Weekly IEW’s customer service team receives calls, chats, and emails asking about the correct way to use, stream, and teach IEW materials. We are so thankful for the fidelity of our customers, who want to uphold the copyright policies of our trademarks, our Structure and Style® method, and our physical content. In pursuit of this goal, our copyright policy page begins with a recounting of the basic copyright details that you can find on each product page by scrolling down to its grey box. The second section deals with our trademarks. This section is important for teachers and tutors advertising a class using our materials. It also speaks to the creation of materials that may be derivative of our methods and property. A common question that is not directly spoken to on our copyright policy page involves the correct streaming of IEW’s video lessons.
There are many nuances to streaming questions; however, the main truth to recognize is that our video lessons are nontransferable. This means that only the customer who purchased the course package and added the video lessons to their account via the included activation card has permission to access the account to view the lessons. Additionally, our Forever Streaming lessons cannot be downloaded. If the video-based course materials are later sold or consigned, the buyer will need to contact IEW and purchase their own video lessons in order to use the course. For those who choose DVDs for their student’s video-based courses, they can be shared with family and friends without you being present. If you resell, the DVDs can be sold, too. DVDs cannot, however, be copied. These clarifying details can help with many initial video lesson queries.
Most nuances can be understood with a discussion of use in the classroom. The use of video lessons in co-op classrooms will greatly depend upon the amount of class time available. On our Structure and Style for Students FAQ page, the response to question #7 lays out the possible Structure and Style for Students schedule adaptations available and what materials your students will need for each. We also have the blog post, “IPS in the Classroom,” which shares similar details for Introduction to Public Speaking. If your class meets several times a week, you may, indeed, have time to watch the video lessons together in class. For this option, you, the IEW account holder, must always be present during the streaming as it is your account. This is also true if you are a co-op director and seeking to train parents or teachers. You can have Teaching Writing: Structure and Style (TWSS) watch parties, but you will need to be present while the group watches the streaming video lessons. Teachers in traditional schools would want to reach out to our Schools Department to discuss streaming needs in their classrooms. And, lastly, the blog post “Tutoring Online with IEW – Yes, You Can!” offers caution and practical tips for teachers and tutors who use IEW materials while teaching online. Online tutors cannot stream all or any portion of IEW course video lessons digitally for their students. These subtleties are important to note before using IEW video lessons in the classroom.
When we open an email or engage in a chat with a customer who is seeking permission to use our materials in a certain way, we always thank them profusely for checking with us! The level of respect they have given us is noted, and we appreciate that our customers seek to treat our property with care. They understand its legacy and want to keep it intact for future families and classrooms. We at IEW want to give you a huge “Thank you!” and hope that we have provided resources and clarity so that you can stream our materials with ease and integrity while continuing to train students to become confident and competent communicators and thinkers.
by Katie Eades
