At this year’s BC Science Teacher's conference we were very happy to announce that all BC Science
Chemistry, Physics (and soon Biology) can be customized. This means you can
make the book, and the digital resources, reflect you and your classroom
practice. Tell your story, add your best activities, create digital material to
support a flipped classroom or differentiate your instruction to personalize
thelearning. It’s now possible with our new BC Science customization option.
We are starting to
work with leading science teachers across the province to help them create a
print and digital program that meets the needs of their daily teaching needs
and the learning needs of their students. It’s a very exciting time and I personally
invite you to join us and start building your book for next September.
As with any new
process, there are many questions that arise. So, here are a few initial
thoughts that are emerging as we begin this process.
What can be customized?
The short answer is
pretty well any part of the book. But, the longer answer requires you to
consider a few other factors. Each BC Science book is provincially approved
which means we are aligned to the existing curriculum. This is important for
many schools. So, customization like school name of the cover, additional QR
codes, no answer key, partial answer key, full answer key are options you can
have without compromising the provincial approval.
For our first year,
we are recommending that you add up to 20 pages of your own material rather
than consider taking anything out. Once you have year to work through your new,
personalized book then you can make the appropriate professional judgments as
to what should stay and what can come out of the book. It will also give you
time to consult with your District to ensure the use of your book is aligned
with learning resource policy.
How is my work copyrighted?
All work you create
will be done under a Create Commons license. You can find more information at: www.creativecommons.org. But, from
their website the following paragraph describes their role and vision:
“Creative
Commons (CC) is a global nonprofit organization that enables sharing and reuse
of creativity and knowledge through the provision of free legal tools. Their
legal tools help those who want to encourage reuse of their works by offering
them for use under generous, standardized terms; those who want to make
creative uses of works; and those who want to benefit from this symbiosis.
Their vision is to help others realize the full potential of the Internet.”
But, many of you have asked how is existing
copyright different from CC licensing? Traditional copyright means every time a
work is created, such as when a story is written or a photograph is taken, that
work is automatically protected by copyright. Copyright prevents others from
using the work in certain ways, such as copying the work or
putting the work online.
With CC licenses, creators can tell the world
that they’re happy for their work to be copied, shared or even
remixed. When a creator releases their work under a CC license, you know what you
can and can’t do with the work. As a
result, you can freely copy, share and sometimes modify and remix CC material
without having to worry about copyright, as long as you follow the license. It makes sense to me that material
created for the use of your students is based shared in this manner. It works
for your kids and maybe it will work for other kids in another school. Or maybe
it will need to be modified by the teacher so that it works for his or her
kids. A CC license allows for this to happen; whereas a traditional copyright
would prevent it from happening.
Some key aspects of a
CC license that differ from a copyrighted material include the users rights and
obligations:
User rights
Every CC license allows you to:
• copy the work (e.g. download, upload, photocopy and scan the work);
• distribute the work (e.g. provide copies of the work to others);
• display or perform the work;• communicate the work (e.g. make the work available on the internet; and
• format shift verbatim copies of the work (e.g. rip MP3 files from a CD or a MP4 clip from a DVD).
Source: Adapted from ‘Baseline Rights’, http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Baseline_Rights
User obligations
When you use any CC material,
you must always:
• attribute the creator of the work (for information on how to attribute a work;
• get permission from the creator to do anything that goes beyond the terms of the license;
• keep any copyright notice attached to the work intact on all copies of the work;
• name the CC license and provide a link to it from any copies of the work;
• where you make changes to the work, acknowledge the original work and indicate that changes have
been made.
Source: Adapted from ‘Baseline Rights’, http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Baseline_Right
As part of the
development process we work very closely with each teacher to ensure they
understand and follow the obligations of the license.
In terms of the CC
license, there are six licenses available for use. The following graphic
provided by the Australian Creative Commons group is a flow chart that helps
decide which is the best license to use.
Source:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16540395/which-creative-commons-licence-is-right-for-me-poster
This graphic from the
Creative Commons group describes the different licenses in terms of use. Our
default license is a BY license as it allows for the greatest potential of
dissemination of the work and use by others. If you feel your work would be
better suited under one of the other licenses, we will work with you to
determine the best option.
Source:
http://creativecommons.org/examples
Can I use other work that is copyrighted?
No, you must contact
the copyright holder and discuss with them your planned use. We are happy to
work with you and the copyright holder to find a workable solution, but each
use of copyrighted material will require you to obtain the necessary approval.
Can I see examples of resources other teachers
have included in their books?
Can I have my own online study guide course at
Edvantage Science?
Yes, if you would
like to use the existing resources in the online study guide to create your own
course, please contact me and we’ll begin the process. If you have purchased a
class set or more of BC Science resources there is no charge for this service.
As we progress on
this journey, please feel free to contact me with your questions. I will also
provide occasional updates here so that you have the most current information
with respect to the customization process. I look forward to working with you
to create your own personalized BC Science program.
