When thinking about internet safety and acceptable use policies, the first place I went to was my district’s handbook. In my school district, the acceptable use policy for technology is the same across all 6 of the district’s schools. This policy is easily accessible for parents, teachers, and students on the district website as well as on each of the school’s websites. This acceptable use policy is written with a mixture of what technology users should and should not do, however most of the policy is written with what should not be done. I think this helps to make it clear what is allowed and what is forbidden. This policy makes no mention of artificial intelligence (AI), however I think this would be a good idea to add moving forward. There is one section about “network etiquette” where I think a statement or two about using AI would fit nicely. A new section specifically about AI would be good too. With so much technology being used throughout the school day, the more specific our acceptable use policy can be, the better.
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Aside from adding a section on AI, one change that I would make to our acceptable use policy would be to add some links to some reader friendly legal information. There are several mentions in the policy about not violating the laws, but no mention as to what those laws are. It would be helpful to hyperlink that to a document outlining (in student friendly terms), what laws that is referring to. These changes would have to be made by our district office technology specialists, and likely would need to be approved by the school board.
While this acceptable use policy is for students, staff have their own as well. In our staff handbook, there is a section about technology use. This section outlines all of the district’s policies about staff technology use. There are also technology agreements for staff members that are signed upon hire.
One line from our policy states “Maintain the security of the network by keeping information, especially passwords and account numbers, private” (2024). After looking at the K-12 Cyber Incident Map, this line felt even more important. I think this website is the perfect one to show students to emphasize the importance of keeping passwords not only protected, but also not able to be guessed, and not the same password for all websites. This is something that so many people struggle with, but this incident map helps to put into context why that is so important, and just how much information is leaked all the time. This is also a good opportunity to talk about internet safety with students and what types of information they should be sharing/where they should be sharing it. When students can see that data leaks happen all the time, even close to home for them, it will help to instill that importance.
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There are lots of other great resources out there that can help teach internet safety and digital citizenship. Google’s Guidebooks to Online Security are a great resource for parents, teachers, and older students. For younger learners, these concepts can be altered to be at an age-appropriate reading level while still getting the important points across. These skills are important for people and students of all ages to really understand in order to have a safe, healthy relationship with the internet and technology.
References:
(2024). Guidebooks. Google Guidebooks. https://guidebooks.google.com/online-security/
Acceptable use. (2024) https://www.wilmette39.org/
The K12 Cyber Incident Map — K12 SIX. (n.d.). K12 SIX. https://www.k12six.org/map
Maddie, I agree that AI should be included in acceptable use policies going forward as teens and children can use technology better than most adults. ChatGPT and other AI tools can be really beneficial for students to provide support in learning. However, there should be expectations placed on these tools so students can understand clearly how they can be used. I liked the links you posted on digital citizenship. It is important that children learn Internet safety and digital citizenship. What are some ways to include this into classroom settings in an engaging way? Thanks for your thoughts Maddie!
ReplyDeleteHello, Maddie! Thanks for sharing your insights about your district's Acceptable Use Policy. Out of curiosity, what are some examples listed under the section Network Etiquette? I quite like the verbiage of network etiquette, and I think it's a great idea to include the use of AI in that section (or to include AI in its own section). Either way, I appreciate your focus on making the policy not only relevant, but also reader-friendly and student-friendly. The Google Guidebooks are fantastic examples of making digital security user-friendly, and I appreciate you sharing that resource.
ReplyDeleteI also found the K-12 Cyber Incident Map to be a great resource for both adults and kids. The interactivity of the map makes digital security feel more real. Rather than a theoretical situation that could happen, the map shows these cybersecurity incidents do happen - and they happen, quite literally, close to home. Do you see yourself using the K-12 Cyber Incident Map in your curriculum? Or do you see it as more of a resource that could be shared with kids and families in your district? Either way, thank you for sharing your insights and your resources!