Full disclosure: When I first saw information about SnagFilms, my initial thought was that they might be some sort of lesser, younger brother version of snuff films. If you don't know what snuff films are, for the love of everything wholesome, don't go Google any examples.
But truthfully, now that we've all probably Googled at least the definition, don't SnagFilms sound like some sort of tawdry, exploitative film about a killer hangnail?
Well, they're not.
As it happens, SnagFilms is a fantastic site where one can access and view documentaries in their entirety. I'm not exactly sure how this works--especially in light of last week's copyright assignment--but if you're interested, take a look at their terms of service. The videos are embeddable, so long as you embed them using their own widget.
There's even an educational version. Here, videos can be sorted according to grade level and topic. On the right-hand side of the screen, there are also links to similar teacher resources. There are links encouraging you to submit a lesson plan based on the film, so that other teachers can benefit, and there are also discussion questions for students to consider as they watch the film.
I know there has been a bit of discussion in class lately as to the efficacy and appropriateness of watching films in class. Whichever side of the divide you find yourself landing on, this website surely has a video you would find useful, should you decide you want one.
One video that particularly caught my attention was a documentary about a prom in Charleston, Mississippi. This prom was completely financed by actor Morgan Freeman. His one stipulation: the prom was to be the first fully integrated prom in the city's history. Since 1970, the school has been integrated, but has held segregated proms. In 1997, Morgan Freeman made his original offer for an integrated prom. It was summarily rejected. In 2008, he made the offer again, and the school board agreed.
Watch more free documentarieshttp://learning.snagfilms.com/film/prom-night-in-mississippi
During a unit about civil rights, this would be a great film to help students see how segregation and racism affects us even today. I feel that this film would be such an effective way for students to see that the civil rights movement extends beyond the old black-and-white newspaper photos (erm. . . not intended. Seriously.), and that it is something their contemporaries are facing and asking questions about right now.
But returning to the general topic of SnagFilms, can anybody explain to me how this site works? I mean, how does this fit in with current copyright laws? Do I just need to go back and review the copyright lesson?
Also, would anybody watch a snag film about a murderous hangnail rampage?
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 18, 2010
Copy "Right?" Pt. II
Dear Teacher,
I really don't mean to be "that guy," but your video was kind of boring. I hated it just a little bit. It was poor audio, and a bunch of grainy pictures. I'm not exactly sure where you got them, but they failed to impress. They were also not cited. As an educator, I'm sure you already knew that, and it was just a simple oversight.
I was also completely underwhelmed by your choice of music. I could barely even hear it, anyway. It sounded like it might have come from Freeplay music. I learned about that site today. It's kind of cool, how you can use that music without having to worry about copyright violations. Of course, posting it on the internet is another matter, I believe.
Anyway, I'm sure you already knew all this. I know I sound like a jerk, but it's late, and I am tired of writing these fictional letters. I hope you have a wonderful day. I also hope that I never meet you in real life, because you might just punch me in the throat.
Sincerely,
Jordan
I really don't mean to be "that guy," but your video was kind of boring. I hated it just a little bit. It was poor audio, and a bunch of grainy pictures. I'm not exactly sure where you got them, but they failed to impress. They were also not cited. As an educator, I'm sure you already knew that, and it was just a simple oversight.
I was also completely underwhelmed by your choice of music. I could barely even hear it, anyway. It sounded like it might have come from Freeplay music. I learned about that site today. It's kind of cool, how you can use that music without having to worry about copyright violations. Of course, posting it on the internet is another matter, I believe.
Anyway, I'm sure you already knew all this. I know I sound like a jerk, but it's late, and I am tired of writing these fictional letters. I hope you have a wonderful day. I also hope that I never meet you in real life, because you might just punch me in the throat.
Sincerely,
Jordan
Copy "Right?"
Dear Melissa & Nick,
I am writing this to inform you that I have stolen your video from Youtube and embedded it into my blog. Please don't be angry, because it would do no good--I can't see you.
But since we're all students, I figure we might as well be on the same team. Right? Well, it looks like you have been learning a lot about different artists and techniques that have developed through the ages. I think that is fantastic.
In my own class, we have been learning about copyrights and fair use. I propose a trade: I give you some advice on copyright requirements, and you can tell me why artists are always painting naked dudes. Fair deal?
Well, to begin with, I loved the music in your video--well, I loved the first song. I wasn't crazy about the second one, but it's your creative work, not mine. At any rate, I'm not sure if you were given permission to use those songs. If you were, that's fantastic! If not, I feel it my duty as an American citizen to inform you that we're only allowed to use 10% (or up to 30 seconds) of a song for which we don't have permission. That would have saved my ears on that second song. . . .
As for the pictures, they were incredible! Those works of art look amazing. Okay, a few of them were a little pixelated. In that case, copyright shouldn't matter, right? I mean, who would wanna bother copyrighting a trashy, pixelated picture? And I understand why you would leave the watermarks on some of the others--I mean, it's a lot of work to Photoshop those out! I sometimes have difficulties lifting a can of Coke to my lips. Phew!
I had a problem with knowing where they came from, though. In fact, that was a problem I had with all of the media you used. There was a brief shout out to Augustana in the credits, but that wasn't enough for me. Had you provided citations for the pictures, I would have been able to tell if they came from a copyrighted collection, or whether you were using more than 15 images (or again, 10%) of an artist's work.
But don't beat yourself up about it. I mean, I just barely learned a lot of this stuff, myself. All of that 10% stuff? Brand spanking new knowledge! I'm pretty sure I'll make some mistakes in the future, too. I'm just trying to help some friends out. I'd say that I look forward to viewing your next work, but to be honest, I don't know who the devil you are.
Sincerely,
Jordan
I am writing this to inform you that I have stolen your video from Youtube and embedded it into my blog. Please don't be angry, because it would do no good--I can't see you.
But since we're all students, I figure we might as well be on the same team. Right? Well, it looks like you have been learning a lot about different artists and techniques that have developed through the ages. I think that is fantastic.
In my own class, we have been learning about copyrights and fair use. I propose a trade: I give you some advice on copyright requirements, and you can tell me why artists are always painting naked dudes. Fair deal?
Well, to begin with, I loved the music in your video--well, I loved the first song. I wasn't crazy about the second one, but it's your creative work, not mine. At any rate, I'm not sure if you were given permission to use those songs. If you were, that's fantastic! If not, I feel it my duty as an American citizen to inform you that we're only allowed to use 10% (or up to 30 seconds) of a song for which we don't have permission. That would have saved my ears on that second song. . . .
As for the pictures, they were incredible! Those works of art look amazing. Okay, a few of them were a little pixelated. In that case, copyright shouldn't matter, right? I mean, who would wanna bother copyrighting a trashy, pixelated picture? And I understand why you would leave the watermarks on some of the others--I mean, it's a lot of work to Photoshop those out! I sometimes have difficulties lifting a can of Coke to my lips. Phew!
I had a problem with knowing where they came from, though. In fact, that was a problem I had with all of the media you used. There was a brief shout out to Augustana in the credits, but that wasn't enough for me. Had you provided citations for the pictures, I would have been able to tell if they came from a copyrighted collection, or whether you were using more than 15 images (or again, 10%) of an artist's work.
But don't beat yourself up about it. I mean, I just barely learned a lot of this stuff, myself. All of that 10% stuff? Brand spanking new knowledge! I'm pretty sure I'll make some mistakes in the future, too. I'm just trying to help some friends out. I'd say that I look forward to viewing your next work, but to be honest, I don't know who the devil you are.
Sincerely,
Jordan
Monday, October 11, 2010
Website
Well, I made a class website for a couple of fictional classes that I teach. All I can say is, I feel bad for those fictional students, with all the fictional homework that I fictionally assigned them. At any rate, here is the link:
https://sites.google.com/site/mrvancesushistory/
I struggled a bit with the format of one of my pages. I was repeatedly frustrated in my attempts to get two gadgets to line up side-by-side. But eventually, I prevailed. Right there, on the homepage, you can see these two gadgets that gave me so much heartburn--on top of what I was already experiencing from a potent combination of Coke and goldfish crackers.
I embedded a Goodreads bookshelf, which I figured I could use to suggest books to students. There were times that a subject really sparked my interest, and I would have loved to have someone point me to additional literature. It's not going to be for everyone, and I suspect that my fictional students will mostly fictionally ignore it. But I suspect that there are at least one or two who will develop a fictional affinity for one of the subjects I will never actually teach to those nonexistants.
Another gadget I embedded was a newsfeed from Google. I figure that current events will eventually turn into not-so-current events. I was observing a history classroom today that had a newspaper, touting Obama's election, hanging on the wall. That didn't seem like it was that long ago, but it's already an important part of American history. I just hope I don't have a classroom of fictional Republicans.
To any of my classmates who feel the urge to check out my website, be warned: I may have stolen some of your ideas. I'm sorry, but the devil made me do it. Fictionally.
https://sites.google.com/site/mrvancesushistory/
I struggled a bit with the format of one of my pages. I was repeatedly frustrated in my attempts to get two gadgets to line up side-by-side. But eventually, I prevailed. Right there, on the homepage, you can see these two gadgets that gave me so much heartburn--on top of what I was already experiencing from a potent combination of Coke and goldfish crackers.
I embedded a Goodreads bookshelf, which I figured I could use to suggest books to students. There were times that a subject really sparked my interest, and I would have loved to have someone point me to additional literature. It's not going to be for everyone, and I suspect that my fictional students will mostly fictionally ignore it. But I suspect that there are at least one or two who will develop a fictional affinity for one of the subjects I will never actually teach to those nonexistants.
Another gadget I embedded was a newsfeed from Google. I figure that current events will eventually turn into not-so-current events. I was observing a history classroom today that had a newspaper, touting Obama's election, hanging on the wall. That didn't seem like it was that long ago, but it's already an important part of American history. I just hope I don't have a classroom of fictional Republicans.
To any of my classmates who feel the urge to check out my website, be warned: I may have stolen some of your ideas. I'm sorry, but the devil made me do it. Fictionally.
Monday, October 4, 2010
At the Movies
I love movies. Prior to deciding on a teaching career, I was a film student. Who doesn't love movies? Those were the best days in high school, you have to admit. If my memory serves me correctly, they went something like this:
10:01 - Teacher shushes everybody until we actually listen
10:04 - It is announced that today, we will be watching a movie. Pandemonium ensues.
10:06 - After regaining momentary control of the class, the teacher threatens to take the movie away and lecture the whole time if we all don't just shut up.
10:10 - After fiddling with the antiquated VCR (what?), the movie starts and begins auto-tracking.
10:11 - With the lights out, the class relatively silent, and an authoritative voice droning in the background, I gently put my head down on my desk and. . . pay very close attention.
The truth is, I honestly do believe that videos can be used to help facilitate learning. There is something about the combination of both visual and aural input that jump starts the learning elves lounging about in my brain (Yes, learning elves--don't judge me).
This is a website with relatively short videos on just about any US History subject, from just before the Civil War to the War on Terror.
To be completely upfront and honest, it's kind of a good thing that they're short clips, because they can be fairly dry. Nevertheless, they could provide a welcome break from lecturing, or could allow a couple of minutes for a teacher to compose himself. I could definitely see myself using this to punctuate a point I had previously made in a lecture. One of the things I like is how it shows some of the key points on the screen during some of the videos. This would make it relatively easy for me to quickly do an oral quiz or just to review the main ideas immediately following the video.
10:01 - Teacher shushes everybody until we actually listen
10:04 - It is announced that today, we will be watching a movie. Pandemonium ensues.
10:06 - After regaining momentary control of the class, the teacher threatens to take the movie away and lecture the whole time if we all don't just shut up.
10:10 - After fiddling with the antiquated VCR (what?), the movie starts and begins auto-tracking.
10:11 - With the lights out, the class relatively silent, and an authoritative voice droning in the background, I gently put my head down on my desk and. . . pay very close attention.
The truth is, I honestly do believe that videos can be used to help facilitate learning. There is something about the combination of both visual and aural input that jump starts the learning elves lounging about in my brain (Yes, learning elves--don't judge me).
This is a website with relatively short videos on just about any US History subject, from just before the Civil War to the War on Terror.
To be completely upfront and honest, it's kind of a good thing that they're short clips, because they can be fairly dry. Nevertheless, they could provide a welcome break from lecturing, or could allow a couple of minutes for a teacher to compose himself. I could definitely see myself using this to punctuate a point I had previously made in a lecture. One of the things I like is how it shows some of the key points on the screen during some of the videos. This would make it relatively easy for me to quickly do an oral quiz or just to review the main ideas immediately following the video.
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