"Who else can make a group of independently opinionated children stay on task and intrigued for hours each day? Only a superhero … only a teacher."
~www.globalteacherprize.org
~www.globalteacherprize.org
Finding "Free" Images
When you are looking for images that are free to use, there are a few things to consider. Just because something is Creative Commons or Royalty-Free, for example, doesn't mean that the work is unconditionally free for anyone's use for just any purpose.
Royalty-free means that media may be used without paying a fee each time it is used, but there still might be a one-time fee to obtain the media. The owner of royalty-free media still retains the copyright to the work.
If you want to make sure that the media that you use isn't restricted in any way, confirm that the license is a CC (Creative Commons), which is a California-based nonprofit organization that "enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools." Be careful even here, though; there are varying levels of freedom associated with media submitted under the Creative Commons license:
Royalty-free means that media may be used without paying a fee each time it is used, but there still might be a one-time fee to obtain the media. The owner of royalty-free media still retains the copyright to the work.
If you want to make sure that the media that you use isn't restricted in any way, confirm that the license is a CC (Creative Commons), which is a California-based nonprofit organization that "enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools." Be careful even here, though; there are varying levels of freedom associated with media submitted under the Creative Commons license:
- If a work is designated NC, it means it can be used by non-commercial entities; the work may not be used for commercial benefit. (Note to eSchool course developers: Though eSchool is not commercial, it still may not use NC works since it is tuition-based.)
- CC BY means that you can edit the work and use it for commercial benefit as long as you attribute the original work. (Attribution: give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made, without suggesting that the licensor endorses you or your use of their media.)
- CC BY-ND (no derivatives) means that you may not alter the original work.
- CC BY-SA indicates that you must credit the original work and license new creations under identical terms.
We have attempted to provide sites that are very user-friendly when it comes to discovering the designation of the media that they offer; always be careful, though, and remember that ultimately you are responsible for reading the licensing agreements to see whether or not a work is available for commercial use.
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