Blog Post 2: Creative Commons Guest Lecture

Watching the guest lecture by Cable Green on Creative Commons reshaped the way I think about ownership, sharing, and access to knowledge in education. One of the most interesting points was how the high cost of educational resources continuously prohibits learners around the world from accessing the resources they need. Textbooks, research articles, and learning resources are often locked behind paywalls, making education less accessible and less equitable. This is why Cable Green talked about the importance of making copyright law support open and ethical sharing by default.

What is Creative Commons?

Creative Commons was presented as a response to this problem. As Creative Commons explains, everything created is automatically copyrighted, which means people cannot legally adapt or share work without permission, even when the creator wants others to use it. This reality limits collaboration and slows the spread of knowledge. Educators want to share what they create, not for profit, but to help others teach and learn. Creative Commons licenses allow creators to keep their copyright while clearly communicating how others can use their work through open licenses.

What stood out to me was the flexibility of Creative Commons licenses. Creators can choose whether others must provide attribution, whether commercial use is allowed, if adaptations can be made, and if changes must be shared under the same license. This approach respects ownership while encouraging openness. For example, an educator can allow free sharing and adaptation of their materials while still requiring credit.This is important to me as a student because, especially in education, collaboration and reuse should be encouraged,  improving learning outcomes globally.

Creative Commons: More than education

The lecture also emphasized that sharing is no longer limited to education. Open practices now extend to data, science,and research,allowing scholars to build on another’s work more efficiently. The reasons for people to share their resources goes beyond generosity. Sharing can increase visibility, encourage collaboration, and accelerate solutions to global problems like climate change. When educational resources are open, they allow learners everywhere to engage with critical issues and participate in meaningful change. 

Transcript from Cable Green Lecture

Creative Commons in k-12

Another key takeaway from the lecture is about everyday digital practices that we learn from a  young age and how there is a gap in digital literacy education. In school, we are never taught to cite or reference the things we use for projects, etc. such as using google images. I think many developing learners misuse images simply because they were never taught how copyright and attribution work. Learning how to properly attribute images and respect licenses represents a shift of mindset. From seeing online content as “free’ to understanding ethical and legal reuse.

Below I have added a how-to video, where Cate Covintree walks viewers through the process of properly citing images found on google. As an educator focused on digital literacy, she provides clear, practical guidance for students learning to use online content responsibility.

This lecture helped me see open education as more than just free content. It has changed my perspective about legal rights, and that Creative Commons is a very positive resource for adapting, remixing, and improving resources. It supports a vision of education that is collaborative, accessible, which is essential for a more equitable digital learning future.