The push for technology integration into today's classrooms in continually growing, and with it comes a greater concern for online student safety. The internet can be extremely beneficial or extremely dangerous, depending largely upon the expertise and supervision of the educational staff who instruct their students in its proper use. To this end, most districts create an acceptable use policy (AUP) to define and enforce a collection of technological regulations. These rules are designed to keep students safe while online and using the school's resources.
According to the National Education Association (NEA), an effective AUP must contain the following 6 components:
-a preamble
-a definition section
-a policy statement
-an acceptable uses section
-an unacceptable uses section
-a violations/sanctions section
The preamble should be used to discuss the necessity of the policy, its goals, and a description of how the policy will be created and implemented. In the definitions section, the key terms are defined. Next, the policy statement should outline what specific devices are covered and under what circumstances the students can use those devices. The acceptable use section defines what students are allowed to do while using computers or other tech resources. The unacceptable use section provides clear and explicit examples of what students cannot do. Finally, the violations/sanctions element should let students know how to respond to, and report violations of the policy (Education World).
Before creating an AUP, careful consideration must be given to the team that is chosen to draft the policy. In order to be considered successful, the AUP must hold substantial weight in the eyes of the students, parents, staff, and community members. To achieve this, many schools create an AUP committee consisting of stakeholders from each of these groups (CoSN 2011). By spreading ownership between these four groups, an AUP can be more easily implemented than if a single party appears to be forcing it upon a district.
Many times, a district's AUP will be sent home to be reviewed and signed by parents and students. By signing the document, the students and their parents are acknowledging and agreeing to the restrictions the district has put in place. Additionally, they are releasing the district of responsibility for students who do not follow the rules of the policy.
Finally, here are several examples of successful AUPs which have been implemented in districts across the United States.
First, from my former school district in Gardner, Kansas:
USD 231 Gardner-Edgerton Acceptable Use Policy
Next, here is an open and crowdsourced AUP which can be used freely by any district:
Edudemic's Open Source AUP
Here is the AUP from Broward County, Florida which also covers the policy's desired outcomes:
Broward County's AUP
Finally, here is the AUP from the Duxbury Public School System of Massachusetts:
Duxbury Public School's AUP
In conclusion, an AUP must strike a delicate balance between protecting our students and allowing them to explore the ocean of knowledge available through modern technology. And if the proper people, time, and resources are devoted to the creation of a district's AUP, this can certainly be achieved.
Resources:
Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), (2011, September 13), "Acceptable Use Policies in the Web 2.0 and Mobile Era," retrieved online from: http://www.cosn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=8139
Education World, (n.d.), "Getting Started on the Internet: Developing an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)," retrieved online from: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr093.shtml
According to the National Education Association (NEA), an effective AUP must contain the following 6 components:
-a preamble
-a definition section
-a policy statement
-an acceptable uses section
-an unacceptable uses section
-a violations/sanctions section
The preamble should be used to discuss the necessity of the policy, its goals, and a description of how the policy will be created and implemented. In the definitions section, the key terms are defined. Next, the policy statement should outline what specific devices are covered and under what circumstances the students can use those devices. The acceptable use section defines what students are allowed to do while using computers or other tech resources. The unacceptable use section provides clear and explicit examples of what students cannot do. Finally, the violations/sanctions element should let students know how to respond to, and report violations of the policy (Education World).
Before creating an AUP, careful consideration must be given to the team that is chosen to draft the policy. In order to be considered successful, the AUP must hold substantial weight in the eyes of the students, parents, staff, and community members. To achieve this, many schools create an AUP committee consisting of stakeholders from each of these groups (CoSN 2011). By spreading ownership between these four groups, an AUP can be more easily implemented than if a single party appears to be forcing it upon a district.
Many times, a district's AUP will be sent home to be reviewed and signed by parents and students. By signing the document, the students and their parents are acknowledging and agreeing to the restrictions the district has put in place. Additionally, they are releasing the district of responsibility for students who do not follow the rules of the policy.
Finally, here are several examples of successful AUPs which have been implemented in districts across the United States.
First, from my former school district in Gardner, Kansas:
USD 231 Gardner-Edgerton Acceptable Use Policy
Next, here is an open and crowdsourced AUP which can be used freely by any district:
Edudemic's Open Source AUP
Here is the AUP from Broward County, Florida which also covers the policy's desired outcomes:
Broward County's AUP
Finally, here is the AUP from the Duxbury Public School System of Massachusetts:
Duxbury Public School's AUP
In conclusion, an AUP must strike a delicate balance between protecting our students and allowing them to explore the ocean of knowledge available through modern technology. And if the proper people, time, and resources are devoted to the creation of a district's AUP, this can certainly be achieved.
Resources:
Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), (2011, September 13), "Acceptable Use Policies in the Web 2.0 and Mobile Era," retrieved online from: http://www.cosn.org/Default.aspx?tabid=8139
Education World, (n.d.), "Getting Started on the Internet: Developing an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)," retrieved online from: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr093.shtml