Handheld Learning

This is a plea for an answer and someone must know it!

Part of the joy of using digital devices in school is that you can use mixed media to teach concepts.

I can guarantee that if I walk into a primary school during a literacy lesson I will have a very high chance of coming across a class studying an excerpt from a text that has been photocopied or scanned for display on a whiteboard or whatever. I could see a paragraph from Lord of the Rings being used to exemplify characterisation. Now what I would THEN like to do is compare it to a movie excerpt to see how the same paragraph or vision is depicted. I can guarantee that the children will be very much turned on to this and a skilled teacher can create a very worthwhile learning experience for childrne around the use of narrative.

BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM

Can I take a short video clip from my DVD of the film and use that? Just 30seconds maybe? A recent government publication focussed on Digital Britain makes a strong case for using media in the classroomas it is very much a part of the world that children are growing up in. When I got my ipod deliveered the other day I was clueless what to do as there were very few instructions in the box. Did I want a manual? Nope. I went on youtube and watched a few setup vids.

What proportion of children will have read more books than seen films (or TV programmes even)? When you start to develop media literacy with children you se ethe light go on about the director/author/producer's intentions for conveying ideas to an audience. Couple that with text analysis and kids really see the links.

BUT CAN I DO IT LEGALLY???

I have asked lots of peopel this and noweher is it clear. I'm sorry but purpose made collections are all very nice and have a role to play but analysing Star Wars will be more motivational and have more impact on children's learning. Trust me.

I emailed some parliamentary digital learning forum in July but seem not to have had an answer yet. Maybe I need to wait for all the people to be in a geographically located building after parlianment reconvenes to get an answer from a ubiquitous, any time anywhere web based forum?
Any ideas?
The Google Books debacle had sparked my question on here...

Ta

ST

Thank James,

I had read somewhere that educational institutions could show anything at all legally but I didn't realise that it had to be from the original digital source (i.e., the disk). I appreciate your help but would like to dig a little deeper. Can anyone point me to the legislative paragraphs that refer to this as it strikes me that they may be rather archaic and open to interpretation. Hopes lives eternal!

It raises all sorts of issues around video media doesn't it? Can I take my own stills from a dvd clip and use them (say a still of an orc) on a learning platform to stimulate children's writing? Is this a form of ripping and then digital distribution if it is on a private webspace for 7 year olds?

ST