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Acceptable Use PolicyWith the current push for computer technology in the classroom, many schools are facing a greater liability regarding technology and online learning. Schools can help defuse these problems by adopting an Acceptable Use Policy, or AUP, for the Internet. The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is one of the most important documents a school will produce, as it will outline rules regarding Internet use on school property. Creating a workable AUP requires thoughtful research and strategy.The document must address a number of issues including personal safety, illegal activities, system security, privacy, plagiarism, copyright infringement and access to inappropriate materials. In addition, it should unequivocally rule the school’s technology property for educational purposes only.
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Student’s rights, such as free speech, access to information and due process, should be outlined in the document, as should the consequences for violating the Acceptable Use Policy. Below is A Checklist for Planning, Developing and Evaluating an AUP.
Does the school’s Acceptable Use Policy:
Protect students from objectionable or questionable material?
Protect students from contact with questionable persons who may exhibit deviant or objectionable behavior?
Protect students from materials that encourage students to participate in destructive behavior?
Provide consideration for privacy and access rights for students?
Ensure that the Internet and related school equipment be used for educational uses only?
Does the school’s Acceptable Use Policy:
Protect students from objectionable or questionable material?
Protect students from contact with questionable persons who may exhibit deviant or objectionable behavior?
Protect students from materials that encourage students to participate in destructive behavior?
Provide consideration for privacy and access rights for students?
Ensure that the Internet and related school equipment be used for educational uses only?
Procedures for Developing an Acceptable Use Policy
To achieve the maximum level for the school’s cyber security, it will be important to develop faculty and community involvement. This involvement would include procedures for communicating with school employees and key community members. Formal involvement will include communication strategies that allow for the identification and analysis of issues surrounding cyber security implementation, specifically issues that address policy development, and safety and ethical instruction of students. There are three important goals the committee will meet: (1) studying the issues of cyber security, (2) analyzing the effects an AUP will have on individuals using (3) information technology, and making content decisions regarding the AUP.
When the committee studies cyber security issues, they should set goals in order to address these issues. Committee members should formulate program goals in terms of expected results, such as what the school wishes to achieve when implementing the cyber security plan. Schools usually address these goals in the preamble of the AUP document. As the second level of their involvement, committee members should analyze the cause and effect that the acceptable use policy will have on
individuals who will be subject to its regulations. Since any strategic planning requires knowledge of the community’s make-up, the best way to ascertain information is to survey the present level of practice regarding cyber security. This type of assessment (See Cyber Security Assessment Survey) is valuable because it informs school officials what type of regulatory and protective Internetpolicy members of the community are likely to accept for their children.
Identifying the present level of cyber security practices will help set the boundaries and acceptance of the AUP’s implementation, as well as help in the development of future planning.
As the third level of their involvement, committee members should help develop and organize the content that will be included in the school’s AUP. They would be responsible for describing why the policy is necessary, defining specific examples of what constitutes unacceptable use, and addressing what consequences will occur when individuals violate cyber security policies. The authors have outlined four critical components that committee members should include when formulating the content of the AUP.
As the third level of their involvement, committee members should help develop and organize the content that will be included in the school’s AUP. They would be responsible for describing why the policy is necessary, defining specific examples of what constitutes unacceptable use, and addressing what consequences will occur when individuals violate cyber security policies. The authors have outlined four critical components that committee members should include when formulating the content of the AUP.
