THE INTERNET IN THE CLASSROOM: A LOOK AT SCHOOL MEDIA POLICIES

The Internet In The Classroom: A Look At School Media Policies Curtis A. Gay Georgia Southern University Summer 2011

POLICY ONE St. Thomas Episcopal School. (2010). School media policy. San Antonio, TX. http://stthomasschoolsatx.com/socialmedia.pdf This policy was clearly very new because it was add as an addendum to the regular student & parent handbook. This shows that the school is making a conscience effort to embrace the students' use of the various tools on the internet. The policy also mentioned that the school board would be willing to consider unlocking/allowing other websites for use if they were formally brought to their attention by teachers or media staff. The policy was divided into four main sections: general guidelines, faculty/staff guidelines, student guidelines, and parent guidelines. I liked the fact that the policy was written in very simple terminology, which made it easy to understand and to refer to in the future. It also made a very good point about excepting responsibility to teachers and to students. It stated that mistakes will be made from time to time, but the important thing is that one owns their errors and corrects them as opposed to trying to cover them up. That demonstrated the school's willingness to try new things. The faculty/staff section of the policy contained a detailed subsection on wikis and blogs. It stated that all teachers must use a disclaimer at the end of each page or post to protect the school. The student section of the policy however did not contain a specific subsection pertaining to wikis and blogs. It only made one particular comment on wikis and blogs; it stated that all written work contributed to wikis and blogs must be grammatically correct just as it would be on paper. This policy could have listed what they deem as appropriate websites for teacher/student use as of the time of publication, being this is such a new concept to many teachers and parents. This would have provided them with a starting point to do some exploring of their own.

THE INTERNET IN THE CLASSROOM: A LOOK AT SCHOOL MEDIA POLICIES

POLICY TWO The Pingry School. (2011). Social media & internet guidelines. Martinsville, NJ. http://www.pingry.org/page.cfm?p=887 Like the policy before this one it is very readable and easy to understand, however I feel this is an example of a policy that does not quite hit the mark. At least by having a policy in place and available to the public by way of the internet is much more than many schools, but I feel the tone for this policy was set incorrectly in the opening paragraph. The last sentence is as follows: When accessing, creating, or contributing to any blogs, wikis, podcasts, or other social media for classroom or, in most cases, personal use, we expect you to keep these guidelines in mind. At first, this statement appears to be a strength of the policy by acknowledging the fact that most students and teachers are going to not only be using web tools for classroom purposes but also for personal use as well. That is very forward and modern thinking on the school's part. The policy also does a great job of recommending to teachers and students to create separate accounts for school and personal use. It also discourages teachers from communicating with parents through these various social media tools; it states that sensitive information should be relayed via a more formal method. After having read the entire policy, one realizes that over 90% of the time it is focusing on students' and teachers' personal use of internet tools and very little on how to enrich the educational process. This policy practically is inviting students and teachers to use the internet for recreational activities while working with school computers and technologies. I am sure that is not what they expected to be the perception after one

reads their policies, which leads to me to suggest that this policy be modified for the next school term. POLICY THREE Dedham Public Schools. (2010). Dedham public school web 2.0 policy. Dedham, Ma. http://www.dedham.k12.ma.us/technology/policies/Web_2_Policy.pdf This was by far the best of the three policies that I compared in this report. It had a clear purpose and made sure the purpose was addressed properly in a way that was functional and relevant to students and teachers. The policy recognizes that it is the school district's responsibility to present a learning environment, that uses technology, that allows freedoms based on student maturity. Therefore they leave the power in the hands of the students as to what extent technology plays a role in their learning. Because the district is very much aware of their legal and ethical obligation to provide a safe learning environment for their students, they have taken care to make sure their policy reflects those beliefs. The policy allows for a digital paper trail to be made of all interactions made online. It is well mapped out, so that all comments or posts can be monitored and revisited if needed. It also asks that students never engage in any interactions (chatting, video conferencing, etc) alone, so as to not taint one's integrity. Another benefit of the policy is that it allows teachers to set consequences for online misuse. Usually, anytime the teacher has more control in his own classroom, there tend to be less discipline problems. The district has also created a sequence of events that a teacher would need to complete if they would like to see a particular web tool, not already covered in the policy, made available for student access. This shows their disposition toward emerging technologies is flexible.

THE INTERNET IN THE CLASSROOM: A LOOK AT SCHOOL MEDIA POLICIES

I did not find any major weaknesses to this policy. It is evident that the Dedham Board of Education has thought through how they want to incorporate technology into their classrooms. The only issue I have considered is that because their policy on web tools like blogs and wikis is so thorough, are the teachers adequately knowledgeable on how to incorporate these tools into their instruction? If not, then having the great policy would really be to no avail.

District Policy On Using Web Tools Student Use

Publishing your work or ideas on the Internet is a very public activity. You should think carefully about anything you publish. Even if you delete something after you have published it, it can be found on the web for years afterward. You shouldnt publish anything you wouldnt be comfortable with anyone viewing e.g. from parents to future employers. Please adhere to these guidelines at all times when working with web tools. Do not publish any personal information (last name, photos, etc.) Never engage in interactions with others who are not in your class, of any kind, by yourself. This way someone can always validate your actions, if needed. Conduct yourself in the same manner that you would in the classroom. Be respectful of others' thoughts and opinions. Think of the internet and its resources as an extension of the classroom. The only contributions that you should be making to discussions should pertain to the appropriate standards that are being covered in your class. All written work put forward should be of the highest quality. It should be proofread and corrected before final submission, just as it would be in the classroom. All work submitted must be original. If work or ideas of others are used or relied on, then proper citations must be used. When in doubt, seek guidance from the teacher or media specialist before making a choice that leads to critical consequences. Remember that you are representing the entire school district when you publish to the internet, so represent us with pride. Understand that using the internet is a privilege and not a necessity. If you abuse that privilege, then it can be taken away.