Yesterday's New York Times post "Selling Lessons Online Raises Cash and Questions" is provoking quite the discussion on Twitter this morning. Some, like Paul Bogush (@paulbogush) point out "If I worked for Bayer and created a drug on their salary, could I then take it and sell it to other companies?" Others, such as Matt Montagne (@mjmontagne) say "I don't see what the big deal is w/ the article in the NYTimes about teachers selling lesson ideas for $$$. I think it's great."
I lean toward the "what's the big deal" side of the argument.
I have been paid by organizations other than my school district to create lesson plans or present at conferences on their behalf. I have written articles for professional publications and have been paid for that too. I am currently in an agreement to work with a group of teachers in my district to create lesson plans for a private organization. When we are finished we will be paid and the lesson plans will be available for free to anyone who wants them.
This last case actually led me to do some research on this topic. The organization that I am working with is adamant that the lesson plans be free for anyone who wishes to use them (even though the primary intent is for the teachers in my own district to use them). I actually found a school board policy addressing this very issue. As a result, none of the work that we do is done during duty hours, on a school campus, or using school equipment or resources. We do not use school telephones or school email to communicate about our work for this project. The board policy is not overly restrictive, but we don't want the copyright to come into question later.
Maybe a few years ago I would have felt differently about freelancing. At one point I did work in a district position where my agreement stated that anything created while in that position (as a paid mentor teacher) would be the property of the district. I was fine with that. I don't know if I'd agree to it as readily now.
I don't know many people outside of education who regularly give up their evenings and weekends to create lesson plans, do research for lesson plans or correct papers. I regularly work the equivalent of three extra days per week on school-related tasks (and I know teachers who spend many, many more hours on a weekly basis). I don't get paid for those days and I don't think that time is implied in my work agreement with my district.
If I can get even marginal compensation for my extra time, why shouldn't I be able to do that? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
My experiences (and opinion) mirror yours, Natalie. I make all my presentation materials freely available online, and I'm in the process of uploading my teaching career's worth of material to DivShare for others to take, remix, and use as they find appropriate. I do this (including paying DivShare for upgraded access) because it fits my personal philosophy that open collaboration and sharing of resources ultimately benefits our professional practice, and, in turn, our students' educational experiences.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I have also been compensated for speaking engagements. As I mentioned on Twitter earlier today, the difference for me is that traveling incurs an expense and inconvenience that uploading presentation materials to a wiki does not. It takes me away from my family, and I think that justifies compensation.
As far as I'm aware, my current contract doesn't even address IP rights, so I think my district would be really hard-pressed to try to collect on anything I make on my own time, especially since much of what I present on (ed tech) is only tangentially relevant to my current position (school psychologist).
Three years ago, I would have thought selling lesson plans was a great way to earn extra income. Not today, though.
ReplyDeleteWhat changed my mind? I discovered open source software, free web 2.0 tools, online collaboration, and sharing. And I saw how it enhanced the classroom experience.
I viewed terrific lessons posted on blogs; some with worksheets, slides, and video. And I watched as classrooms around the world used these resources with great success.
A terrific example of the benefits of resource sharing is Scratch. Scatch has been a tremendous boon to creativity in education. But what if Scratch came with a price tag and what if its thousands of contributors wanted financial compensation for their ideas? That would have presented a major obstacle and we would not have had the phenomenal growth in elementary and middle school programming we have today.
I find myself actively participating in a culture of sharing. I make all of my work freely available to anyone who wants to use it. In return, I get the satisfaction of knowing I've provided good content for everyone and I get feedback that helps me improve. Charging for my work would have limited its scope. And if you've created a really great lesson or learning tool, wouldn't you want it to be in the hands of as many teachers and students as possible?
Colleen:
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. I also enjoy the collaborative nature of education. I'm not sure where I'd be without the ability to share thoughts, ideas and lessons. Though I personally benefit from a free and open source education community, I am reluctant to discourage teachers from choosing to sell their work.
Interestingly, I do work with educators who don't enjoy sharing, but don't want to sell their ideas either. I'm not sure what to make of that.