Citing Images

6-8th Grade Computer Technology

Liz Reale

Problem Identified: In my graduate class for Educational Technology, we talk a lot about the different aspects of being a good digital citizen including how to properly borrow images from the Internet without infringing upon copyright laws. In my 6th grade Tech class, I noticed that my students didn't know how to cite images that they found on the Internet so I wanted to teach them this important skill.

Hypothesis: If students are introduced to Creative Commons and other databases with images that are free to use and share then they will learn how to accurately borrow images from the Internet as measured by proper citations in their Gowanus Canal iBooks.

Data Collection: After teaching my students the proper format for citing their images in their works, I found that 78% of 6th graders have mastered the learning outcome "I can cite my sources for Internet information and images". I assessed this skill through various Mastery Checks and the completion of their Gowanus Canal iBooks.

Actionable Step: In order to use this skill in your classroom tomorrow, it would be beneficial to remind students of the proper image citation rules:

It would also serve them to be reminded to use Creative Commons, Pixabay, Flickr, and Google Advanced Image Search with free to use and share filters enabled to make sure they are granted permission to add these images into their work.

Overall Findings/Impact: In this day and age where information is so accessible at the click of a mouse, it's really important that we teach our students how to properly cite images so that they are not infringing upon copyright laws and are acting as good digital citizens. I think that this inquiry cycle was successful as evidenced by the majority percentage of students who are mastering this learning outcome for citing images properly. I think it would be beneficial if other classes also continue to hold our students accountable to citing their sources so that they continue to practice this necessary skill and not plagiarize someone else's work.