span of years, and it will tell you.

A bit fascinating, I'd say.

Economic History Resources - What Was the Price of Gold Then?

They Test the Driving Tips

This portion of Edmunds.com is a place to go to find out how the "great" driving tips you get actually pan out. In this day of ever-rising gas prices, it's not a bad place to start and see what the real skinny is on saving gas and improving mileage.

We Test the Tips

Visual Learning - Example diagrams

We're all aware that our students -- heck, even ourselves -- have different learning styles. We have worked with kids we would classify as "auditory learners," "visual learners," and various combinations.

The software application, Inspiration, is an especially helpful tool to use with visual learners as it provides a way to show ideas and their relationship to each other in a visual fashion (you may have heard of this referred to as 'conceptual mapping').

Here are some lesson plans and ideas that use Inspiration in Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math, among others.

Visual Learning - Example diagrams

More Da Vinci

Here is a site that focuses on Leonardo's famous painting, The Last Supper. You're able to view some of the restoration work as well as preparatory drawings by the artist as he planned his panoramic painting.

Cenacolo - Last Supper

MySpace, Facebook and Other Social Networking Sites: Hot Today, Gone Tomorrow?

Sites such as MySpace are garnering a tremendous amount of publicity. Some of it positive about the changes such sites are making in terms of "social networking." Others are very concerned, especially parents who wonder if & how their child might have a site on MySpace and how much personal information they are sharing....not to mention the extent to which their child may be communicating with who-knows-who on the Internet.

Check out this article that examines the current and future implications of such sites.

MySpace, Facebook and Other Social Networking Sites: Hot Today, Gone Tomorrow?

(For those who may not be that familiar with how sites like MySpace operate, click here to go to an article at the HowStuffWorks site to get some background info.)

Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body: Home Page

I suppose I add this type of site to this blog at my -- and your! -- peril. Just exactly does "forensic views of the body" mean??

Still, with the popularity of TV programs such as CSI, a number of us are fascinated with many aspects of crime-fighting.

So, without further ado:

Visible Proofs: Forensic Views of the Body: Home Page

School Technology Plans Online

Although, as we all know, technology is changing all the time, including the way in which we use technology in the classroom, it is important to have plans that look at where we are now and plot a course in the next few years.

We can learn a lot from each other, so here's a collection that Dr. David M. Marcovitz of Loyola College has put together of the technology plans of a group of schools.

School Technology Plans Online