Reflection On Acceptable Use Policies in Education

I was truly shocked to find that some schools do not have acceptable use policies. This was my intitial thoughts when I read this.

I was acutally shocked that more people's AUP are not more up to date. Is this a common occurance you have come across over your time teaching this subject?The reason I ask is that at our school we have a very living breathing AUP in practice. Every year it is updated so that students and staff know what they can and cannot do with the computers. On top of this every year the staff have to sit through a staff meeting where our admin team go through this policy with us explaining why it exists, changes that have been made and outline what we can and can't do. In relation to students that must also sign an Acceptable computer use policy (similar to a contract) and this must be handed in by every student at the start of the year. They have a 2 week leeway period where after this if the agreement is not returned then they are locked out of the computers. This forms must be signed by parents and students. They will not then be allowed back onto the computers until these forms come in.What is even better than having the policy is the fact that it is also followed and enforced. It gives the teachers something to fall back on when dealing with students and also sets out clear guidelines for staff on acceptable ICT behaviour. The only time it can be a problem with the lock out system is when students have assessment due and they still can't get on the computers at school. But I suppose this puts the emphasis back on the students to comply.

In this day and age and after all of the reading I have been doing on cyberprotection and making sure you look after the students I still find it interesting that many school do not also monitor what students are doing with thier computer use time.