Distance Education Library Services  Tags: distanceeducation samantha  

Even though your class is at a distance, we can still provide training and instruction for your students on using library resources.  We can:

• Create tutorials and web guides to resources within or outside your Blackboard class
• Serve as a 'guest lecturer' and create a lesson in various formats (screencast, audio recording, research activities) in library research and resources
• Work with you to craft research assignments that will be successful for distant students

 

Contact Samantha via the information at the right to find out what we can do for you! 

The library offers a number of services in support of distance education:

• Online course reserves, avaliable from our website (also a tab in Blackboard).  We will digitize materials for you and post them in our secure, searchable site.  We can also provide access to audio materials and short video segments for your students.
• Copyright assistance.  While we can't offer legal advice, we can help you evaluate copyright laws in regard to distance education and the use of materials in the distant classroom.
• Finding materials suitable to the distant classroom.  Always show a particular video when you teach face to face?  You may not be able to use it easily in the distant classroom but we can help you find a good replacement accessible legally online.

 

Contact Samantha via the information to the right to find out more about what we can do for you!

Prior to the passage of the TEACH Act in 2002, distance education environments were subject to restrictive copyright laws. The TEACH Act attempts to equalize the playing field between face-to-face and distant courses.

Key points to remember when using copyrighted works in distance education environments include:

• Copyrighted works may not be made freely available on the web: access must be restricted. Use either the Blackboard course module or Mansfield Library's E-Reserve system to restrict access to enrolled students.
• Instructors may make available only portions of works that are comparable to the amount used in face-to-face classrooms during the actual teaching process. This means that instructors should not post a coursepack of articles online, for example, because presumably a pack of articles would not be distributed for reading during a face-to-face classroom session.
• Similarly, all copyrighted materials used in distance education courses must be instructor-mediated. These should generally not be passive or optional materials.
• Use of copyrighted works must directly relate to course content.
• There are stringent restrictions on the use of dramatic works, such as plays or films. Only 'reasonable and limited' portions may be used.
• If use of copyrighted works is permissible under Fair Use, yet restricted under the TEACH Act, Fair Use would control.
• If neither the TEACH Act nor Fair Use applies, the instructor must seek permission from the copyright holder to use the material.

 

TEACH Act rules can be confusing. For assistance, please contact Samantha Hines, Mansfield Library Distance Education Coordinator: (406) 243-4558 or Samantha.Hines@umontana.edu

Do you require/expect library research for assignments in your distant classes?