3.3 Using Information Appropriately
Being able to select information from texts and use it appropriately in a task is also part of the digital competency. Students are starting to work with texts at the elementary level, so it is important to talk about being ethical citizens and develop their information literacy competency. Students need to be aware that when they use information and they create texts, there are some ethical rules that they need to follow.
Considering Copyrights
Are copying, patchwriting and the use of quotations acceptable in a reinvestment task?
Terms and definitions
Considerations
Copying
Copying refers to borrowing—or “lifting”—passages verbatim from texts provided, without citing the source.
It is not copying when students reinvest: vocabulary related to the topic, single words and idiomatic expressions (e.g. “last but not least,” “money doesn’t grow on trees”)
In Elementary Cycle Two, although students are encouraged to personalize their texts, borrowing passages from texts and models is acceptable.
Patchwriting
Patchwriting is using phrases from texts provided, verbatim or by making minor changes here and there (e.g. deleting, adding or substituting words; changing verb forms or word order), and combining them with one’s own writing.
Patchwriting is acceptable in Elementary Cycle Two and Elementary Cycle Three.
Quotations*
Quotations are used to cite exact words, passages or speech/dialogue from texts provided and are properly referenced.
*In rare cases
Properly referenced quotations can be used when appropriate (e.g. to add credibility, to support an argument). They are used when they are a feature of the text form and must be kept brief and to a minimum so that the text is written mostly in a student’s own words.
Tip: Leave traces so teachers know where ideas were taken in their reinvestment task.
Here is a tip that can help teachers when it’s time to evaluate the final product.
Ask students to leave traces of the information they used to prepare their text. Digital tools or functions are especially helpful in that regard. Students could:
- highlight the parts of the texts they used in the original text or in their notes to show you what they chose to consider (use a different colour than when they constructed meaning);
- add a comment or a word in colour in the text to point to the content used.