The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), in partnership with Creative Commons U.S., recently released a policy brief for state and district education leaders focused on strategies for equipping educators to effectively and legally navigate the use of digital content.
The brief, Clarifying Ownership of Teacher-Created Digital Content Empowers Educators to Personalize Education, Address Individual Student Needs, examines important legal considerations regarding the ownership and use of teacher-created digital instructional materials. The paper identifies a range of policy options for education leaders, including those related to open educational resources (OER). The brief also provides recommendations to encourage the creation, sharing, and repurposing of high-quality, teacher-created instructional tools and materials – including OER – to enhance instructional practice and improve student outcomes.
“Teacher-created digital instructional materials, when copyrighted and licensed appropriately, can and should be an important resource for teaching and learning,” notes Douglas Levin, SETDA Executive Director. “We are pleased to produce actionable guidance on this important and emerging issue for educators and state and district education leaders.”
“This policy brief comes at an opportune moment,” adds Michael Carroll, Public Lead of Creative Commons United States and Professor of Law and Director of Information Justice and Intellectual Property at American University. “It provides a helpful guide for education leaders to harness OER’s promise and empower educators to address student needs and interests.
The brief is available on the SETDA website (www.setda.org) or directly via:http://tinyurl.com/teacher-created-rpt.
