The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act passed the Senate and awaits the President's signature. The American Library Association describes the law and its implications for Distance Education.
"In other words, much of the law is built around permitting uses of copyrighted works in the context of "mediated instructional activities" that are akin in many respects to the conduct of traditional classroom sessions. The law anticipates that students will access each "session" within a prescribed time period and will not necessarily be able to store the materials or review them later in the academic term; faculty will be able to include copyrighted materials, but usually only in portions or under conditions that are analogous to conventional teaching and lecture formats."
So. What about learning objects? What about learning as a process, not an event? What about learners building personal portfolios of lessons? What about replacing courses with short learning events?
By the way, the passages above were quoted under the doctrine of fair use.
For one thing, Elliott didn't hire telemarketers to twist my arm once a week.
This morning a colleague told me about several learners in a recent seminar he was leading who faced a tough challenge. Their organizations had spent almost their entire budget buying and installing learning management systems. They had next to nothing left with which to buy content.
This is like spending so much building the new library that there's no money left over to buy new books. Geez.
