David van der Tang At School

Getting Digital and getting Legal (Task 2: 100 marks)

Create a comprehensive Powerpoint Presentation giving advice to parents on the issues detailed below. The presentation must be suitable to be viewed in a “show” type setting i.e. people visiting stalls and browsing through a hyperlinked presentation.

You can download and print a copy of the Investigation Task Sheet

Part 1 (10 marks)

Present a justification of why parents should buy students laptop of their own, especially those studying multimedia subjects.

Part 2 (25 marks)

You need to provide parents with an overview of a machine needed by students engaged in media rich computer applications. The overview must be accessible to parents who know very little about computers as well as those who have enough background to want details. Provide information on the following including prices where relevant:

• The types of tasks the computer will need to do. (5 marks)
• Hardware – screen, ram, cpu, graphics card, wireless network card, ports and connections and suggest actuall machines from Dell, HP and Toshiba. (10 marks)
• Software – operating system, graphics editing, video editing, audio editing, 3D animation, web creation. (10 marks)

Part 3 (20 marks)

You need to provide parents with a working understanding of significant legal issues relating to the use and production of multimedia including:

• copyright, piracy, plagiarism, intelectual property

Part 4 (20 marks)

Provide information on study opportunities and career paths for students with an interest in multimedia applications:

• Give details on university/TAFE courses on offer
• Give details on jobs on offer.

Design & Functionality (25 marks)

• Graphics & layout
• Construction of & effectiveness of hyperlinks

Useful Links

• Dell Studio Laptops
• Copyright Information Sheet
• Intellectual Property
• Powerpoint Template

Notes

Laptops for Students

1. Over the past few years laptops have become powerful machines to the extent that it is possible use such a computer for relatively high end media applications. The power of these computers coupled with the portability make them ideal tools for students studying subjects which involve multimedia production.
2. A 17″ screen is highly recommended.
3. A dedicated graphics card is important.
4. A dual core processor with a rating of over 2 GHz is advisable.
5. A moderately sized harddrive (250 Gig plus) will do provided this is used in conjunction with an external harddrive for the purpose of archiving.
6. RAM is a fairly cost effective way of increasing your machine’s power, 3 Gb is recommended as a minimum.
7. A wireless modem card is desirable.

Intelectual Property/Copyright/Plagiarism/Piracy

1. The overarching concept here is Intelectual Property (IP). Basically IP is about your ideas and the ideas of those you work with. In a highly competitive global economy, ideas are one of the vital components for staying ahead of the competition.
2. Unfortunately, ideas are not really protected by law, there is nothing stopping somebody else using your ideas for their own purposes. For example, in the early 1970s Kambrook was the first to put powerboards on the market. Others companies quickly copied the idea with the result that Kambrook has had to share the market with others despite having been the creator of the concept.
3. We can avoid a Kambrook-type scenario with a little knowledge of the laws regarding IP. While ideas in themselves are not protected there are other mechanisms which can help – you can register a patent, design or trademark. Creative work built on ideas is automatically protected by copyright in Australia.
4. As aspiring graphic designers, we need to be particularly aware of our rights and obligations in terms of copyright legislation.
5. Essentially, it is wrong to use other people’s work without their permission and you can be sued if you do.
6. Coversely, copyright legislation protects what you do.
7. Copyright protects your work for your lifetime plus seventy years.
8. You have the right to distribute, copy and perform your own work. Unauthorised copying of your work amounts to piracy.
9. You also have the right to assign (sell) or lisence (sell some rights) to your work. If your design or product is successful, this is important as others may want to buy what you have done.
10. All agreements concerning assigning or lisencing must put down in writing and signed by both parties.
11. You have the moral write to expect others to acknowledge your ideas. This applies particularly to written work where those using your ideas must use correct referencing procedures. Failure to do so amounts to plagiarism.
12. Be aware of the fact that if you create designs for an employer, the copyright belongs to them. Only work that you do privately belongs to you.
13. If you decide to do some work for a non-profit organisation you must be aware of the fact that although such organisations have preferential status as far as tax goes, they are required to follow copyright laws like everybody else.