"An acceptable use policy (AUP) is a policy that outlines, in writing, how a school or district expects its community members to behave with technology" (Common Sense Media, 2017). AUP's are important to have in place so that students, staff members, and parents/guardians have clear expectations on what is acceptable and unacceptable in regard to technology use. According to Common Sense 1-to-1 Essentials - Acceptable Use Policies (2017), these are some suggestions of what should be included in an AUP:
The overall goal of an AUP should be to keep students safe while embracing technology and utilizing it for education learning opportunities. It's a way of monitoring technology use in an appropriate way and teaching students digital citizenship and responsibility. Finally, it informs all parties of expectations and encourages the users to use technology in an honest and safe way. The best example of an AUP that I found was from the University of Hawaii: Maui College. It was very clear and had a great breakdown of main points by sections. It is concerning that my school's AUP (Papillion La Vista South) does not have a place for stakeholders to sign and date to show that they agree with the policy. This is something that should be updated in the policy. I like that the Millard Public Schools AUP includes a technology application for student use and that the contract needs to be renewed annually. Finally, the Iowa Lakes CC gives a broad policy that I think could have been a little more specific. Again, the policy is just posted on the website so I hope that there is a signature component to the AUP that holds all parties accountable to what the policy entails. Here are some examples of Acceptable Use Policies: Iowa Lakes Community College Millard Public Schools Papillion La Vista South High School University of Hawaii Maui College References: Common Sense Media. (2017). 1-to-1 essentials - acceptable use policies. Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/1to1/aups. Virginia Department of Education. (2017). Internet safety in schools. Retrieved from http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/safety_crisis_management/internet_safety/acceptable_use_policy.shtml.
3 Comments
Kathryn
2/24/2017 08:48:35 am
Good post Ally. Thanks for pointing out that the main goal of an AUP is to keep students safe. I think that a lot of the time the students feel like they are over monitored, or their freedom is being taken away, but in reality, an AUP is there so that they are more free to use the school's available technology. I like how the terms you used like "embracing technology" and "utilizing" give a positive impression of the importance of technology in the classroom, instead of something to fear.
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Jennifer Miller
2/24/2017 05:34:46 pm
Great post! I agree with you that a AUP is not just a negative rule book but also needs to exist to guide users on what technology can do and encourage them to expand their horizons. It is so very important to keep our kids safe. Not only do they have access to many sites that aren't appropriate, their peers also have access. By laying out some rules, we can really be proactive and hopefully minimize the ugly of the web.
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I appreciate your explicit call for the importance of stakeholders assigning their signature to the AUP. I agree that this is a crucial element to the enforcement of the AUP. Without a signature to imply one has not only read the policy but also agrees to abide by it there could be many difficulties in enforcing the policy no matter how extreme the violation. I reviewed Hawaii's policy and agree that it is clear and easy to follow. I looked through your resources and it got me questioning some things about AUPs in genera. Do you think that an AUP for a college will be vastly different than one that would be used for a high school? In my district our policy is outlined at the district level but there is wording within it that calls for consequences based on the offenders age and severity of the policy breach. I assume that such specifics would not be needed at the college level but again, that could create problems when enforcing, especially for colleges that allow students to take dual credit classes.
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AuthorReflection blog for Master's in Educational Technology course EdTech 541 at Boise State University. Archives
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