Quiz # 2

1)      What school board-approved Internet policies does your district currently have?  Are these policies adequate for your district?  What policies do you need to update or add?

Our district has an acceptable used policy in place and a distance learning policy in place.  We do not have a publishing policy in place.  Our acceptable use policy is updated every year and a pretty good policy.  Of all of our policies in place technology or not, this is the one we spend the most time on since we are a One-to-One school.  It is sixteen pages long and very well written.  Our distance learning policy mirrors Northern State University’s policy which is where the majority of our students take distance learning classes from.  It is well written and has been updated in the last couple of years.  In addition, we also just created a local policy in place that allows students to take distance learning classes.  The classes must be not taught at the local level, the student must get a C or better, and if the class is taught at the local level it cannot meet the student’s schedule without it being a retake.  If the student does not meet all of these criteria, then the student has to pay for the course.  Basically we want the students to be serious about the courses and get a C or better if that class is not taught locally. 

We definitely need to add a publishing policy.  We have the forms that allow us to put the student’s name, student’s picture and put them together on the webpage but we do not have something if we wanted to publish the students work.  This can be easily done in conjunction with the acceptable use agreement for next year.

2)      How should a school district handle the issue of copyright, especially in regard to technology?

I think the main thing in regards to copyright is to educate your staff.  We have it briefly written into our acceptable use policy about “we follow all copyright laws.”  What if you are a teacher that does not know the copyright laws?  I think this is something simple that would take less than an hour to educate our staff on at the beginning of the year at an in-service.  The staff can then educate the students on the issues of copyright.

3)      Is the use of the Internet in schools worth the dangers involved?  Why?  If yes, what can schools do to minimize those dangers?

I definitely think it is worth the dangers!!!  This is the society the students live in!!!  They are surrounded by the Internet with the cell phone, IPod, or computer.  They need to be educated on the proper way to use the Internet.  To minimize the dangers, schools need the proper filters in place, need to monitor students Internet usage, need to educate students and staff on the proper usage of the Internet, and need the proper policies in place.

I feel we have the proper policies in place.  Students are required to attend a yearly meeting about the policies.  They are then given hands on demonstration of what to and not to do during the first week of school in computer classes.  We need to do a better job of educating students and teachers of minimizing the dangers because it is an ever changing technological world.  Three years ago “my space” may have been a popular web 2.0 tool, but now in our school none of our students are talking about “my space.”  This is an example of the ever changing, but we can still continue to educate about the dangers on the Internet.  Teachers and administrators need to monitor students.  Teachers can use the old idea of just walking around the classroom.  They can also use “synchroneyes” with every student’s computer.  As an administrator, I can pull up every student’s computer in the building including teachers.  I don’t do this much but students’ think I do.  So, they are careful of the sites they are on.  The last thing is the proper filter in place.  I feel we have it set up in the middle pretty good with allowing most things but not all things.  There are sites we need to close as the year goes on, but there are also sites we open to allow for educational purposes.

4)      Why should school leaders utilize research when making technology purchases?  What does the current research say about the effectiveness of educational technology?

I think the research can help justify a purchase.  The research is not always going to be positive in regards to technology in the classroom.  As with any research, you can find positive research and you can find negative research.  The research will help determine what is best for your individual school.  The research can prove this works and why it works like improved student motivation, less dropout, better creative thinkers, better attendance and so forth. 

I think a big part of the effectiveness of technology is the “how’ it is incorporated into the classroom.  You can find research for and against the effectiveness of educational technology.  For the most part, it is going to improve student’s motivation and improve student’s creative thinking if the technology is used in the proper manner.  It is going to lower dropout rates and improve attendance, but if the teacher does NOT use the technology effective all studies can be opposite.  Writing tests have been proven to be better with educational technology. 

5)      Knowing that web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, podcasts and social networking tolls engage and motivate students, why do many schools continue to block these powerful tools from students and teachers?  How do school leaders balance safety with access to web 2.0 tools?

I think the “fear” of the web 2.0 tools is the biggest reason schools do not use these powerful tools.  I feel we need to educate students and staff on the proper way to use these tools in the classroom.  They can be a very effective tool if used in the proper form.  Teachers and staff are fearful because they may not be as up to date on the tools as they should, and the students may know more about the tools than the teacher.    Staff is often afraid of the legal issues associated with Web 2.0 tools in regards to students misusing them as well.

Students spend a good portion of their day using these tools, but yet we don’t use them in the school setting.  This does not make sense.  I know administrators including myself and teachers that are worried about children’s safety.  Web 2.0 tools open students up to an entire different realm.  We need to educate these students on how to use the web 2.0 tools properly.

The bandwidth in schools is also an issue.  Web 2.0 tools use a greater bandwidth causing many problems in the schools.  This is the easy way out many people use as to why web 2.0 tools are not used in their schools.

I think safety with access to web 2.0 tools in schools is balanced in four main ways.  The first way is to filter the things coming in to the school.  All schools have a firewall.  The firewall should block your viruses and your pornographic websites.  A quote in the class from Terry Gerber I liked was “at home do you lock your doors at night to keep your kids in or to keep the bad out?”  This quote was in relations to the firewall.  Now, how much other is blocked can be determined by the other three ways to balance safety.  If they are solid, you do not need to filter as much, but if you don’t have good policies or the students are not monitored then you may need to filter more in your firewall.  This brings me to the second way to balance safety and that is monitor students.  Students have been monitored for years, but now if they have a computer in their hands and being quiet some teachers do not monitor them.  This does not make sense!!!  We need to monitor the sites the students are on and the things they are doing on the computer.  The teachers and the administrators need to monitor students.  This to me is one of the main factors of insuring proper use of the Internet.  A third main factor to balance the safety is having the proper policies in place and enforcing them.  If students know they are going to suffer consequences by being on a certain site, then they will avoid those sites or at least not be on them for a half hour.  The fourth way is we need to educate students to use the Internet the proper way.  Technology is like any other subject.  They need guidance.