online course development who owns the work product

If a team that consists of a professor, a learning designer, a librarian and a media expert is developing digital content for an online course, then shared IP ownership (between the professor and the school) is probably appropriate, Kim added.

Full Answer

What is online course development?

Online course development is the process through which a distance learning product or course is created. Many different people have a hand in the process, from designer and editor to instructors. The skills required and the end products of the development process may differ significantly, depending on several factors:

Do professors still own their online courses?

The public health crisis is forcing professors to put more and more of their lectures and other course materials online. Some of them now wonder if they still own that content. The good news is that they generally do, for now.

Who should own the intellectual property of an online course?

If a team that consists of a professor, a learning designer, a librarian and a media expert is developing digital content for an online course, then shared IP ownership (between the professor and the school) is probably appropriate, Kim added.

Who is involved in the process of developing a product?

Many different people have a hand in the process, from designer and editor to instructors. The skills required and the end products of the development process may differ significantly, depending on several factors:

Do faculty own their course materials?

No. Faculty do not own the copyrights in the online course materials they create if the materials are a “work made for hire” or if the faculty member assigns their copyrights in full to another party.

How do I copyright an online course?

Here are 11 ways to protect the intellectual property of your online course content:Get a Trademark. ... Print & mail your content to yourself. ... Time stamp your content. ... Show your face. ... Watermark your content. ... Make it common knowledge. ... Keep an eye out for duplicates of your content. ... Have a Copyright Policy.More items...•

Does the university own my lectures?

Classroom professors have long enjoyed a cultural exemption to this statute, however: while they're paid to teach and do research, their lectures, syllabi and other nonpatentable work almost always belong to them, not the university.

Does my university own my work?

Since your school is not considered your legal employer, that means any essay, painting, photograph, song, or other creative work you make as part of your academic career is owned by you. This is true pretty much universally, including if you're a minor or even if you use school equipment.

Is selling someone else's course illegal?

If you are doing so without the express/written permission of the content-owner, then it is not legal and you would be infringing upon the intellectual property rights of others.

Can you copyright a training program?

Copyright versus Trademark may help clarify things for you. For instance, you can't copyright the title of your book. But if you have a training or group program with the same name as your book, you can trademark that program title. You can trademark a logo or a business name, but you can't copyright them.

Who owns the copyright to a lecture?

Copyright ownership of recorded lectures 11(2) of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, an employer is the first owner of copyright in work created in the normal course of employment. An employer will therefore own the content of a lecture created by a member of staff who is contracted to create it.

Who owns the copyright to teaching materials?

Who owns copyright? Copyright in material is generally owned by the creator of that material, it is automatic and does not require formal registration. The most notable exception to this rule is the case of materials created by employees.

Who owns a course syllabus?

Ownership: Good, Not-So-Good “Material created for ordinary teaching use in the classroom and in department programs, such as syllabi… shall remain the property of the faculty author, but...

Does my university own my intellectual property?

Who Owns Intellectual Property Discovered or Created at the University? The University is sole owner of all IP: Created by University employees in the course of their employment. Created by individuals—including employees, students, post-doctoral or other fellows—using substantial University resources.

Who owns the intellectual property rights in academic work?

Ownership of intellectual property is split between students and the university according to conditions of its creation. So the University owns all student IP created in certain conditions and Students own all IP except those which were created in the agreed specific conditions.

Do students own copyright to their work?

When a student creates an original and creative assignment, project, paper, or thesis, the student holds copyright in that work, automatically, without any need to register the work to obtain a copyright.

How to Request Online Course Development Funds

AIS & USU Online may provide development funding for departments that need funds to cover course development expenses. Funds are limited to up to $5,000 per course. Examples for funding use include:

Online Program Development

We are always looking to add new programs to our Online degree options. We can assist deparments with:

Course Development Process

Development begins with a meeting between the course instructor/developer and the Instructional Designer. The Instructional Designer will help plan a development schedule, assist with the development, and define the technology or training necessary to complete the development.

AIS Contribution

AIS will provide Instructional Designers and Media Production staff as part of the development procdess. A typical complex and interactive, 3-credit hour course, will include an average of:

Funding

Once the course development request is approved, AIS will then transfer course development funds to the associated department.

Frequently Asked Questions

As per USU Policy 587 (reference 3.5 & 3.6) USU designates online course development as a Commissioned Work and as such acquires and retains title to all USU IP related to the online course as developed. Decisions related to the use of the online course will be under the direction of the academic department to which the course is assigned.

Who is the author of a copyrighted work?

Generally, the author of a work is the individual who fixes the expression. The author of a copyrighted work is granted several exclusive rights: the right to make reproductions of the work, to distribute the work, to create derivative works, to publicly display or perform the work, and to authorize any of these acts.

What is course material?

Course materials are part of a course, and when all the materials have been gathered, the total is a course. Illustrations mounted on a course Web page are course materials. If an instructor goes on to develop an entire Web site devoted to this course, at some point it becomes an online course.

What is a planned program of study?

A planned program of study—the structure of the course, including learning goals and strategies for achieving them. Planned and spontaneous interactions—between faculty and students, students and materials, students and students. An institution or organization—to offer the course, market it, and award credit.

What is a course in education?

A course consists of the complex interactions—between faculty and students, between students and materials, and among students—that constitute the learning experience. In an online course, technology helps to facilitate those experiences through chat sessions, threaded discussions, student projects, and so on.

What is the process of committing to writing the course content?

The process of committing to writing the course content (e.g., lectures, exercises) and digitizing course materials makes it possible, if not potentially lucrative, to package courses in such a way that they can become mobile and can be delivered by people other than the original author.

Where is UNext located?

Based in Deerfield, Illinois, UNext.com plans to develop a series of business-oriented courses, sell them to multinational and overseas corporations, and then have the corporations deliver the courses to their employees worldwide via the Internet and more traditional materials, such as books.

Is copyright a legal term?

After all, copyright is a legal term. But despite the many articles and monographs asserting what the law says about this issue, the fact is that the law is indeterminate on the matter of ownership of courses and course materials. Let us briefly examine the law and why there is a lack of clarity. ( 4) Copyright.

What is online course development?

Updated November 06, 2019. Online course development is the process through which a distance learning product or course is created. Many different people have a hand in the process, from designer and editor to instructors.

What is a course developer?

It is often a job more focused on the content of the course than the educational design aspects of it. Course developers may interact with subject matter experts in choosing the resource materials and writing the text of the course.

What is a SME in online courses?

In online course development, SMEs may be professors employed at the school that is developing the course or employed by another educational institution and working as a consultant. Typically, these are part-time, contract positions.

What do editors do after a course is written?

Editors also examine citations to be sure they adhere to style and format .

What is an instructional designer?

Instructional Designer. Instructional designers develop the appearance, organization, and functionality of learning systems using learning principles. They may write learning objectives and may determine the scope of a project, create the layout of the instructional material, and plan and create assessments.

Can you do course development remotely?

Along the way, those involved in course development most likely would use Microsoft Word or other word-processing systems. Much of the work of course development can be done remotely, making jobs in this field a good fit for telecommuting.

Do online colleges pay faculty?

Most of the time, online faculty are not part of the course development process. Online instructors are engaged to be the facilitators of courses that have gone through the course development process. Some online colleges do pay a flat fee to online faculty members for instructor-designed courses.

What is the explosion of online courses?

The explosion of online courses is bringing with it a debate about ownership. It took a year for Christopher Nelson to create a course for a new online degree program in philosophy at South Texas College, where he had to squeeze in the job while also teaching classes in logic, ethics, and social and political philosophy.

Where did Christopher Nelson teach philosophy?

It took a year for Christopher Nelson to create a course for a new online degree program in philosophy at South Texas College, where he had to squeeze in the job while also teaching classes in logic, ethics, and social and political philosophy.

What is the issue of who owns courses?

Some in higher education say the issue of who ownscourses and course materials is not only about money but also about how institutions protect their interests.They are concerned when, after the home institution hasnourished faculty to become good faculty, competing institutions hire the faculty as adjuncts and benefit fromthat nurturing without sharing the cost. This issue is categorized as one of conflict of commitment. Institutionscare about the faculty member who has taken advantage of the college or university’s resources and simultaneouslyuses them at a competing institution. Clearly the new environment allows the faculty member to do such thingsfar more easily. The ownership issue represents an attempt by the college or university to try to control thefaculty member’s behavior.

What is online course?

Online course materials are typically developed by a facultymember, with support from the information technology (IT)department, for a particular course at the institution where thefaculty member is employed. Faculty members are hired andpaid to teach courses and to gather, organize, and createcourse materials that facilitate the campus-based course experience. Since the institution pays the faculty to teachcourses as a central task of employment, many in the institu-tion assume that materials created for this task belong to thecollege or university, just as commercial products or patentsdeveloped for a company belong to the employer, not the individual worker. Yet in the past, most colleges and universi-ties have rarely, if ever, laid claim to the original materials prepared by faculty for course use.

What happens when faculty put their course material online?

Once faculty put their course material online, the knowledgeand course design skill embodied in that material is taken out of their possession, transferred to the machinery and placed inthe hands of the administration. . . . Most important, once thefaculty converts its courses to courseware, their services are inthe long run no longer required.

Course Development Process

AIS Contribution

Funding

Frequently Asked Questions

• Who owns the developed course?
  As per USU Policy 587 (reference 3.5 & 3.6)USU designates online course development as a Commissioned Work and as such acquires and retains title to all USU IP related to the online course as developed. Decisions related to the use of the online course will be under the directio…
• Why does USU retain the title to the developed content?
  By retaining the content, departments can continue to offer courses after an instructor leaves or stops teaching a course. This is essential to providing consistency for online students who need specific courses to complete their online programs. Additionally, retaining content, allows a dep…

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