How are the Internet and information technologies in schools to be utilized? Would Internet access support the philosophies of the school? What are the responsibilities of teachers and students regarding the use of the school's IT facilities and Internet? The response to these questions can be found in a school's IT and Internet Policy also known as the Acceptable Use Policy in the Cyber realm. From my laborious research which was nevertheless fruitful, I gathered much information which allowed me to re-design and publish this IT and Internet Policy for my primary school.
The research process was time consuming and demanding. Many hours were spent trying to locate IT and Internet policies or information regarding these on the Web. In fact, it required me to be very selective in my compiling the data. Although Internet policies are somewhat universal, the ones chosen had to be specific to the culture and had to be inclusive in its outlines. Our schools in Grenada are not connected through the Internet according to districts or so, so the policies identified had to appeal to single independent school settings. When this information was not available, as with most of the references used, I had to be innovative and adapt the information so that it can appeal to my primary school. This is definitely time consuming and energy expending but is certainly worth the effort.
The Web publishes information that is both credible and relevant but it can also be used to do just the opposite. Sites are definitely credible and secure if I see an 's' at the end of 'http' indicating that the protocol is secure. So I checked for the 's'. Also I looked to see the kind of website it is: .com, .edu, .gov, .org. Usually the information in educational, organisational and government websites can be trusted and can link back to a trusted author. Generally also, the information is updated and provides a way to contact them in case of any problems.
After having researched information regarding Fair Use and Copyright law, among others things, I wonder how much of that I actually adhered to as I used public Web information to create the Policy!
No comments:
Post a Comment