A few years ago, I got it (mostly) through my thick skull that anything that I posted online was there forever, and might be read by ANYBODY, including, obviously, people that I would never want to hurt. I still make mistakes from time to time, but, for the most part, what I say online is something I'd be comfortable saying out loud, in public. There are a few things I've posted in recent years that I regret. Of course, most of what I would put in the "regrettable" category is something I only understand in hindsight.
Still.
A few posts back, I wrote about how upset I was to discover some students were posting notes from my lectures to a website (Notehall). Since then, I found out who the students were, confronted one of them face-to-face and openly talked about the problem in class, and the problem stopped.
Or so I thought.
Today, I googled myself (something I recommend everyone do from time to time) and discovered my lectures on another website (scribd.com).
I'm beyond pissed off.
I explicitly told my students that my intellectual property was not theirs to make money off of. I explicitly told them that I do not post my lectures anywhere, and that I do not want them posted anywhere. (I'm actually less concerned about them selling their notes to each other as I am upset that my lectures appear in various places online, for future students -- or other professors -- to use without my consent.)
Apparently, that doesn't matter at all to some students.
They should know that I've discussed this problem at length with the University's Office of Student Conduct, which is working out which multiple student codes this behavior violates.
Expulsion is one potential punishment.
I hope they read this blog, and I will cross-post this one to my class blog.
The rule is simple: if it's not yours and is not already on the internet, don't post it.
It makes sense that we all have to worry about reactions to what we *do* post online; but we should not have to worry about those materials that we explicitly try to keep off the internet.
Privacy and property.
They still matter.
To some people, at least.
About Me
- Elaine
- My interests include veganism and vegetarianism, health, ethics, politics and culture, media, and the environment. I have three kids; I teach college part-time, study piano and attempt to garden. I knit. I blog on just about anything, but many posts are related to my somewhat pathetic quest to eat better, be more mindful of the environment, and be a more responsible news consumer. Sometimes I write about parenting, but, like so many Mommy bloggers, my kids have recently told me not to. :) Thanks for reading.
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Politeness is always appreciated.