An AUP for Web 2.0
On Friday I participated in a full day planning session for our upcoming 1:1 Tablet PC deployment. Among the many topics discussed was the School’s Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). Although we were focused on the implications of students using a school-owned/parent-leased machine, this section of the policy was what caught my attention:
L. Use of non-[School] Internet Sites for Storing School Content
The School is not responsible for the security or accessibility of content stored on non-
[School] Internet sites, including but not limited to: Google, Yahoo, and YouTube.
While at first glance this may seem to be little more than a minor yet necessary disclaimer, if considered in light of Web 2.0 it represents an AUP paradox; we cannot endorse or support the tools we require students to use.
During the Web 1.0 era, producing, storing, and retrieving digital work was a fairly straightforward process. Content was created locally by individual students using a select group of applications, saved to one of the School’s servers, and accessed through the Intranet. Today, students are working collaboratively and online, able to choose from a variety of tools, and sharing their work on the Internet. Google Docs and Spreadsheets, VoiceThread, Wikispaces, del.icio.us, and a host of other resources have become commonplace; we’ve expanded our students’ opportunities but outsourced our responsibilities.
If teachers are going to use Web 2.0 tools in the classroom, then I think students deserve certain assurances as to the security and accessibility of their work. Google, Yahoo, YouTube and the other aforementioned sites are stable, mainstream, and probably as reliable as any school’s network. But what about other, less established but highly appealing sites? For instance, Animoto has received quite a bit of attention since it launched in August of 2007, but how confident should a student be in “a bunch of techies and film/tv producers who decided to lock themselves in a room together and nerd out”? Animoto, like many other startups, shows great potential, but I’m not ready to make it a mainstay of my curriculum just yet.
That said, how should an AUP and a teacher’s daily practice reflect the transient nature of Web 2.0? Am I naive in thinking we have an obligation to stand behind the tools we choose and overly conservative in my approach? How would you rewrite the policy to reflect our current climate? Or is it just fine the way it is? Let us know….
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February 10th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
I don’t know that I would rewrite the policy. I think it’s just trying to say the school is not responsible for other company’s back up policies on their hard drives.
Does your school guarantee in any way that the school’s hard drives are backed up to protect the loss of student data?
It also seems to say that if the student publishes the work online it is not as secure as if it was on a private drive. The student could also run into trouble with being able to access a file stored online.
I’m hope your teachers are going to be discussing these topics as they work with their students. When reviewing the AUP with the students this could serve as a good reminder to teachers to discuss these facts.
February 10th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Patrick-
Very timely post as you know. You, myself, Scott Meech Derrall Garrison, and Mrs. Durff just discussed this last weekend at the tail end of our protecht meeting. I pretty much agree with Ann’s position on the integrity of web based file storage vs. storage somewhere on the LAN. I think there are no guarantees that everything will be completely safe and backed up anywhere, whether that anywhere be a redundant file server storage system on a LAN or on a network like Google/YouTube/Voicethread.
What I am most interested in is how we go about receiving permission from parents for their children to publish in web based spaces in a developmentally appropriate way and in the safest/least risky way possible for school related work. Also, schools need to be prepared for students to make mistakes when publishing their school work in these forums. These mistakes should then be viewed as teachable moments instead of the school coming up with a knee jerk reaction to this scenario (eg-the school may decide to block access to voicethread/YouTube if a single student posts something that is below the line of common decency). Teachers will make mistakes in this new paradigm by creating assignments that they didn’t perceive as developmentally appropriate (what seems safe to one person may seem very risky to someone else). How will we handle these scenarios? Will we panic and pull the plug on a good initiative, or will we work with and coach the teacher along?
I think students can and should be permitted to post school work and material online in a way that is developmentally appropriate and minimizes risk. What is the best way to go about receiving permission from parents for their kids to do this for school projects?
Great post, Patrick. I’ll be re-visiting this often to see what others have to say.
May 30th, 2008 at 10:31 am
Be sure to check out the CTAP Region IV Cybersafety Project as another comprehensive resource for information on Acceptable Use Policies, Cell Phone Policies, Social Networking Policies and topics related to Legal Issues.
http://www.ctap4.org/cybersafety/