Acceptable Use Policies

Acceptable Use Policies in Schools

From: Digital Media.Org (1)

Why is an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) necessary in schools? It's important for schools to have a set of guidelines that will lead students toward safe, responsible use of technology. Students are surrounded with technology, and many of them, without any guidance or limitations set for it's use at home.  A properly written policy, an Acceptable Use Policy, will help students to understand that there are rules, that when followed, will help them to safely and responsibly utilize technology, at home and at school.

According to Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) (2),  

• ”Schools and libraries subject to CIPA may not receive the discounts offered by the E-rate program unless they certify that they have an Internet safety policy that includes technology protection measures. The protection measures must block or filter Internet access to pictures that are: (a) obscene; (b) child pornography; or (c) harmful to minors (for computers that are accessed by minors).”
• "Schools subject to CIPA have two additional certification requirements: 1) their Internet safety policies must include monitoring the online activities of minors; and 2) as required by the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act, they must provide for educating minors about appropriate online behavior, including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response."

Writing an effective AUP requires both an understanding of what the school's goals are and what aspects of technology should to be addressed in the policy. An effective policy alone is not enough though. In order for an AUP to be a useful tool, all involved have to understand, support, and abide by the rules outlined in the document. Staff needs to be receive enough professional development so that they are comfortable meeting the academic goals stated as stated in the AUP. An article titled "1-to-1 Essentials - Acceptable Use Policies" (2), defines an AUP as follows.

An effective AUP needs to be written in a manner that is clear, easy to understand, and age appropriate. In a school housing a huge range of grade levels, such as the K-8 school where I teach, there should be policies for the various age groups. Ideally, different AUPs would be written for grades K-2, 3-5, and 6-8, each addressing the various developmental levels and technological usage of the children. In a K-8 school, K-2 students have totally different needs than do the middle school students. An AUP should always be written and presented in an age appropriate manner. 

Acceptable Use Policies should be composed of certain key elements. (3) Policies should address Internet safety, appropriate and inappropriate conduct, plagiarism, and ownership/copyrighted material. Most Acceptable Use Policies include, but are not limited to, the following components:

(From: Scholastic: Why Have a Technology Policy in Your School or Library?) (4) 

• Instructional philosophies and strategies to be supported by Internet access in schools
• Educational uses and advantages of the Internet in your school or division 
• Responsibilities of educators, parents, and students for using the Internet
• Code of conduct governing behavior on the Internet
• Consequences of violating the AUP
• Acceptable and unacceptable use of the Internet
• Disclaimer absolving your school division, under specific circumstances, from responsibility
• Internet access and the use of computer networks is a privilege
• AUP is in compliance with state and national telecommunication rules and regulations
• The need to maintain personal safety and privacy while accessing the Internet
• Compliance with Fair Use Laws and other copyright regulations while accessing the Internet
• Signature form for teachers, parents, and students indicating their intent to abide by the AUP

AUPs can be written in many different formats, and choosing the format most appropriate to each age group will be helpful in reaching the students. Younger students would do well with fewer words, possibly accompanied by images. Hall Elementary School uses a brochure style for their elementary students. It is broken down into sections and would be easy for parents to read to their children.  Accompanying the form is parent permission form, which must be signed and returned to school. I would envision a similar format being used with 3rd-5th grade students.

Another format that I found interesting was one developed by The Nueva School, in which the AUP is set up in a "frequently asked questions" format. This format could easily be adjusted to suite various age levels and be customized to address the technologies used at each level. Question/Answer formats lend themselves to great discussions, brainstorming sessions, and to an introduction of Internet safety and usage concepts using more creative methods, such as a Jeopardy style game. 

Campbell Hall has their AUP set up in a form based on values and the responsibilities of the students, based on those values. Forms and charts are very organized and easy to read and understand. This style of AUP  could be adjusted in many ways, based on the needs of the school. Instead of "values" the first column could be goals, types of equipment, or various areas of technology, such as email, Internet, equipment, etc. This style of presentation, through a chart, could be used with all age levels.

Podcasts can also be used to engage students. This BPS Cybersafety video, developed by the Boston Public Schools, would be a great way to introduce the concepts of an AUP to K-2 students. (5) Creating a short video to introduce the students to concepts that may otherwise be difficult to grasp, bringing those concepts to life through images and animation, would increase student engagement and understanding. Creating a short video or podcast and playing it to the students at school, followed by posting it on the school's webpage and supplying the link to parents, would be a great way to involve parents in the school's Internet policies. An accompanying form with the rules outlined would then be sent home for parents to sign. Success of an AUP requires the understanding and involvement of everyone, in school and at home.

Although AUPs are a required official document, it's important that they are written in common language so that they are easily understood by all. Creating policies that are age appropriate, and not trying to use the "one size fits all" technique, will help to ensure that the developmental needs of the various age groups are met. In order for AUPs to be effective, everyone, parents, students and staff alike, has to understand and be a part of the rules set forth in the policy. Unless all involved are on the same page, the meaning and rules of the AUP will be lost.

Work Cited:

1.  (2015). 1.1 Week 1 Introduction | Designing Digital Media for ... Retrieved February 24, 2016, from http://digitalmediaeducation.org/week-one/.

2. (2015). Children's Internet Protection Act | Federal Communications ... Retrieved February 22, 2016, from https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act.

3. (2014). 1-to-1 Essentials - Acceptable Use Policies | Common ... Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/1to1/aups.

4. (2006). Why Have a Technology Policy in Your School or Library ... Retrieved February 22, 2016, from http://www.scholastic.com/librarians/tech/techpolicy.htm.

5. (2015). Student-Centered Acceptable Use Policy | Office of ... Retrieved February 23, 2016, from http://tech.ed.gov/stories/student-centered-acceptable-use-policy/.

Relative Advantage of Using Hypermedia in the Classroom

What a great exercise in "stretching outside of one's own comfort zone"! I don't mind filming others, but myself, that's a different story. I will now have a better understanding of those students who are hesitant to be in front of the camera. Well, here I am, my debut in, "Using Hypermedia in the Classroom". 

Relative Advantage of Using the Basic Suite for Learning

Relative Advantage of Using the Basic Suite for Learning

Basic Suite is a term that I had never heard used when referring to software, so, in case I’m not alone, I’ll start out by discussing that term. A suite of software is a group of software that is sold together as a package, that have similar functions and can be used together. For years, Microsoft Office was probably the most well known of the “office or productivity” suites. For educational purposed in a K-8 school, the Office suite offered everything that students needed to write reports, create graphs, brochures, and presentations. Currently there are many other options available to teachers, and teachers should check out these options, some of them much more economical than others, before purchasing anything.

In my opinion, Google Apps for Education (GAFE) is the greatest suite available to teachers. First and foremost, it’s totally free piece of cloud based software! There are no hidden costs for the Basic Suite of tools, which in the K-8 classroom, is usually all that is needed. The suite includes Drive (cloud storage), Docs (word procession), Sheets (spreadsheets), Slides (presentation), Forms (survey/quiz), Classroom (create and organize assignments), and many free apps and extensions that can do just about anything. If you need something done in Chrome, “There’s an app (or extension) for that!”

The Google Suite offers advantages to students, teachers, schools, and towns. As I mentioned earlier, the fact that it’s free, is a great advantage in this tight economy. I’m not familiar with other states’ budget processes, but in NH, everything is voted for at the town level, making the submission of a tight budget imperative if it’s going to pass. So for the school and the town, free is always a positive attribute.

When students have access to a GAFE account, because it’s cloud based, whatever they are working on at school can be continued at home. GAFE is also great for collaborative work because of its sharing feature. Students can work with a partner whether together or at different locations. All partners can be working on a document at the same time, facilitating the group collaboration process.

Working in the Cloud is beneficial to parents in a couple of key ways. First of all, parents no longer have to purchase software for the students to use at home. Second, there’s no need to purchase flash drives to transport assignments, and software compatibility is no longer an issue from one computer to the next. Parents can easily monitor what their child is working on and will not have to drive to school to pick up a paper left behind. It's all in the Cloud.

Teachers benefit from GAFE in so many ways, other than the elimination of  the "dog ate my homework" excuse, that it’s difficult to choose the features that are most beneficial.

1. Google Classroom would have to be top on the list. Classroom provides a platform in which teachers can create assignments, share assignments, and collect assignments, in a simple to use environment. The assignments are delivered directly into students' Classroom folder, ready to be worked on. When an assignment is complete, the student submits it at the click of a button. Teachers no longer have to carry stacks of papers home for grading.
2. Google Docs can be used to create assignments and to communicate with parents.
3. Google Sites is website development software. It does not require the use of HTML, so anyone can use it. Although it does take some time to figure out how to navigate the program, it is a very useful tool. We completely redesigned our school’s site this fall, using Google Sites. After creating this site, I’m very comfortable using Sites and training others at the school in developing their own sites. One glitch that we did discover was with the Safari browser on iPhones. The newest version of Safari will not open some of the links. Apple customer service did not know why this was happening and the only fix that they could come up with was to change the view on the phone from mobile to desktop. Hopefully Apple will resolve this problem.
4. Google Forms are great for surveys and quizzes. Surveys are a great way to ascertain where students are academically and customize the curriculum accordingly. Forms can be used with co-workers in planning programs, determining what training is needed, and for interest questionnaires.

One of the areas that I feel needs improvement in the Google suite, is the artistic capability within the software. Students love to create their own illustrations, and as a teacher I feel that it is much more meaningful when students create their own artwork. Google drawings is an app that can be used within the suite, and it’s great for illustrations and diagrams, but lacks in painting features. Mini Paint and Digital Paint are two apps that I have experimented with, but I still prefer Microsoft Paint.

Max's Toolbox is the productivity suite that I prefer for my K-4 students. When they are working on a project in which they need to include original artwork, MaxPaint is the perfect piece of software. Fable Vision's description of this software is, " "Training Wheels" for Microsoft Office" (1), which is a great description of this software because the interface is simple and will not overwhelm young students, while giving them experience on a type of software that they will continue to use throughout their educational career. This software was originally created by Scholastic, and was called Scholastic Keys. It "attaches" onto the Microsoft Office Suite, making Office more "kid friendly" by enlarging the icons and creating an easy to navigate environment. A painting program is embedded into the software making it an all-in-one working environment. The suite includes Paint (MaxPaint), Word (MaxWrite), PowerPoint (MaxShow), and Excel (MaxCount).

Having access to a suite of productivity tools such as Google Apps for Education, Microsoft Office, or whichever product best suits the needs of the users, has the potential to open up many doors for parents, students, teachers and administration. Although these groups have a variety of needs, the versatility of the tools along with the availability of apps and extensions that can be added on, make them a good fit for all. Anyone using Google software can completely customize the suite by adding on the tools that are most beneficial to their personal needs.

Work Cited:

1. Roblyer, M.D. (2016). Integrating Educational Technology Into Technology (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

2. (2011). Demystifying Cloud | Scholastic.com. Retrieved February 7, 2016, from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3755252.

3. (2012). Cloud computing in education - ComputerWeekly.com. Retrieved February 7, 2016, from http://www.computerweekly.com/tip/Cloud-computing-in-education-How-moving-to-the-cloud-can-help-schools.

4. "Max's Toolbox - FableVision Learning." 2011. 3 Feb. 2016 <http://shop.fablevisionlearning.com/maxs-toolbox/fa/shop.detail/productID/2771/>

5. (2014). The Benefits of Google for Education in Higher Ed ... Retrieved February 7, 2016, from http://www.universitybusiness.com/article/benefits-google-education-higher-ed.