YouTube & Professors

This article addresses the new and popular website YouTube. This website can be used to post videos so that others on the web may view them. Its popularity is growing by leaps and bounds, including videos of professors in class which their students knowingly or unknowingly record. Many professors and other third parties have issues with this. They use the argument that what the teacher says in class is his/her intellectual property, and to post this on the web is a violation of the professor's rights. I empathize with this view, and find it impossible not to relate this story with Turnitin.com. One of the main arguments that students had regarding Turnitin was that the papers that they wrote were their intellectual property. Much like my opinion of Turnitin, I see both sides of the argument. Professors have certain rights regarding what they say in class; however, I am unsure if students are acting illegally or unjustly by posting the lectures on YouTube. To reconcile this situation, I would prefer that students inform their professors that they are going to record their lectures. If the professor has a problem with this, then the professor and student can work it out on an individual basis. Taking the perspective of a future teacher, I know I would appreciate being asked/informed if I was going to be taped in class. I would hope my students would extend this courtesy to me and respect my decision of whether or not to allow it.