Virtual learning in the early childhood classroom is visual! The resources on this page will help you support our youngest learners both during remote learning as well as blended into our face to face classrooms.
The digital classroom we are designing utilizes many images and resources that are on the web. Let's make sure our selections follow copyright for reuse. Here are things to consider as you create your digital classroom!
The key is to make sure any images used have: use, modify or edit rights included. The example below from Google Images shows the variety of licenses available to search by. To conduct this search, go to images.google.com > complete a search > click on TOOLS > choose labeled for REUSE, LABELED for REUSE with MODIFICATION or LABELED for NONCOMMERCIAL REUSE with MODIFICATION -
Also, be sure to provide a shoutout or mention the owner regarding the source of the property, but one does not have to as long as they follow the usability with open source images.
2. Book covers can be used if they are thumbnail size or smaller. Size of the image does matter - as the bigger the size the easier it is to reuse, misrepresent, misuse. There is an AIME newsletter article regarding this - AIME Newsletter - AIME News, Vol. 32, No. 2, Summer 2018. AIME. 2018 Retrieved 5/20/2020, from http://www.aeadigitallibrary.org/Media.aspx?id=9442 (specifically page 7).
3. Regarding linked lessons, books and video
Referencing books are good - the books we featured are protected by our MackinVIA sign-on features and are not open access.
What about public videos of read alouds? Look for videos that cite published with permission by.... to honor publishers intellectual rights. If you can't find an exemplar video that shares published with permissions - strongly consider making virtual classrooms on a non-open network (password protected) for users to access. Examples include spaces such as SeeSaw, Google Classroom, Canvas, etc. Even though you are not responsible for the video, there could be liability if you have shared the misused video through open access digital platforms.
Lessons plans - link OPEN ED (OER) resources as much as possible. If teachers are unsure if it is OPEN ED - look for copyright symbol or Terms of Use page to determine usability. Also, a great resource to consider is Teachingbook.net. There is a multitude of resources, activities and lesson plans linked within this resource. Use the permalink feature - see example: https://www.teachingbooks.net/qlghvc4 - and eventually these will be password protected again which is less than desirable, but it does protect the resource.
Creating your classroom scene is easy to create and share with Google Slides or Powerpoint. The video below is great for getting started with tips and tricks for finding images and adding your Bitmoji.