Teens and Downloading Music
Joanne E. Guy
With the
explosion of information available to teens and young adults via the
Internet and other electronic sources in the last couple of decades,
the term media literacy has evolved. Media literacy is defined as, “the
ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and produce communication in a
variety of forms”. (Aufderheide, 1993) The media literate person
“can think critically about what they see, hear and read in books,
newspapers, magazines, television, radio, movies, music, advertising,
video games, the Internet, and new emerging technology”. (Kaiser, 2003)
This new world of information has created the need for educators to
become fluent in these areas in order to teach our students to be
informed and literate. One component of this new world of literacy is
digital music. Today’s students routinely obtain and listen to their
music in a digital format. Educators, including teachers and school
media specialists have the task of teaching students the legal way to
obtain this music.
A survey conducted by Microsoft Corporation
found that students, “between seventh and tenth grades are less likely
to illegally download content from the Internet when they know the laws
for downloading and sharing content online.” (News and Events, 2008) As
part of a comprehensive young adult literacy program, teachers,
specifically media specialists, have a responsibility to inform
students of these copyright laws. It is suggested that schools
implement a Digital Citizenship Program to inform students of the many
laws and repercussions regarding the digital age. A five-step program
is detailed in T.H.E. Journal and suggests first auditing the faculty
and students, then having a technology leadership team evaluate the
results and creating a comprehensive plan for the entire school.
(Ribble & Bailey, 2004) There are many curriculums available to
schools to teach this information, including The Digital Citizenship
and Creative Content program a free curriculum created by Microsoft,
which aligns with the ISTE (International Society for Technology in
Education) and AASL (Association of School Librarians) standards.
(Microsoft, 2008) Students need to be specifically taught the copyright
laws, fair use laws and legal avenues for downloading music. Legal
avenues would include sites for music for purchase, such as iTunes and
sites for free music, such as Jamendo. Jamendo offers the largest
catalog of music under Creative Commons licenses. The Jamendo site also
includes information about Creative Commons to help students understand
this aspect of copyright and the legality issues associated with music
downloading. Students can also explore the topic of downloading
music on their own using such titles as, Downloading Music (Ripped from
the Headlines) by Toney Allman or Downloading Copyrighted Stuff from
the Internet: Stealing or Fair Use? (Issues in Focus Today) by Sherri
Mabry Gordon both of which address this topic and would be good
non-fiction additions to a school library media center.
YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association)
sponsors a national initiative called Teen Tech Week each year. The
purpose of Teen Tech Week is to ensure that “teens are competent and
ethical users of technologies”. (Teen Tech Week (YALSA), 2010) The
week’s activities encourage “teens to use libraries' nonprint resources
for education and recreation”. (Teen Tech Week (YALSA), 2010) The
program includes links for a wiki to exchange ideas with other
educators, promotional materials for free and for purchase, as well as
program activities. A school could use this week to promote the use of
digital sources in the school library while offering the media
specialist as an expert in this subject area for the students and
faculty to use as a reference.
Because of the popularity of downloading music,
there is a plethora of materials available to educators to inform
students about how to legally go about obtaining digital music. Forward
thinking teachers and library media specialists, should look to these
resources and integrate this information into their media literacy
program to allow students to become life-long learners who make ethical
choices about copyright and intellectual property.
References
Alman, T. (2007). Downloading Music (Ripped from the Headlines). Yankton: Erickson Press.
Aufderheide, P. (1993). Media Literacy. A Report of the National Leadership Conference on Media Literacy.
Washington, DC : Aspen Institute, Communications and Society Program.
Gordon, S. M. (2005). Downloading Copyrighted Stuff From The Internet: Stealing Or Fair Use?
(Issues in Focus Today). Berkeley Heights: Enslow Publishers, Inc.
iTunes Home. (2010). Retrieved June 22, 2010, from iTunes: http://www.apple.com/itunes/
Jamendo Home. (2010). Retrieved June 22, 2010, from Jamendo: http://www.jamendo.com/en/
Kaiser, T. H. (2003, December 9). Key Facts: Media Literacy. Retrieved June 21, 2010, from The Kaiser Family
Foundation: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/Key-Facts-Media-Literacy.pdf
Microsoft. (2008). Digital Citizenship and Creative Content: A Teacher's Guide. Retrieved June 21, 2010, from Digital Citizenship Education: http://www.ipreducation.com/
News and Events. (2008, February 13). Retrieved June 21, 2010, from Microsoft News Center:
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/feb08/02-13MSIPSurveyResultsPR.mspx
Ribble, M. S., & Bailey, G. D. (2004). Monitoring Technology Misuse & Abuse. THE Journal , 22-25.
Teen Tech Week (YALSA). (2010, April 1). Retrieved June 21,
2010, from American Library Association:
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/yalsa/teentechweek/ttw10/home.cfm