Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Technology-Enabled Teaching/eLearning Dialogue

Technology-Enabled Teaching/eLearning Dialogue: "Distributed Learning Meets Intellectual Property Policy: Who Owns What?

By Dr. Veronica Diaz,
Learning Technologies Manager,
Adjunct Professor
University of Arizona

The rise of eLearning and technology in higher education—including distance education, digital repositories, and electronic courseware products—has changed the way faculty and institutions regard ownership and control of these materials. A new market exists for products that previously had little or no commercial value, especially as institutions become more adept and profitable at delivering and marketing distributed learning courses and programs. In turn, this has created a need for higher institutions to revise their existing intellectual property (IP) policies.

The authority and responsibilities of faculty members in this digital era regarding how courses are developed, taught, and maintained are in flux, and many existing institutional policies fail to address important questions raised in this changing environment. Distributed learning is vastly different from what has traditionally been covered with copyright (books, articles) and brings with it several important areas that must be addressed to ensure its long-term viability and proliferation."

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