Teachers who want to have their course content posted online will have fewer copyright hassles if Congress passes a bill introduced this summer. The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act of 2001 (TEACH) would amend the 1976 Copyright Act to allow professors to post limited portions of copyrighted material on the Web without first seeking permission. Provided that the content is posted in such a way as to prevent users from downloading and then further distributing it, the instructors would be able to send digitized books or chapters, video or music over the Internet. They could not post entire textbooks, however; students would still have to purchase textbooks in hard copy. The AFT worked with drafters of this bill to ensure that the language balanced the interests of both the generators and the users of content. The bill is expected to pass in this session.

Diluting the ‘50-percent rule’

Institutions that provide distance education courses have been trying for years to liberalize federal policies governing how much time a student can pursue coursework online and still qualify for financial aid. The so-called 50-percent rule states that qualifying schools may offer no more than 50 percent of their courses via distance education. In addition, the "12-hour rule" dictates that students have to spend 12 hours a week in a classroom to have their study funded by public dollars. A bill passed by the House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness would repeal those two rules, which were initially designed to regulate correspondence courses. The bill, H.R. 1992, would define online courses in the same way as regular courses. The AFT sees those courses differently and advocates that students spend at least half their time studying in same-time/same-place environments (a.k.a. classrooms). This is to ensure academic integrity. The AFT legislative staff will be working to protect the intent of the two rules.