AUP/Policy Discussion

Notes from Edubloggercon breakout session at TCEA 2011

Scott Floyd
White Oak ISD

• Student AUP
• Open wireless
• Students are allowed to bring their own devices and use guest wireless
• AUP applies whether students are on district computers or their own devices
• Being too specific in an AUP can cause problems in the end. What is the next Facebook, Twitter, etc.?
• Better to build a policy around doing the right thing.
• Students should bring tools if it fits their learning style and the class they are in, but are not required to bring their own devices
• District computers provided to the "have nots". Netbooks with DeepFreeze and SD cards for local saving (instead of Thawspace) so students can take the computers home when needed
• Bandwidth use went down when social networking was opened up b/c people were no longer using proxies to get around the filter

How to get started?

• In a large district, start with a pilot at one campus.

Questions/Thoughts/Ideas/General Notes

• What about FERPA? Use anonymous student accounts (Ex: Glogster, Voice Thread, Kid Blogs, etc) or use filtered/managed accounts.
• Teaching accountablility has to start with teachers when you begin to open these tools up.
• Have a plan! Teach how to use iPods, cellphones, etc without them becoming a distraction or discipline issue. They need strategies because this is a new pedagogy.
• Set an expectation that the students and teachers will use technology responsibly
• Bud Hunt from Colorado - http://budtheteacher.com/blog/2009/10/03/would-you-please-block/
• What about CIPA? It is very specific and is usually interpreted too strictly.
• A district committee with instructional tech, admins, technology staff to decide blocking policy might be beneficial for creating filtering policy

How to make things better?

• Get your site based committee involved. Have a plan and present it to administration. Be the pilot campus!
• Get an audience with leadership above the campus level.
• Share the ISTE Nets with them to start - national technology standards for our kids!
• Point out what the TEKS say - are the policies you have in place hindering the coverage of the TEKS?
• Tie the need for improvement to mission statements - empowering students, educating global learners, etc.

Common Sense Tech

Ken Royal of Scholastic Administrator Magazine recently wrote a blog post which resonated with me. As much as I love the world of social media and all of the benefits it has to offer education, I, too, worry about educators who run headlong into using free web resources with K-12 students. Are they really thinking about all of the possible implications of what they are doing?

We really do need to look at consistent solutions, as Ken points out, for multiple reasons including providing quality professional development for teachers as well as student safety and liability protection for districts and teachers.

Below are some of the points that stood out to me in Ken's blog post. I encourage you to click the link and read all of his thoughts for yourself.

• The Royal Treatment: Common Sense Tech
  Remember to be selective, safe and smart in the technology you incorporate in K-12.
  tags: edtech, edtech_leadership, EdTech-Professional, socialmedia
  • 
    
    Use of Twitter or Facebook by educators is one thing, but when I see articles and posts about using social media in classrooms, other than higher ed—it makes me cringe. Any adult using these online options knows how difficult they are to control. Hacking, porn, language, and just the constant updates—by the nanosecond—from all over the world are too uncontrollable for most classrooms—and from what I see, many adults, too.
  • 
    
    Sometimes administrators and educators get so caught up with the cool, that they forget the bigger picture
  • 
    
    At their best, they are the few in each school, or district, pushing the tech envelope. Some do that envelope pushing while working closely within the district, but others work outside that safety net. Today, the latter scares me. Relying on free downloads, cool online sites—with most of those requiring logins—can be unsafe. We need to move beyond the rogue-educator, and support consistent school or district solutions.
  • 
    
    Experimenting with new online tech ideas is one thing, but forcing all into the classroom is not using common sense.

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.