The Makers were introduced to the Creative Commons search engine that would make their search a little easier by limiting searchable content to work that had been licensed in some capacity. Creative Commons licensing is a way people can express that they don’t mind people using their work, as they are given credit and with limitations (these vary from limited commercial capacity or even limiting a users right to alter the content). So now that they knew where to go to find CC content and what CC licensed content might look like, the kids were off to explore the kinds of information that is available in the wild.
Initially, they were a little dismayed and realized that the search results were not nearly as plentiful as a regular Google search. But this made them realize how important it was to license content, not only to help people understand how to use the creative content but also for people who want to use content responsibly!
Now for the fun part, once the Makers found an image they liked and showed the mentors that it had the right license (CC:BY that is!) they were free to edit the image on PicMonkey.com.
Here are some of the final products below… Complete with attribution!
Fotopedia
CC BY 2.0
2013 Copyright Rohit
Anna’s Image:
“I learned about photo editing on PicMonkey.com. I learned about licensing and how to find pictures with licenses that say you can use them.”- Kurt F.
“Today we edited photos using pic monkey. I edited a skyscraper to be on the moon. We also licensed it. You had to learn how to choose appropriately licensed images too. It was very cool.” – Kenneth S.
Personally, this is something I am very amazed by and proud of when looking back at the lesson. For the Makers to be so responsive to the idea of open content and licensing was a surprise. I was not sure how much it would interest them and how meaningful they would find it. They proved to me that they did understand what it means to use and recognize licensing and could navigate it on the web. As much as Michigan Makers is about learning to do cool things and be creative, it also is a way to teach the Makers about their role in the world they live in and this lesson, by means of a Creative Commons detour to the fun photo editing destination, did just that!
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