Reflections on Ethical Issues #2

Second Topic Chosen

Acceptable Use Policies

Description of the Issue

For the district to approve students internet usage within the school system, we had to guarantee that you, the students, would abide by some rules.

Five to Ten Central Ideas

Appropriate communication will be encouraged - anything less is unacceptable. Students need to be taught the rules ethical and legal computer use. Students will be taught safe and appropriate computer social behavior. Students will be told about the use of available and unavailable sites and programs. Students will be educated on the possible lawsuits against the teachers, the school district and even themselves. Students will be taught about copyright infringement and plagiarism.

What Students Can/Should Learn

Acceptable communication will be taught to all students who are using the school computer system. Vulgar language, bullying and disrespectful communication will not be tolerated. Students should learn about the acceptable methods of communicating on-line. Personal information should and will be kept private. The students name/phone number/photos/school information or home address will be allowed to be shared by either the student or the teacher. There will be some discussion about safety and the possible issues that can come out of sharing personal information or meeting with someone who is not a classmate, friend or family. Students will be taught about software/program term of service and what they mean. Some internet programs/sites allow access for free but then they retain the rights to anything that is put on their site. Students will be educated on copyright infringement. They will be told about the proper way to find text, photos, videos and also how to credit the users. They will be told about the possible lawsuits that could arise if one would use the school computers to download illegal items, such as music or copyrighted images, text and audio files. Students will be educated about the school's acceptable use policy and have a signed AUP in place before any computing rights will be given. The educators will go through the policy line-by-line and explain each item to the extent that they students understand what they are to abide by. Parents will be expected to do the same at home. They will learn about the outcomes of not following these rules.