|
August 15, 2002
Net-Wise Teens: Safety, Ethics, and Innovation (cont'd)
Implications for Schools
 | | Caryn Gregg, technology coordinator at the Prospect Sierra Middle School in El Cerrito, Calif., hasn't seen major abuse of the school's AUP. In one incident, however, two students caught changing their desktop settings were assigned the task of cleaning out sounds and other files that didn't belong on the school's computers. |
To be sure, more and more kids in the middle and high school years are sophisticated computer users-good news for schools looking to incorporate Internet technology into the curriculum. Unlike their elementary counterparts, however, kids in this age range are more resistant to adult supervision (certainly at home), and more apt to push the legal and ethical limits of what they can do online. They're also not necessarily discerning when it comes to evaluating the information they find. What follows are some practical steps educators can take to address all of these issues, and in the process, keep up with their students' natural bent for the Internet.
Reexamine Your AUP
By now, your school or district has an acceptable use policy addressing thorny issues such as student e-mail ethics, plagiarism, and inappropriate Web surfing. Most likely informing your AUP is the Children's Internet Protection Act, which requires schools to adopt filters and an "Internet Safety Policy" in exchange for E-rate and Title III technology funding (for more information on CIPA and current challenges to this legislation, see Trend Watch).
CIPA requirements aside, how should schools be refining their acceptable use policies to keep up with what we know about student Internet use? Here are some suggestions from several experienced technology coordinators I talked to.
Don't ban communication outright. Given that kids are flocking in droves to e-mail and instant messaging, schools should continue to set clear guidelines about acceptable use of these tools-but be careful about eliminating them altogether. At Prospect Sierra, for example, students can get permission to access their Hotmail and Yahoo accounts to grab a project file or log onto their New York Times accounts to do independent research. Other schools find that allowing e-mail at designated times works well. Another alternative to banning e-mail is to use products that limit kids' access to outside e-mail and chat, such as Gaggle and FirstClass.
Increase Student Productivity: Check Your Network
AUPs and filtering help to reduce negative Internet activity at school, but fine-tuning your network can also go a long way. Tech director Jerry Crystal offers the following suggestions.
- Set students' network profiles so they can save work only to the school server as opposed to a local hard drive. This makes it easier to keep track of all student work and ensure that it's school related.
- Put the kibosh on gaming and music downloads by setting network profiles to prohibit computers from downloading executable files or running CD-ROMs.
- Place limits on network access-from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., for instance-to eliminate the possibility of students connecting after school hours.
|
Be inclusive. In the four or five years since most schools created their first AUP, there has been an explosion of low-cost handheld gadgets that can communicate with each other and outside networks. As a result, the potential for kids to use their PDA or cell phone to beam notes to each other, or gain access to the Internet, is a very real possibility. In your AUP, expand your definition of "computer" to include handheld devices, cell phones, and calculators.
Address the use of outside equipment. You've probably heard the story of the teenager who took his brand-new laptop to the school parking lot at night and discovered he was able to gain access to the school's wireless network. Instances like this may seem far-fetched, but students toting their personal laptops to school and plugging into the network-whether wired or wireless-are not. If you haven't already, add a clause to your AUP addressing the use of unauthorized equipment.
Be positive. Jerry Crystal, former director of technology for Bloomfield Public Schools in Bloomfield, Conn., recommends writing an AUP from a "positive versus negative" perspective. For example, in addition to telling kids not to copy another's work, words, or images without permission, Bloomfield's AUP states: "Always correctly quote your sources for reports, projects, or Web pages. Use free clip art sites or create your own graphics for projects."
State consequences. Outline specific consequences for violating the AUP in the AUP document. For first-time offenders at Bloomfield, this means a call home to parents. For second-time offenders, their parents are contacted, their school Internet privileges are suspended for two weeks, and they must sit through Saturday detention. (You can find the full text of Bloomfield's AUP.)
Talk about it. Use the AUP as a starting point for discussing ethical issues with your students. What constitutes plagiarism? How can students improve note-taking methods so they can avoid paraphrasing? Why are Napster, KaZaA, and other file-swapping services so controversial?
Next Page: Keep Parents Informed > > >
< < < Return to Introduction
Read other articles from the August Issue
Send a letter to the Editor in response to this article.
|
