Executive Summary
Technology has become a major focus of our school district in recent years as a way to meet and exceed national and state educational expectations for our students. As quickly as the world of technology changes and improves, our school district must follow this pattern by updating policies regarding technology and its usage. If our school district remains content with the current technology policies we may fall short of expectations, fail to take advantage of excellent opportunities, and risk dealing with legal or public relations concerns. Within this document are a series of policy briefs intended to guide the school district’s decision-making procedures. These policy recommendations are supported by professional and educational references and include both potential benefits and disadvantages.
The first policy brief involves access to technology, the digital divide and special populations. The policy recommendations noted call for the inclusion of training for teachers and maximizing the utilization of school resources for special populations. Training teachers how to use and apply various technologies in the building and on the internet may greatly increase the chances to improve the education of teachers and students. Scheduling time for students to utilize resources in school to assist in their educational development may help to overcome the lack of resources outside of school.
The second policy brief involves the issues of copyright and fair use of resources. The policy recommendations noted call for the inclusion of training for teachers and the monitoring and enforcement of the policies. Training teachers regarding the issues of copyright and fair use can be done in-house or outsourced to include experts. The monitoring and enforcement of copyright and fair use issues within the school district must be handled internally. In the event an outside entity had an issue with specific copyright or fair use situations within our school district, the ramifications may be severe.
The third policy brief involves our teachers and students accessing information and resources and establishing validity and accuracy. The policy recommendations noted call for a structure to the guidelines teachers and students follow when using information and resources, and determining what types of information and resources will be deemed acceptable to use in school. To have all teachers and students focused on doing their best to prove accuracy and validity, a set of guidelines specifically set by the district or by the individual teacher should be established. The other aspect recommended is to decide on whether to only allow the use of educational databases or to open the accessibility to the entire internet.
The fourth policy brief involves the privacy and security of personal information about teachers and students. The policy recommendations noted call for the establishment of a structured system of accessibility of student records designed to protect privacy, and a set of guidelines and rules to be used by administration when monitoring and enforcing teacher conduct regarding personal information. Student records should be grouped in levels that determine the need for specific people to have accessibility. Certain information should not be disseminated to teachers, while other information is needed daily. During work hours and while using work issued equipment, teacher may be transmitting a variety of personally information. Clear procedures and rules should be established for administrators to properly handle situations of privacy and security, as well as, for teachers to be aware of what is expected.
These four policy briefs are discussed in more detail in the following pages. Benefits and disadvantages possibly associated with each policy recommendation are discussed. Please utilize the references provided at the end of the document to assist in the clarification and substantiation of these policy briefs.
Technology Access, the Digital Divide and Special Populations
Policy Brief
Our school district has been progressive with increasing the accessibility of technology to enhance the educational environment. However, there will always be concern that we are not doing enough to decrease the digital divide for two very important populations, students and teachers. Increasing the knowledge of teachers and students in regards to technology can decrease the digital divide internally. The digital divide that exists externally for specific special populations with limited resources and opportunities has a chance to decrease as well. The benefits and disadvantages of two approaches our school district could take in the near future to increase our knowledge and skills involving technology are described in this document.
Considering the need for the faculty to be thoroughly educated to maximize the potential of our current technological resources and many web-based applications, establishing formal training sessions must be considered. Trainings for half-day, full-day or multiple day sessions are options associated with learning about the benefits of technologies, as well as, practicing how to use them. The type of technology, accessibility in and out of school, amount of time needed to adequately train teachers, and trainer resources will need to be researched and organized.
The benefits associated with providing adequate training of technologies for teachers are building confidence in skills to begin establishing resources, immediate use in class, critically thinking about providing for student needs, and assessing approaches to meeting state standards for subject matter. The disadvantages are scheduling professional development days, funding, volume of demand for specific technologies, and follow up on teacher development.
Considering the array of student needs associated with technology and the digital divide, gathering data regarding the inaccessibility of technology outside of school to improve the options within the school day for students must be considered. Some issues to be examined are methods of obtaining information regarding the levels of inaccessibility for all students, what inaccessibility issues can be remedied in school, scheduling conflicts, and staffing needs.
The benefits associated with gathering data regarding student technology accessibility outside of school are teachers gain knowledge to use as they approach educating students in and out of class, student development of skills, student ability to use technology outside of a specific class, and improved completion and quality of assignments. The disadvantages to overcome are the logistics involving space and computers, scheduling to meet minimum graduation requirements, staff scheduling or cost for more employees, and communication between staff regarding class work and the necessary technology resources.
The issues presented regarding access of technology, the digital divide and special populations must be examined to assist in enhancing our school district’s policies for technology in the school setting. In my search for knowledge regarding these topics and how they could apply to our schools, one source of a variety of reliable, research-based information was the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory.(2) Further supporting information to help our district develop policies regarding the digital divide and our special populations can be found in the source noted at the end of this document.
Copyright Policy Brief
For the administration, faculty and staff in our school district, the accessibility to various resources has grown dramatically with the enhancement to our technology options. With the increased accessibility comes the need to establish an understanding of the copyright laws and fair use guidelines for educators. The complexity of copyright laws, vagueness of fair use guidelines, as well as, the ease of resource accessibility has created a situation for content users who are now in need of clarification.
As the district prepares to establish its copyright policies for all employees, one aspect to consider is how the information will be clarified and disseminated. Training sessions provided by professional attorneys or organizations devoted to copyright education is an option within the policy. A benefit of this approach is the level of expertise of the trainer. Experts have a wide range of knowledge, experience and informative documents to apply to our specific setting. The disadvantages of using an outside resource to train district employees are the amount of time and money associated with researching the options and the actual training itself.
The other direction to go with this part of the policy would be to keep the training in-house. With the magnitude of resources available online, our district could assign a team to build a training program. The extent of the training could then vary from the cost effective use of informative handouts to the more comprehensive analysis of examples and situations typically occurring in the district. There would be possible costs accrued from the employees working on the team, but based on the extent of the district’s entire policy on copyright and fair use, the amount of hours spent developing the training materials and program could be limited.
With these two options in mind, the creators of “The Copyright Site,” an online resource for educator copyright issues, offer advice when researching information. The disclaimer proposed by Dr. Vivian Wright and Dr. Susan Lucas, both Professors of Education at the University of Alabama, indicates that although they have provided a great deal of information, compiling several sources to compare issues of copyright is recommended. Another key point offered is, “we’re not lawyers. We’re educators. If you’re in doubt, ask a good copyright attorney.”(4)
A second aspect of establishing the district’s policy on copyright and fair use is monitoring or enforcement. According to Stanford University Libraries and Academic Information Resources, “Most unauthorized use is never discovered, after all -- there are no copyright police roaming the nation's classrooms.”(5) SULAIR also indicates, “In the past 200 years, only a handful of copyright infringement suits have been brought against educators.”(5) With this in mind, monitoring or enforcement of copyright and fair use rests in the hands of the school district.
Self-regulation is going to be necessary, but procedural guidelines will need to be set for employees to follow. To keep the copyright and fair use district policies in mind throughout the school year, employees will need to have ready access. Identifying locations where employees will most frequently need the guidelines is important to recognize.
Other monitoring or enforcement strategies may include peer reviews or administrative checks during informal walkthroughs. Departmental meetings regarding recent examples of copyright and fair use situations would allow for honest review without penalty. Communication of various anonymous situations could occur throughout the school. Administrations’ use of informal walkthroughs would help to build awareness of the concern for any infringing activities, but without penalty. Major reoccurring problems can then be handled long-term through collaboration between union members and administration.
The copyright and fair use policies and guidelines are in need of frequent review by all educators. The ramifications are too serious to simply leave it to chance that no legal action will ever be taken. With the distribution and access possibilities via the internet increasing the chance of infractions by educators, incorporating and managing copyright and fair use policies within the school district is necessary.
Accuracy and Validity of Information
Policy Brief
The vastness of internet resources has posed an issue with establishing validity and accuracy of information. Anybody can post information, ideas and resources to the internet. With that in mind, not everybody can be trusted to provide content on the internet that is valid, accurate, unbiased, and in the end, educational.
For educators in our school district, independent research for websites to use in the classroom is a common practice. However, what guidelines are they using to validate the information they are finding? Are guidelines even necessary for educators who should be aware of the importance of establishing validity and accuracy on the internet? A policy regarding guidelines for educators to establish validity and accuracy of internet resources is something the school district should consider adopting. The structure of the guidelines is something that needs specific consideration. Two possible structures for the district to consider are educators following a standard set of guidelines or educators establishing their own guidelines to fit the needs of their classroom.
Benefits associated with a standard set of guidelines for all district employees to follow include the establishment of only one system, reflection by employees can be shared and easily related, and educators have the option expand the guidelines to fit their own needs. A disadvantage with one set of guidelines is the lack of specific clarifications with room for interpretation.
Elizabeth E. Kirk of the Sheridan Libraries at John Hopkins University prefaces the need for accuracy and validity guidelines with the following quote: “When you use a research or academic library, the books, journals and other resources have already been evaluated by scholars, publishers and librarians. When you are using the World Wide Web, none of this applies."(3) Excellent resources reside along side the most dubious.” With this in mind, a second thought regarding the establishment of a district policy on validity and accuracy of internet resources is whether or not to structuralize the resources. In other words, is it necessary for the school district to mandate the use of educational databases or to what extent should the entire internet be utilized?
Benefits with educational databases are the consistency of peer review by highly educated professionals, as well as, the variety of publishing dates associated with the information. Historical records and newly reviewed information can both be found within educational databases. The disadvantage is the terminology and depth of information is at a level that is sometimes well above the students’ level of understanding. Time and effort to clarify the information will be necessary in these cases. As for the World Wide Web, the advantages lie in the variety of resources available. Audio and visual aids, as well as, informative websites can be utilized for a variety of educational needs. The disadvantages occur with the obvious need to spend time evaluating and comparing the material with several other sources to check the validity of a website.
The school district’s policy on establishing the validity and accuracy of web resources by its educators is important to consider. The major issues involved are the amount of autonomy educators will maintain when researching resources, as well as, what types of resources should be available. A system for educators to follow will allow for the issue of validity and accuracy within web resources to become a concern for students as they build skills and determine their interests.
Privacy and Security
Policy Brief
The variety of technological tools used within the school district allows for extensive educational research, skill enhancement, and communication. With those possibilities and the many underlying benefits associated with technology come issues concerning privacy and security. As a crucial community entity that houses vast amounts of personal information, as well as, connects to the outside world of internet communication, the school district needs to formulate its policy regarding privacy and security.
Safeguarding the personal information of employees and students is a major issue of both privacy and security. Determining the levels of confidentiality for personal information and the levels of accessibility by groups of people is of great importance. Creating a system of hierarchy for organizing personal information into categories of accessibility and determining the various levels of accessibility privileges could be very important. In the case of a student’s personal information, there are parts that are necessary for the school district to have on file, but will not be disseminated to all employees. There are other parts to a student’s personal information that will be accessible, but by only select individuals.
There are two major benefits associated with a system of hierarchy for personal information and accessibility privileges. First, clarifying levels of confidentiality for personal information will drastically diminish the chances of improper access. When confidentiality levels are set up, certain pieces of a student’s personal information can be strictly and clearly separated. A second benefit for a system of hierarchy is the clear delineation of accessibility rights for every employee regarding the students for whom they retain responsibilities. This pre-established limitation of information dissemination allows for employees to be knowledgeable of their accessibility privileges. The benefits associated with establishing a system of hierarchy for accessing a student’s personal information is affirmed by the vague procedure for school personnel presented by Bellingham Public Schools in Washington State. The statement of procedure can be found at the referenced website at the end of this document due to Bellingham Public Schools’ strict, no-use copyright notice.(1)
A disadvantage for a system of hierarchy is that the strict outline of the organization may need to be manipulated at times. Situations regarding students may fluctuate during their time in the school district. Quick adaptations may be necessary regarding personal information accessibility which can be slowed down by an established system of hierarchy.
Another aspect to consider when addressing privacy and security is to establish clear procedures and rules associated with administration’s management of the district employee actions regarding their own personal information. Employees must know what is expected of them in terms of conducting personal matters and relaying personal information on company time and equipment. Analyzing possible methods for the publication and distribution of clear procedures and rules can help to focus a district policy.
A benefit associated with publishing and distributing district rules and procedures is that all employees can have a record on file for review at any time. Employees are directly given the opportunity to review rules and procedures first hand in order to maintain their professional integrity.
A disadvantage of publishing and distributing this information is the cost of materials and employee time needed to complete the job. As schools crunch the budgetary numbers, the expense of publishing the necessary information may not be a feasible endeavor.
Issues surrounding privacy and security in the workplace can be sensitive and time consuming, but the fact of the matter is these issues are necessary to address. As the district develops ideas for configuring policies on privacy and security, reviewing the possibilities presented in this policy brief may prove to be helpful in making decisions.
Conclusion
The world of technology is moving swiftly. The educational system must be flexible and willing to make adjustments based on the technological changes, enhancements and concerns presented along the way. The policy briefs presented in this document were designed to provide guidance and support in the eventually establishment or reconsideration of the school district’s technology and usage policies. Please refer to the references listed below to verify my recommendations or to seek additional information.
References:
1. Administrative Procedure Bellingham School District, 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2009
2. Critical Issue: Using Technology to Improve Student Achievement North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, 2005. Web. 15 Oct. 2009
3. Kirk, Elizabeth. Evaluating Information Found on the Internet John Hopkins University, 1996. Web. 29 Oct. 2009
4. Lucas, Susan, and Wright Vivian. The Copyright Site University of Alabama, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2009
5. Stanford University Libraries. Copyright and Fair Use University of Stanford, n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2009
