Aspects Of Digital Culture In Education: Copyright Literacy

Statement on the Aspect of Copyright Literacy

Discuss about the Aspects of Digital Culture in Education.

Digital culture is increasingly exerting its dominance over different facets of industries such as health, business, education, tourism, etc. In his study, Candea (2010) points out that the millennial, as well as other digital-oriented consumers, still wield in the increase of their influence over the respective industry they operate. As a result, different industries are actively executing the reality to the extent where the millennial impact and the digital world has become a major concern in the global arena (Savege, Ruppert, & Law, 2010). This essay evaluates the adoption of copyright literacy as an aspect of digital culture in education with a major focus on the key research questions, a brief history, influential key thinkers, and direction of contemporary research on digital culture.

Literacy can be defined as knowledge or competency in a specific area. However, copyright literacy is more of a specific aspect referring to the essential knowledge and competency that enables an individual to identify copyright protected materials, navigate fair dealing and fair use, obtain licenses and permissions when necessary, and recognize infringement of the copyright regulations, guidelines, and laws. In the education industry, many students, especially on their senior levels of education, have often been exposed to different plagiarism and copyright issues without thought or awareness as pointed out by Pireddu (2011). The same study denotes that with the proliferation of the digital access, sharing, and internet-connected devices, students often get the opportunity of accessing material researched and published by others quite literally at the fingertips.  Various aspects of digital culture are hence seen among learners in all spheres of education industry such as different learning management systems, copyright literacy, use of cell/mobile phones, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader and their influence in education according to Gravelene (2010). With the aim of education to instill acceptable values to students, the copyright literacy as a digital culture aspect helps us in ensuring that the rights or creators and writers are respected, ensuring our rights as users are also protected and that users are aware of the rules of ethically and legally using protected materials.

According to Walsh and Apperley (2010), the exposure to and the engagement of students with digital technology and culture have various implications for the teaching and learning processes in the education industry. As a result, questions are arising not only from the technological dynamics and the effects of the digital content but also on evaluating the best tool whether analog or digital that can support learning. Spector (2016) denotes that the influence of digital research and culture on education in the millennial generation has brought together researchers with a focus on educators and learners to encounter with the use of technology and digital culture.

Key Research Questions

With different researchers taking an interdisciplinary approach, copyright literacy has stepped beyond the pragmatic interest of the current guidelines and policies in education in considering the wider uses of copied materials on completion of education research and assignments. As a result, key research questions should focus on different aspects. For instance, what is the influence of copyright illiteracy on the problem-solving and writing skills to students in the focus of developing a culturally valued or acceptable knowledge? Are the students aware of the consequences of copyright illiteracy on the results of the education programs such as research reports and assignments? Are there other acceptable techniques that can be used to discourage copyright illiteracy among students for the betterment of the current and future education systems?

In a broad view, education is mainly aimed at transiting culture, lessons, and values of the past to the current generation while preparing the learners for the world ahead as pointed out by Molna (1997). However, preparing the learners for a positive future living is becoming more complex and difficult than ever. In contrary, there are different changes that are greatly influencing the direction that the current education industry is taking. In his review, Collon (2013) points out these factors as global economy, cognitive science emergence, exploration of the scientific exploration, and new education demands such as adoption of technology and generational influence among others. The same study denotes that while many challenges are facing the education sector globally, other new and different demands are complicating the education structure.

In the current global population, there is a high degree of completion in various facts of global professionalism. As a result, people are currently living a longer significant formal education that does not end at a high school and a college degree. As a twist of the whole system, innovation and technological advances have taken center stage where every global industry is affected including education as denoted by Savage (2010).The result is that new emerging technologies have become a catalyst for a rethink in the education industry. As technology is gradually adopted in education, different aspects have been evident as a result of their direct or indirect influence in the system (Urry, 2010). With the increase in the use of technological devices such as smart phones, digital software for data analysis, digital information systems, educational research, and extension has achieved higher heights according to Charbonneau (2014). As a result, copyright literacy has become one of the aspects of digital culture that determines the information that should be shared or used in the literature reviews, information sources, and other aspects of education that can be obtained from other published documents.

History of the Digital Culture in Education

Knowledge and understanding can help learners in preventing infringement which is the illegal or unauthorized use of copyright protected files or materials. While doing research on different fields or professionalism, a researcher is expected to carry out a detailed literature review on different aspects of their topic of study so as to understand the possible gaps that needs more research. In his study, Jacobs (2016) points out that lack of proper knowledge can result in a clear misunderstanding of the copyright as well as fear of infringement of preventing the use of readily available materials. The education industry hence needs to ensure that learners also acquire new and inventive strategies that will promote contemporary research while safely using the copyright materials.

More research should also be done on other aspects of the digital culture that directly or indirectly influence education so as to ensure a fruitful teaching with technologically generative directions as pointed out by Spector (2016). Practitioners and researchers should carry out case study analysis in the practical classroom use of different learning management systems, copyright literacy, use of cell/mobile phones, social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google Reader and their influence in education. With the research, perhaps it will be an inevitable way of making a difference of aligning the copyright policy with the development of best practice for learners and teachers according to Digital Citizenship (2016). 

With technological advancements, innovations, and adoption in the global education industry, more learners are exposed to easy ways of accessing material that can otherwise use illegally as their own. In his study, Pireddu (2011) denotes that the digital era often called Generation Y or the millennial are short-cut oriented, and a few of them will be willing to take their time and do individual work. The behavior has been promoted especially with the digital devices that are the internet enabled such as smart phones, tablets, computers, etc. However, the consequence of such an act is detrimental to the result of the student and in serious cases may lead to termination of the research work, dismissal of a report, waste of resources in terms of time, etc. However, the same generation is identified as an active and optimistic generation who are always willing to learn new ideas on their own as pointed out by Charania and Davis (2016). Developing an ethical value towards a copyright literacy hence makes the millennial generation the key thinkers and influencers even to other aspects of digital culture that have a direct or indirect influence on education.

Directions for Contemporary Research

In the attempt of avoiding such negative reputations, the education industry needs to adopt strategies that will help the learners in adopting an ethical culture that respects the copyright laws. The stakeholders in the education industry hence need to ensure that learners get access to a described understanding of the copyright literacy as a life skill that is necessary for every individual irrespective of the field they are majoring. In every aspect of a profession, different files require learners to prepare reports and presentations, accessing various sites such as YouTube to view or download relevant videos, carry put literature review on different topics depending on the field of study of the learner. In doing this, it is essential that the education industry adopts strategies that will assist learners to understand and evaluate the role of copyright literacy to a successful learning process.

According to Spector (2016), technology and the digital culture has remained very viable as empowering education rehabilitation aspects that need a keen attention and evaluation by the global education shareholders and policy makers.  It is for these reasons that the attention of educators needs to be focused on sharing collaborative practices and activities about the engagement with in the media ecosystem that is digitally interconnected. In other words, the access and use of published information by other creators and writers through the digital and internet-enabled media devices should be understood as a serious offense by learners in the case of using the information without the legal procedures and guidelines as pointed out by Jacobs (2016). The adoption of technology and the digital dynamics involved should only suggest a reorganization of the traditional education system to ensure they match with the updated digital knowledge requirements but still upholds ethical values of the society which is one of the objectives of education. In their review, Savege, Ruppert , and Law (2010) denote that it is hence necessary that learners understand that information they require can be accessed from different education and publication sites but requires respect to the owners of the information. As a result sites such as YouTube can be used to access educational presentations that can be essential for a learning process but requires the user to follow the recommended user guidelines.

Conclusion

In education, this aspect of digital culture is essential in developing the knowledge of both researchers and learners on different digitization aspects as well as how interne and the digital culture in education can mediate the society. Having more research on the different aspects of the digital culture and understand how social media and the Internet affects children in school as well as the education industry in general. As a result, there is a need for more research and study on the history of digital technology and its adoption in education, then nature of digital economy, and possible theories politics and new media in the digital age that can influence education in one way or another.

References

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