My school, St. Francis Xavier School (SFX), in LaGrange, IL, has an Acceptable Use Policy for students and
parents as well as one for teachers and staff. These policies align with the
regulations set forth by the Office of Catholic Schools within the Archdiocese
of Chicago.
Copies of these policies can be
viewed here:
Upon re-reading through both of
these policies, (yes, I did read through the faculty one when asked to sign it!)
I found both of them to be comprehensive and clear. The opening statement on
the student/parent version explains that the purpose of technology at my school
is to promote “resource sharing, innovation, and communication with the support
and supervision of parents, teachers, and support staff.” It goes on to further
state that these technology resources are a privilege and not a right. That
opening clearly summaries and expresses my school’s goal with using technology.
These resources are intended to enhance learning, and it is necessary to have
adult supervision in order to ensure that students are using the resources
appropriately and gathering reliable information. Furthermore, I believe it is
important to explain that the use of these resources is definitely an advantage
to learning. I think students especially need to understand that using them is
like a special treat, and they should not think that it is a must for them to
be using technology in order for them to learn and do their work. I am not
referring to assistive technologies here, but I believe it is important to make
the students feel grateful that they are able to use these resources so that
they use them appropriately.
I also like that the student/parent
policy expresses that the advantages of using technology outweigh the
possibility of students coming across information that may not be in line with
the school’s goals. I have had students in the past conduct research on Greek
gods or Catholic saints where some of them have come across information that
may not be appropriate for school. Some sources that talk about the Greek gods
mention too many love scandals, while some of the saint research involves
describing gruesome details about their deaths. While I want my students to
research and learn more about topics, I get nervous sometimes when they come
across some of this information. I think, “Will a parent contact me?” Nevertheless,
with this statement being in the policy, I feel better since we can’t hide
all information on the Internet from students.
We need to give them freedom, but at the same time, it is important to
supervise them.
The faculty version explains
similar points, but also goes into detail about appropriate staff usage of
equipment and resources. It states that when using a school device, we need to
conduct ourselves professionally. At the same time, if we are doing work for
school on our personal computer, we also have to understand that the “spirit of
the policy applies” whenever we are doing a task for school. I like that it states that they understand if
teachers need to use their work computers for occasional personal use since
the lines between professional and personal lives can mesh.
The faculty version also discusses
social media and states that faculty and staff must take caution when posting
anything on these sites that may affect how they are viewed professionally.
Teachers and staff are warned against posting anything that may harm the school
community’s reputation. Student work or images of students may not be posted on
personal sites. We did have a violation of this rule at my school last year. A
teacher posted an example of some student work on her personal Facebook. The
student’s name was crossed out, but a comment was made about the work that was
inappropriate. Pictures of the post were shared among faculty who were friends
with the teacher, and it ended up being shared with the principal. This teacher
did receive disciplinary action for this violation.
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Overall, I am in line with both
polices, and I am glad that I spent time reviewing them. It reminded me of
things I need to remember to follow. For instance, my school’s policy states
that teachers need to direct students to specific sites when researching and
not permit a free search on websites. While I certainly do direct students to
helpful and reliable sites, I feel that it is hard to avoid having the students
do free searches. Sometimes that’s a natural thing that happens when
researching. Despite finding this specific policy challenging, I feel that my
school is on track with having these policies in place.
