Image attribution

Just by providing the URL of the photo, doesn't mean that you are complying with image attribution practices. Instead, you are providing very little information, to say the least.

I think the issue is that there is no common agreement in terms of an image attribution format. We encourage teachers to use CC images in their assignments, enforcing the rule of attributing the creator, license, and URL of the image source. However, failing to do this will send the wrong message out to students.

Yes, I agree. Documentation takes time, but it should not be burdensome if we agree on a what we believe image attribution should contain. So you don't need to dig into the time or location, but a minimum of who and where it is coming from, as well as the URL, is really helpful.

The images that you normally like are not always the images that you can use in your project because they are copyright protected. We need to educate students, that even if it takes them more time to do things, they should look for sources that they are entitled to use. Not just picking a photo and grabbing the URL. They have to know more about the photo or image if they really want to use it.

In the real world, every serious communication agency or company places particular interest in displaying the creator's name under the photo or image. These are people, with real names, professional photographers that make a living by taking photos and selling them, etc.

The screenshot below is from the Huffington Post online:

This other screenshot is from the New York Times online:

The point I want to make is that in the real world, people value information about the creator of the photos and we should not ignore this. I believe this is an important matter that requires immediate attention.

I suggest to bring this matter back to the agenda and involve other teachers to give their insight of how we ought to proceed when attributing images from the web.