Regarding my earlier post about CyberSafety, the Electronic Services Acceptable Usage Agreement (ESAUA) is indeed on the S drive and is easily located in the Proformas folder (S:\Proformas\IT\Electronic Agreement Forms). It is worth familiarising yourself with this document as it covers ways that students can protect themselves and our network. There are several points in the agreement that are of particular relevance to my presentation at the staff meeting on the subject of CyberSafety and digital citizenship.

 CyberSafety

There are two points in the agreement that deal with protecting their identity and their electronic possessions:

1.   All users must login and logout correctly using their own name and password.

2.   Students must NOT attempt to find out or give away another person’s password, nor give away their own password.  Trespassing in other’s folders or files is not permitted.

By protecting their passwords online, they are protecting their identity. This means that other will not be able to create material in their name, nor will they be able to reach havoc with their stuff.

There are also points in the agreement that deal further with protecting their identity, respecting the privacy of others and protecting the reputation of the school online (Note: point 8 specifically refers to the publication of images of students): 

4.   All users must behave in a proper way when using the Internet and must not give other people any information about themselves, except with permission from a staff member.  This is both a safety and privacy issue.

7.   If students think there is something they have read or seen on the Internet which is not acceptable, they must tell their teacher immediately.  The problem must not be demonstrated to other users.  Downloading material that is drug-related, pornographic, of a violent nature or detrimental to the College is not permitted.

8.   Publishing of unauthorised material that identifies or depicts Aitken College students, staff or activities, or reflects badly on the School’s image and reputation is not permitted.

9.   Use of the Internet for any activity involving bullying, discrimination, harassment or breach of privacy will be dealt with accordingly.

Digital Citizenship

While at the school, our students should be taught not only how to keep themselves safe online but also how to be good digital citizens. This is a broad topic that involves recognising work that is not their own and obeying copyright laws among other things. In the agreement it is specifically covered in these points:

6.   In their school work, students must say where they found any information they use from the Internet or other online sources (Author, date and URL).

10.  Games are not to be used on any computer unless approved by the College.  (Downloading copyrighted games could result in legal proceedings).

While it is an emerging issue, copyright is something that students will be having to deal with throughout their lives and we need to be good role models when it comes to this. This involves ensuring that any material that we use in the classroom complies with copyright and that we don’t suggest to our students that we endorse breaching copyright in any way.