Online Surgery Session

Understanding where digital media fits into your course

Session date:

This session is concerned with identifying where we can use digital media for teaching and learning. We look at potential scenarios and some of the types of activities that can be supported with digital media.

Transcript of questions and answers

---------------------
Zak (JISC Digital Media): You can ask us anything specific or we can discuss where digital media can support you, based on today's theme.

---------------------
linda: I am the Coodinator for a resource area and an LTA

---------------------
Zak (JISC Digital Media): Great, so you support a wide range of activity then

---------------------
linda: copyright is an issue that often crops up

linda: staff would like often to be able to use clips of videos for instance in their lectures but are worried about infringing copyright using various media types as examples

---------------------
Emma: I've just popped along to see what's going on, I've been meaning to make it to one for a while

Are they Q&A sessions or have you been using them for discussions?

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): @emma - a bit of both really - we usually have a screencast on a particular subject followed by a free-for-all q&a!

---------------------
linda: we are currently looking at making better use of our streaming server capabilities within the University and would like to be able to give staff a simple set of guide lines about the use of material that might have been recorded off air by our library service and them made available to students via our VLE

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda Hi! Copyright is an incredibly complex subject, but if you're specifically talking about material that the university has recorded itself, it gets a bit clearer.

Are you talking about 'clips' of videos made by staff/ students, clips of from 'bought' videos, clips taken from sites such as You Tube or clips from some other source?

---------------------
linda: probably both/all - not an easy subject

---------------------
Emma: I've always wondered if it's okay to embed a link to a video within your own page, as long as it's playing on the site it belongs too - I'm really not sure

---------------------
linda: in most cases at the moment rather than fall into problems staff tend to not use the facility

like Emma I try and show clips with a direct link to the source if web based

---------------------
Emma: I think there's a lot of tendency for people either not to bother or to create something themselves (which can be very time consuming) rather than get involved in copyright issues

---------------------
linda: agreed Emma

---------------------
linda: taking the simplest option of not bothering or just putting on a video in a closed session in a classroom

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda @Emma I'll try to break the problem down into bits.

If you have a DVD or a VHS of a film you are allowed to show it in a classroom for educational purposes. You are, however, NOT allowed to make a copy of it (although this may be changing very soon).

---------------------
linda: "maybe changing soon" that's interesting

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): On the other hand, if you have an ERA licence you are permitted to record anything that is broadcast on the main (there's a list available) channels and use it.

---------------------
Emma: this is helpful

---------------------
linda: we have an ERA licence

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): Note that this does not apply to on-demand services: you can record a BBC doc when it's broadcast but you can't record it off iPlayer.

---------------------
linda: can you then break these recordings down into segments

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda Yes, you can further edit the recordings you make with ERA, unlike with commercial DVDs, for example.

On top of that, if you have the ERA+ licence as opposed to the regular ERA licence, you can take your recorded material and place it on a streaming server so that off-campus students can view it.

Note that if you do this, the server must be restricted access. Also, you cannot stream to any place outside the UK.

---------------------
linda: ours must be a plus but i will check as we record direct onto hard drive and make available via the streaming server

are there any restrictions to making clips?

is there a specific way these must be referenced?

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): As for the issue of linking to videos on other websites, there is no solid answer: it depends entirely on the site.

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): The rule of thumb for all of this is "if in doubt, don't" unfortunately.

---------------------
linda: It's the further editing of recordings made under the ERA that we need to have clear for our staff

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda To the best of my knowledge there are no restrictions to making clips and the only requirement re: referencing them is that a standard ERA notice has to be placed a the beginning of the clip.

---------------------
linda: thank you Steve

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda I'm pretty sure that if you made the recording under ERA you can do what you like with it as regards editing a smaller chunk to use. I think that you are not permitted, however, to do a mash-up or re-edit of the material.

---------------------
linda: I'm assuming that you/we cannot alter these clips in any way though, other than turning them into clips

oh you answered as i typed, thanks

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda My pleasure! Please bear in mind that I'm not a lawyer and that this advice is just that, advice.

---------------------
linda: understood

---------------------
Zak (JISC Digital Media): Worth noting regarding use of the iPlayer http://iplayerhelp.external.bbc.co.uk/help/playing_programmes/teacher_play

---------------------
linda: a growing problem is our students use of digital photography, the use of images sourced via the net with no regard for IP or copyright

getting across that just because images are freely available on the web does not make them copyright-free

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda An important point -- applies to video as well.

---------------------
Emma: I see this surgery was about where digital media fits into a course. I support staff interested in creating digital material but am working to support them to do this effectively

What types of digital media do you see being used and where are students making the most use of it? (Or is that too broad a question for this forum)

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): @emma - audio is finding its way into teaching materials of course - presentations, podcasts, screencast + voiceover, etc - but also now increasingly for feedback and assessment too - but yes, that's a BIG question! being able to plug in an iPod and listen to course materials while doing other things is a big plus in the students' view i think

---------------------
linda: our students need to show their visual influences and use blogs and wikis quiet often in collaboration to do this and have difficulty understand what and how much images should be referenced

---------------------
linda: it is second nature to just use screen grabs and past into another blog or document for example

---------------------
Emma: some interesting thoughts there

I suppose we need to balance what teaching staff feel best supports the course and what students want and what's possible due to technological and skill limitations

---------------------
linda: having to fill out a form for every single image that you might want to use as examples in a presentation via the VLE for example means more often or not the member of staff would rather just show items in face to face presentations so the VLE interface losses out

---------------------
Zak (JISC Digital Media): Referencing images can be done in a number of ways. For example I often put all of the credits at the end

---------------------
linda: so going back to an earlier part of the conversation do you think it is ok to record screencasts and podcasts that contain clips from recordings made under the licence as long as at the beginning there is a licence statement

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda I'd give a cautious 'yes' to that. You must ensure that all the material was recorded under your ERA or ERA+ licence. If you're recording some other institution's screencaset you don't have the right for material they recorded with ERA or ERA+ -- I hope this is clear!

---------------------
linda: @Steve again thanks that's a good point

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): Sorry this is all so complicated -- we find it complicated as well!

---------------------
linda: i see this from 2 points of view the creators and the users and yes complicated

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): @anna - any particular areas of interest re digital media that we can help with?

---------------------
Anna: @gavin I attended the Digital Media in VLEs workshop last week and found that useful. I do have a question which I think I already know the answer to but thought i'd check anyway...

If I come across images already uploaded into the VLE, is there a way I would be able to track where they had been taken from in the properties?

---------------------
linda: @Anna i suspect not especially if the image had been scanned from a book for instance

---------------------
Anna: I thought so...just checking in case there was some hidden thing I didn't know about. I was thinking more of web-based resources rather than scanned. Thanks linda

---------------------
Zak (JISC Digital Media): @anna if the original creator added metadata then it will still be attached to the image, same with audio... but this is rarely done.

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): @anna if the image has been tagged with embedded metadata at time of creation/scanning then if you download the image file (rather than just looking at online properties) this data should come with it, but as Zak says this is often not the case unfortunately

---------------------
Emma: sorry go to dash again, some good starting points for me here.

hopefully I'll make another of these sessions, for longer next time

---------------------
Zak (JISC Digital Media): @thanks emma and hope to see you again soon

---------------------
linda: do you know if you can separated visuals from audio to use separately - under the ERA licences that is

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda A tough question! I'll have to hazard a guess that separating sound from picture constitutes altering the material. That's not to say you can't turn the volume down when you show a clip!

---------------------
linda: @Steve, that's my guess also

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): @linda - it will depend on the format of the video/audio resource, but in general 'yes', either by demuxing or other methods

---------------------
linda: This has been very useful thanks everyone

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): Glad to be of service! Hope we see you again.

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): for example, MP3 is just the audio element of an MPEG file, and an AAC the audio part of an MP4. there are tools for extracting them

---------------------
linda: @ what's everyone view about extracting the audio element to use separately?

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): still covered by copyright. though possibly a separate copyright, but covered by very similar rules (ERA etc)

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): @Linda I'd guess it's a no-no as well.

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): indeed

---------------------
linda: careful use of the volume button then

---------------------
Steve (JISC Digital Media): Sounds like the safest option.

---------------------
Gavin (JISC Digital Media): think we have to wrap up now - please mail our helpdesk (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) if you want to carry on the conversation - we'll be happy to help