Context of the Standard

As students start to work with different artifacts (reference materials, resources, etc.) they should understand that these sources of information were created by others.  Authors, illustrators, and programmers are responsible for the creation of many sources of information that are used in the classroom and at home.  As students choose to use some of these sources in their own work, they are expected to recognize the original creator of the source.  This practice should be reiterated throughout a student’s K-12 education and beyond. 

Ethical complications arise from the opportunities provided by computing. The ease of sending and receiving copies of media on the Internet, such as video, photos, and music, creates the opportunity for unauthorized use, such as online piracy, and disregard of copyrights, such as lack of attribution.

Other topics related to copyright are plagiarism, fair use, and properly citing online sources. Knowledge of specific copyright laws is not an expectation at this level. This standard supports English standards as they learn about plagiarism in writing.

Students are not responsible for specific copyright laws or using citing practices in fifth grade.

Essential Skills

Essential Questions

Essential Vocabulary

Students should demonstrate these skills:

• Review a program they created and identify portions that may have been created by others.
• Explain why it is important to give credit to authors.
• Describe when it is acceptable to use people’s work, and how to give credit to sources.
• Recognize that different artifacts, including online, programs, and physical (i.e. books, paintings, webpages), have creators.

Students should investigate these concepts:

• How can you find the creator of an artifact?
• What are examples of artifacts that need to need to have their creators credited?
• Why is important to give credit for using someone else’s idea, even if you aren’t quoting them directly?
• If you use a portion of someone else’s algorithm, why do you need to give credit?

Students should apply these terms in context:

• Author
• Illustrator
• Composer
• Source