Demonstrating Creative Commons

Martha Joining in the Fun of a Maths Lesson! / Mrs eNil / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Edited Note (6/28/2014): This post is part of a workshop lesson about using Creative Commons to find photos and to share proper attribution for their use.

Do Your Attributions for Photos with Creative Commons Licenses Include TASL?

Photos with Creative Commons licenses are very helpful to illustrate information we want to share. All Creative Commons licenses require attribution. (Some Creative Commons licenses have additional requirements.) Do your students know what to include in an attribution?

The Creative Commons Wiki (http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Main_Page) provides information that helps us write appropriate attributions. (See Best Practices for Marking Users at http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Marking/Users) Whatever format we use for our attributions we should include the title (if provided), author, source (usually the URL), and license (provide a link to it).

The wiki article on best practices shares an "ideal attribution" as well as some that are not so ideal. An easy way to remember what to include is the acronym TASL. So, examining the attribution on the photo I am using (see last photo in this column) for this post you will find:

1. title: Copyright License Choice
2. author: Open Source Way
3. source: the specific photo is linked to the title and the author's photostream is linked to the author's name
4. license: CC BY-SA 2.0 by the title of the license and linked to the license

That information is easy to find and--because you know what information to include--the attribution is fairly easy to write. There are, however, some ways to automate the attribution process.

ImageCodr.org helps you find Flickr images with Creative Commons licenses. It also provides the embed code to post the image and the attribution. See the example below.

  by  opensourceway 

Wylio.com also helps you search for Flickr images with Creative Commons licenses plus provides the embed code to post the image and the attribution. See the example below.

Compfight.com is another site that helps you to find Flickr images with Creative Commons licenses. This site helps you to download the photo and it provides an embed code for the attribution. See the example below.

Photo Credit: opensourceway via Compfight cc

I usually search for Flickr images via the Creative Commons site. I find embed codes so I can post the image and the attribution is not automated. Occasionally I download an image and post it rather than embed it. See the example below.

 

Copyright License Choice by Open Source Way / CC BY-SA 2.0

The techniques that we teach our students to use for attribution may vary based on the students' ages. However, I think it is important to keep the TASL acronym in mind. Using sites that automate the attribution process can make it easier for students to post appropriate attributions.

I have emphasized the acronym TASL to help us remember what to include in the attributions we write. The article about best practices in the wiki mentioned in this post provides additional information and examples of attribution formats. I think the article is very helpful.

[Thanks to TeachersFirst and to Richard Byrne of FreeTech4Teachers for information about ImageCodr.org and Wylio.com found when searching for Creative Commons and/or attribution on their sites.]

Preparing Photos for Use

I enjoy taking photos... and playing with them. I am slowly creating my own "stock photographs" that I can use in class and in my blog. That lessens those time-consuming searches for just the right photo... and making sure it has an appropriate Creative Commons license. I keep two folders for these stock photos. One folder is titled Stock Photos; the other, Cartoons and Comics. The contents of the first folder are just regular photos, some touched up a bit to make up for my errors when shooting the photo. The second folder has photos that have been modified to look like cartoons or comics using one of two apps, ToonCamera and Halftone.

Today I have been playing with a new app, Pxture. It takes text that you type and fills it with an image that you choose. Or it can put your text on top of a photo. How I use Pxture will determine which folder holds the photos I create.

Here's some samples:

Stock photo (camera):

Cartoon (ToonCamera):

Comic (Halftone):

Image-enhanced Text (Pxture):

Would these apps help you and your students to create and/or modify photos for use?


Photos used with permission of Jo Schiffbauer

Creating My Own Stock Photos and Cartoons

When I began illustrating blog posts and other writings I used clip art. It was usually easy to find good free clip art and to give attribution to its website.  I eventually began to illustrate my writings with photos. Creative Commons has been very helpful with finding good photos that I can legally use and for which I can provide appropriate attribution.

I have used photos in my teaching for many years. When I taught geometry I used photos taken by my husband of local architecture, construction, and other examples of mathematics in the world around us. When I discovered a home near us that was basically a geodesic dome, we introduced ourselves to the owners and asked if we could take photos of their house for my classroom. They were very gracious and allowed us to do so.

In the last couple years I have begun to create my own "stock photos." I usually have a camera with me--either a point-and-shoot camera or a smartphone camera.  A couple of times I have tried to participate in one of the challenges to shoot and post one photo each day for a year. I haven't made it through a whole year yet. But as I thought about those challenges recently, I decided that in addition to helping you become a better photographer they also help you to develop your own collection of photos to use. Shortly after I came to that conclusion I read the same idea in one of the blogs that I follow. I'm sorry that I don't remember the name of that blogger. I would give him/her credit for coming up with that same idea I did!

     

 











In addition to normal photos I have been experimenting this summer with two apps, Halftone and ToonCamera. One gives a comic strip appearance to photos and the other, a cartoon effect. And this past week I played with Tagxedo, a word cloud browser application that has some nice features.

I still use Creative Commons and the occasional clip art websites, but I do enjoy using my own photos when possible and needing to state only "used with permission of Jo Schiffbauer."  :) 

Credits:
Writing clip art: http://www.phillipmartin.com/
Construction photo: CompuJeramey / CC BY 2.0
Muck farm photo: Used with permission of Jo Schiffbauer /
CC BY-NC 3.0
Blue (cat) enjoying Springtime: Halftone photo used with permission of Jo Schiffbauer /
CC BY-NC 3.0
Shrimp photo: ToonCamera photo used with permission of Jo Schiffbauer /
CC BY-NC 3.0
Cat PLN photo: Tagxedo word cloud used with permission of Jo Schiffbauer /
CC BY-NC 3.0