http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Photo Source: http://blog.safetyweb.com/parenting-children-connect-via-video-playdates/
Working in the library at our school, I have seen many examples of both acceptable  and unacceptable use of computers. We have banks of computers in the library that students may come and use and various times of the day. Most of the screens of the computers are visible from the checkout desk, so it has been fairly easy to monitor. Some of the most common problems have been students going on Facebook or trying to watch YouTube videos which are not related to their education. It has become much harder to monitor students’ use of computers now that our school is going one-to-one beginning with this year’s senior class. Students often sit with their screen away from the desk and will sometimes play games or watch videos instead of concentrating on schoolwork. Students can be monitored remotely while on campus, and they all know that this is part of the computer use agreement. Still, they know that there is a good chance that they won’t be caught, and so far, the consequences for minor infractions are not clear or much of a deterrent.
It is important for every educational institution to have clear rules and regulations regarding computer use and internet access. As technology quickly changes, it is important to keep these guidelines updated. While our school does already have an AUP in place for middle school and high school students, accessible through the online student handbooks, more work needs to be done on these documents to make them more complete. Since there was nothing in place for elementary school, three teachers from our school, as part of the COETAIL cohort, collaborated on creating an Elementary Computer AUP, with a view to add to the existing information available to parents through the school website. Our AUP is viewable here:
CAJ Elementary AUP and Supporting Documents
We worked on outlining a few basic rules for computer use in the library and this will be added to our school’s guidelines for behavior. Most students know the rules pertaining to library computer use, but it helps to have those rules simplified, clearly stated and written down so that they can be referenced should any problems arise. The following “Library Use†topic under the heading “Technology Policies and Procedures†will be added to our staff information database called “Sophie†and will be linked to the student handbooks.
Use of the library computers will follow the Computer Acceptable Use Policy.
The following are procedures specific to the library:
- Use the computers only for schoolwork or educational endeavors. Approved computer games may be found here: http://community.caj.or.jp/library/games.php
- Do not bring food or drink into the library as these may damage keyboards.
- If sound must be enabled for computer use, headphones should be employed.
- Students misusing the library computers may have their privileges revoked.
We also created an AUP Commitment Letter to be signed and returned by the parents of Elementary students at the beginning of the year. This letter is included in the document linked above. Realizing that most of the parents of grade school children have many questions and concerns regarding their computer  use and online presence, we are planning to hold a series of parent tech information workshops where parents can be shown exactly how their children will be using computers, the internet, blogging, etc. An outline of the first two planned workshops is included in the above document.
Because many parents have fears and questions about the safety and use of technology in the hands of their children, it is best to address these issues at the beginning of the year. Knowledge is power and it is also a great motivator to encourage parents to become more involved in their child’s education. With their parents gaining tech experience alongside them, students will be able to expand the boundaries of their learning far beyond the classroom.
Even the youngest elementary students are excited by the things that they can do with a computer and with the information that is available to them. They have such a curiosity about the world and they have such a diversity of interests. It is thrilling to me to see students as young as Kindergarten and First Grade take an intense interest in a range of subjects from slugs to bridges to poetry to singularities. Technology provides such a depth of resources for students of all ages; it is our responsibility as educators to help make the bridge to their quest as singularly safe and as poetically rich as possible.
Hi Ruth – Reading your post about your final project I agree that it is very helpful to have clear protocol for technology use in schools and possibly slightly different definitions of what is acceptable use given the context. I realize that this introduces grey areas that I don’t feel personally prepared to manage with my students but can see that eventually we may have different protocol for technology use in academic environments at school versus non-academic settings. As an example some of the fun I have in the staff room comes from sharing websites etc that don’t necessarily directly relate to the work we do but then sometimes after some thinking and processing come back around to influence our thinking or even become useful in the classroom.
Outside of these little side thoughts, the point that resonated with me most strongly about your project is that we need, as you have done, to help our students learn to identify rules that will help them manage their own technology use in the long term. I know when I am trying to get actual work done, there are some taboos that I have in place for myself such as no facebook, no tab switching when I need to dedicate time to something, or to be aware of time even when I am completely absorbed by something so that I don’t find myself awake at 2am still facing the screen only to be exhausted the next day. I think models of responsible use, like you have created, are helpful in instilling these patterns for the long haul. Thank you for sharing your project online.