[pp.int.general] UK action idea: in schools

[W Tovey]

All that is required (in state schools) is that pupils study some form
of ICT (in my case this was about 3 lessons in one year playing around
with an iMac, and using a word processor and search engine); there is no
requirement to study GCSE IT. Anyway...

I've had a quick look through the syllabuses for GCSE ICT and I can see
is half a lesson on "Copyright Law"; from my experience of both GCSEs
and the public understanding of copyright, this is unlikely to be either
particularly serious or accurate. It is taught in the context of the
Data Protection Act and computer misuse, so is most likely to be
something like "this is copyright, it happens, you can get sued for lots
of money or sent to prison if you infringe".

As for the "study" web sites, they are more likely to be
propaganda-filled (being  commercial thingamies, so susceptible to
"sponsorship") but I'm not sure how much attention the average student
pays to them in the first place.

Having said all that, accurate education about copyright would be very
helpful but something of a challenge (both to publish material that
people will read and to get the details right - the BPI et al. have been
having trouble with both). There is plenty of information available, but
it is spread all over the Internet, often in obscure places. There
appears to be no easy way to get it to the public (there is no public
interest in copyright stuff).

Probably the best way to get a message to school children is through
local government (who, I think, have some control over local education)
so if PPUK manages to get any elected officials there that might be a
starting point. As with everything else, there is no way we can directly
compete with the anti-sharing lot on a commercial scale (and even then,
their "educational" campaigns are clearly failing - no one is interested).

On 22/10/2010 13:23, Richard Stallman wrote:
> England requires all students to study the GCSE IT class, and many schools use "study" web sites such as samlearning.com which include propaganda that sharing is "piracy".
>
> Is anyone in the UK interested in organizing a "sharing is good" campaign there?