Web 2.0 Learning Tools

Creative Commons License Guy
K12 learning 2.0:  Tools for 21st Century Teaching & Learning

THING “TEN” (Session Five) :

Stretch Task:  Creative Commons Resources Findings . . .

Well, until recently, it was difficult to find “free use” materials across the web.  Thanks to Creative Commons, an avalanche of material is now available.  The OER Resource (Open Educational Resources) is excellent.  Materials covering all subject areas, all age groups and all conditions of use from “no strings attached” to “read the fine print.”  As an example, I type the word “blogging” in the search box to see what type of results would be revealed.  There were 86 results displayed with an action button to the right indicating whether it was a “remix or share” or “no strings attached” license which gives the user a quick glance through the list to the type of license associated with the material along with a rating.  This would save a tremendous amount of research time.   This site is definitely worthy of a bookmark in your browser or share it in your “social bookmarking” page.  I like their motto, “Learning Is Sharing.”

See the Creative Commons Content Directories Wiki where a list of organizations and projects powered with Creative Commons licenses is displayed.  Visit the site and list your site or project.  This is an amazing list of organizations that have made their materials available for you and me.

The search bar on the main site was good and displayed some great results but their Search Tool Link displays results from all over the web.  Again, I entered “blogging” here and check the box for “Search for works I can use for commercial purposes” and I received 2,910,000 hits.  Isn’t that amazing!  Surely, I can find something in that list of links about blogging that I could use in a school assignment.

I found some other interesting sites that list links where creative commons licenses are available.

25 Sources for Creative Commons Content - Audio, Images, Text, Video and General Searches.
NCompass Blog -  Interesting blog about Creative Commons Licensing with lots of comments.
Sharing Creative Works Slideshow - If you want to share something you have created.
5 Lesser Know Benefits to Creative Commons – Why bloggers use or don’t use creative commons.
Christmas Songs – These are under Creative Commons license.  I am glad to know this.
Guide to Finding Flickr Images - Excellent resource.  Visit skelliewag and read this.
Cory Doctorow – Creative Commons – Nice article from an author discussing how CC works.
How to Attribute CC Licensed Work - How to give credit with siting CC works.
Photo Dropper Plug In - Visit Photo Dropper’s Main Site to download a plugin that searches flickr for Creative Commons licensed photos for you to add to your Wordpress blog.  It makes it much easier and faster to locate photos.

There are many, many more excellent articles on Creative Commons and how it is transforming the way content can be accessed and used.