Ms. Dot's Page

This unit was crafted with help from The Electronic Frontier Foundation.

 

Unit Goals

• Educate students about copyright law, including the concepts of fair use, free speech, and the public domain.

• Explore the relationship between copyright law and innovation, showing how the courts and lawmakers have struggled to build a legal framework to both compensate artists and encourage innovative uses of creative works and new technologies.

• Help students understand their legal rights and responsibilities with respect to copyright and technology use.

 

Objectives for Students

• Critical and creative thinking: brainstorming, analyzing historical and contemporary sources, and questioning group and individual assumptions.

• Social skills: collaborating with peers.

• Communication: participating in group discussions, debates, class projects, and role-play; demonstrating comprehension by commenting (orally and in writing) on the material clearly and effectively.

• Research: collecting, organizing, and synthesizing data from various sources (scholastic articles, commercial news sources, Internet, video/film, music, art, and literature).