In the year 567 the monk Finnian accused another monk, Columba, for without permission to have copied a hymn book he had made. The dispute was brought before King Diarmait who pronounced a sentence in the form of the statement: “To every cow her calf, and consequently to every book its copy”. This is probably the first certain evidence we have in Europe on copyright and copyright issues.
You can read more about the history and the "awkward" copyright here. (It is in Norwegian).
In the same way as with the monk Finnian we also have a right to protection against others using our texts, photos, music, sayings, etc. In addition to national legislation in this area, there are also international laws. Norway is party to the Berne Convention, and must follow a rising number of EU directives in the area. In addition we have the WIPO Treaty and the TRIPS Agreement. These international agreements and our commitments to them, means that we are obliged to give foreign authors the same protection we give our own national authors - and vice versa.
Today it is not so easy to know what to disclose. Many people think that as long it is published on the Internet it is OK to use it. But there is something called intellectual property and we all have to respect it. Today we talk most about sharing movies and music on the Internet. Some post movies and music so that others can download it on their own PC. But even a picture on Facebook or a blog that another individual has taken and shared with us is intellectual property and can`t be used by us without permission from that person.
To protect against someone else using your intellectual property can be made in four different ways, depending on what you want to protect:
If you are an intellectual property owner, you should protect your rights. If you are a user, you should respect them. It is just as wrong to steal intellectual property as it is to break into a home, steal a car, or rob a bank.
April 5th 2011 the Parliament in Norway decided that the EU`s Data Retention Directive should be implemented in Norway.The directive was adopted with 89 votes against 80 votes. The directive is scheduled to be introduced next year.
Data Retention Directive was adopted in the EU in 2006 and is scheduled to be implemented by all Member States and EEA countries.
Today our use of the telephone is saving. Telecom operators are saving our use because they need information for billing, and if we consumers need to complain. This information is provided access to the police if they need it. Now the data is stored because of us consumers, but when the Data Retention Directive will be in operation, the data will be saved for the sake of the police. The police want information to be stored for at least a year because it takes time to investigate cases and they are afraid that information will disappear. More traffic data than now will be stored and the storage time will be longer.
Data Retention Directive will give the state the opportunity to full listing of our communications. The directive said that information about our use of telephone, mobile and data will be stored for 6 months. In practice this means that Norway's telecommunications companies will have information about who you call, how long the conversation lasts, where you were when you called and who you send text messages and emails to. There will also be saved which technical equipment that is used, it will see the registration number of the mobile phone and registration number on the SIM-card.
Proponents of the Data Retention Directive believe our security is more important than the right to privacy. A lot of people believe this directive is essential to oppose crime that crosses borders. It can among other things be terrorism, threats against government officials and money laundering. The police say it will be one of the most important tools they have to investigate the crime. They also say that the directive does not have anything to say to us while we are not doing anything wrong. In addition, it can be used to oppose infringement on the Internet, including the proliferation of images and films depicting sexual abuse of children.
Opponents fear the misuse of information and that privacy is threatened. They believe that the fundamental question that must be asked is where the line should go for state control over law-abiding citizen's life. They mean that the directive will impair people's privacy in that many are traceable constantly. At the same time, they believe that people's rule of law is weakened by the fact that one can`t distinguish between innocent and suspects. The mean that we introduce a principle which everyone is guilty until proven otherwise. In the long term this will open for the police to get access to more and more data about us. Today the Internet is rife with recipes on how to hide our identity and avoid being tracked by police, so all the people who wants to hide can do it. This speaks agains the intention of the Data Retention Directive says opponents.
The government denies that the directive will lead to the interception of millions of people. They stresses that the content data will not be saved and that none will be listened by the directive.
The costs of implementing the Data Retention Directive is unknown. It has been estimated at a cost of approx. 250 million Norwegian kroner, while others have estimated that at least tenfold. Who should pay for this is also uncertain, but the probability that it is us as consumers who have to take the bill is very high. This means that there will be more expensive to use mobile phones and the Internet.
Here is a video about what EU discuss these days about the Date Retention Directive. It`s called "Declaration 29". In short, it`s about that in the future it will be saved what we are looking for on the Internett. (We call it google)
Skype is a free computer program that you can install on your computer. You download the software, register and you can then contact others who also are registered on Skype. In addition to the PC you also need a web camera, headphones, a microphone and a high-speed broadband connection. Skype allows us to send and receive text messages, talk and have video calls.
Skype is used to teaching in some schools. It has become popular because schools can connect with people virtually almost anywhere in the world (as long as they have accession to Internet). Some school like to use Skype in language teaching and to open their students to a world beyond the classroom walls.
Here are some examples of what you can use Skype to:
A student is admitted to the hospital and has to spend some time there. By using Skype the student can participate in the classroom instruction. The student will see and hear their classmates and even participate actively in the class. This means that the student is not put off the time he/she is in the hospital, but has a little social connection with the class.
A student wants to have electives in Chinese, but unfortunately the school does not have the opportunity to do so. Then Skype can be a possibility if another school has Chinese in electives. The student connects to the Skype, and participates in line with the other students.
Crew on board the boats can study and even take the exam on board the boat. This means that they do not have to interrupt their time on board or wait until they have their free times period.
You may have set days where there is contact with another class from another country where you will learn about each other's countries. Then it can be different themes each time, where the class has worked with the themes before they present it. It can be anything from cooking, dancing or the country's history.
In addition, there are great opportunities to invite guest speakers into the classroom. It can be anyone from a factory, a writer, an actor, people from the government, etc.
To find school you can cooperate with you can look here and here.
You may also download Skype to your iPhone, iPod and iPad.
There may be several reasons why student can`t attend school. In these Internet-times you have the opportunity to teach even those students by using Skype. Skype is free to use, and you almost need just a computer. So log on and let all the students take part in your teaching.
I just read an interesting book "E-learning " by Mona Engvig. She is Norwegian, but lives in California and has her work there. She has written several books about e-learning or online learning as we may also call it.
In the book, she takes several pedagogical aspects of e-learning and discusses the interaction as a basic aspect of a course using ICT.
I am a student of the e-learning for the first time and it is a big difference from the traditional classroom teaching. When I read the book by Mona Engvig I also thought about my experience as an e-learning student. I will not go into what are advantages and disadvantages of e-learning, but rather present some facts about e-learning.
There is no doubt that those involved with e-learning are adults. Being an e-learning student you must be good to organize your own life. You need to be structured and good to plan your own time. Most people who take this training have family and / or work as well and that is why they take the course as e-learning. Not everyone has the opportunity to travel to a campus to study, but with e-learning they have the opportunity to study.
E-learning using information technology removes the barriers of time and space so that communication across geographic and temporal difference is possible. In the traditional classroom the hours is often finished just when the discussion starts to get really interesting. This problem does not exist in e-learning that is delivered to a group that uses asynchronous communication methods (such as e-mail and forum). The discussion continues throughout the week since students at any time can log in and post their comments. The students can be in touch after the course is completed, and the learning process continues. The philosophical starting point is a socio-cultural learning perspective. We have on this course, including students from Spain and Poland. The opportunity to become familiar with their culture and what they are concerned about are present. But you must take and show initiative.
The network offers unique opportunities for spontaneous communication such as an idea, a link or a quick comment can be posted at any time. The idea that you got, do not go into oblivion because there are six days until the next time the class meets. It can be shared with everyone, right then and there and be a spontaneous contribution to the learning process. Online discussions on course topics can take place anytime, anywhere and through a variety of media. This way of working is particularly important in relation to a constructivist model in which increased knowledge of their own knowledge through interaction and discussion with other important elements. The understanding and knowledge is extended through discussions and interactions, which is much easier to implement online than in a crowded classroom where often a few dominate. Those who choose to participate in a traditional classroom is also often viewed as distractions that draw out the time when the teacher is about to introduce the "important issues". And the student who never opened his mouth in a regular classroom, have the opportunity to participate in this class and no one will see the stuttering or blush in his face. In this way these more shy students can bring in a new and important perspective for the benefit too all of us.
Meaningful student teamwork is about much more than discussion of issues on information and links to interesting websites. Community-building, common generation of knowledge and process-management are fundamental aspects of interaction in e-learning. In Norway, our social attitudes and cultural focus on cooperation rather than competition are important drivers in this context. I do not know what kind of attitudes they have, for example in Spain and Poland, but I believe (and hope) that they have a similar attitude to the cooperation as we have in Norway.
Being a teacher (or can we call them a guide, an inspirator or maybe a supervisor) in this study is otherwise than being a classroom teacher. Mona Engvig says that there is great interest in online teaching among educators that focuses on cooperative learning and a flat, distributed power structure between teacher and pupil. The teacher must also balance between work and private life. They can sacrifice leisure time because they want to help the students as best as they can and therefore want to be available all the time. Then they easily can become burned out. We as students naturally want to get answer to our questions as quickly as possible, but we must have respect for the free time to our teachers.
It is also important that the teachers show the students respect. Encouragement and advice to improve is important. This is just as important for adult students as it is for children. We who study "ICT and learning" have portfolio assessment. We get feedback from our teachers about what is good and what can be better in the tasks we have delivered. It allows us to work more with our tasks and (hopefully) provide better tasks.
Have you heard about kiva.org or microcredit? Well, if you don`t have, I will tell you a little about it.
Microcredit is a form of helping people to provide loans and other financial services and who are so poor that traditional banks do not want them as customers.
Kiva.org is the world's first Internet-based system for microcredit. Here, anyone can give micro loans to an approved applicant. The lender chooses who will receive the money, by searching on gender, place of residence and type of business. The homepage for Kiva.org is designed as an online community and is therefore called "Microcredit`s Facebook”.
Here is a video which shows what kiva.org is working with:
Already during the famine in Bangladesh in 1974, economist Muhammad Yunus realized that small loans could have a major effect. Ordinary banks considered great a risk to lend to the poor. Therefore Yunus loaned $ 27, from his own pocket, to 42 women who made bamboo furniture. Then the women didn`t had to loan at higher rates in an ordinary bank. Since then it has been very successful micro-credit, and Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 along with his Grameen Bank.
Here is a video where Muhammad Yunus speak about his work:
Many financial institutions engaged in microcredit have a special focus on helping women. The purpose is to strengthen the women in society, since women are better at fulfilling its obligations, and to use the money for the good of the whole family. At the Grameen Bank women make up 97% of customers.
"It is said that if you give a dollar to a man, he provide food for one husband. If you give a dollar to a woman, she provides food for a whole family. "
Using the Internet the world has been much smaller and we can take part in what happens in the world (for better or worse) in a different way than we did before. And because of the Internet I became aware of kiva.org. If you create an account with kiva.org you can decide who you will lend to and how much (the minimum is $ 25). Kiva.org borrower presents each on a separate page where it says among other things, what the money will be used till. You lend the money and get them paid back after a certain time. The money you can either lend again to other people or you can transfer them back to your own account. You do not get interest on money you lend, but you can help another human being to a better life. I think this is a great way to engage the assistance because it helps people to become independent and self-reliant. Small loans to poor people shows in many contexts to be far more effective than ordinary benefit.
On the Internet, you can follow the borrower's and follow the history. You'll find updates on the project or the person you lend money, both positive and negative news. In addition, you can get to know other lenders from other countries and business development in poor countries. You can also learn about the culture in other countries. Example of what you can lend money to: purchase of equipment to store, refurbishment of the shop, purchase of animals, purchasing of materials, etc. In Norway kiva.org has almost 2000 members.
Today there are also others who provide micro loans to poor people, for example NamasteDirect and Micro Place.
Because of the Internet where you can interact with others from your living room, you can help others out of poverty, meet new people from other countries and at last the culture they live in. You can lend a person a small amount of money and if others do it too, the sum will be large enough that it can help a person or a family to become self-reliant and be able to live a decent life.
I think that is a great social-cultural aspect by using ICT.
