Policy+Resources

Policy Development Resources
Dr. Don Knezek said in this [|audiocast last weekend], which went like this:

We can't continue to give the most powerful tool in recent history for teaching and then take away their ability to teach responsibility and self-monitoring and self-direction...we've taken away the ability of educators to develop that responsibility in students and in students for them to take responsibility for that.

[|We Can't Teach the New Literacies Soon Enough] " Before you say it: it's not the fault of Bebo. Or [|Facebook.] Or any of the other social neworks that our teenagers are using. It's the fault of... us. The whole village. A couple of things that these kids clearly did not know..."

[|Draft Living Sky Policy Development Procedure]

[|Self-publishing and Social Media Guidelines: Pupils] Suggested guidelines for pupils who use social media including weblogs, podcast or wikis for online communication and collaboration as part of their learning activities.

Social Networking Acceptable Use

[|Spies like Us] (great post from Vicki Davis, author of [|Cool Cat Teacher Blog]) Whether or not YouTube is being blocked, it is ON your campus in the form of **miniature devices tucked away in the pockets and backpacks of your students**. Are educators acknowledging this new world where any conversation may be recorded? Are we protecting ourselves and the children we teach from the implications?

[|Policies 2.0: Rules for the Social Web] (slideshow from [|Doug Johnson's] webinair, March 21, 2007) //The dangers to kids in Web 2.0 rises not from what they may find online, but from they themselves put online for others to access.//

[|Banning Pencils and Blogs]

[|Policies getting in the way] (Steve Dembo post - with other links) //With nearly every type of software being represented on the internet in a free, cross-platform, browser agnostic version, why aren’t more schools adjusting their filters and policies to encourage teachers and students to make educational use of these tools?//

[|Six Steps to Managing Internet Access] School districts face a moving target when it comes to keeping students from inappropriate Internet sites. Duval County Public Schools in Jacksonville, Fla., with 140,000 students, has in place a three-part system of filtering, monitoring, and reporting. Information security analyst Jim Culbert explains how it works.

[|AUP's in a Web 2.0 World] With the proliferation of Web 2.0 tools, multifunction cell phones and handheld computers, to name just three, it’s obvious that keeping AUPs up to date requires constant attention. The three big questions concerning these policies are as follows: How often should AUPs be updated, how should they cover new and emerging areas of technology, and how can they be effective without limiting students’ acceptable uses of these tools.

[|AUP 2.0] (David Warlick in TechLearning) It is essential that your new technology use policy is designed not merely as a preventative tool, but as an enabling document that promotes effective uses that solve problems and accomplish goals.

[|Guidelines for Safer School Web Sites] When the school newsletter was sent home with students, exposure was limited to those families with kids in school. Now that most schools have public Web sites, the information on them can be viewed by 2.3 billion Internet users around the world. Many schools have not absorbed the full consequences of this expansion and often expose considerable amounts of personal information about students, alumni, and teachers, putting them (and the student's families) at considerable risk.

[|Have You Googled Yourself Today?]

[|Thoughts] from Karl Fisch (The Fischbowl)

[|Just the Facts About Online Youth Victimization] A series of video in which three researchers discuss solid data that debunks the myths that the press has been propagating for quite some time. For example, one panelists highlights that putting up real information online has no correlation to sexual predation.

[|CoSN to school leaders: 'Think before you ban'] - January 21, 2008 When it comes to Web 2.0 technologies, educators should find a balance that allows for creativity, collaboration, and safety