Acceptable Use of Technology and CIPA (u01a2)

1. “The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet” ("Children's internet protection," 2013). As a result of that, Dallastown Area School District (DASD) adopted Board Policy 815 Acceptable Use of Technology/Internet - a very comprehensive 7 page document - in December of 2000, but recently updated it in June of 2013 due in part to the ever changing technology needs and challenges that schools are facing. As part of the district technology committee, I know that they take CIPA very seriously and are constantly monitoring district policies to make sure we are in compliance. I realize that the specific requirements of CIPA have a lot of grey areas, but I feel that DASD has been very intentional to meet and exceed requirements for student safety. “The Board establishes that network use is a privilege, not a right” (“School board policy 815,” 2013). If students or staff members are found to be in violation, there are very serious consequences. Violations and consequences are clearly laid out in the Acceptable Use Policy, and everyone in the district (administration, teachers, staff, and students) is required to sign the policy each year. CIPA requires that schools have protection measures in place that “must block or filter Internet access to pictures that are: (a) obscene; (b) child pornography; or (c) harmful to minors (for computers that are accessed by minors)” ("Children's internet protection," 2013). DASD uses a Lightspeed filter for internet access. The filter does have different access levels for students than it does teachers and staff. Teachers, staff, and students are all also given individualized log-in accounts that are password protected for use on the network. Not only does this help with safety, it is also able to monitor inappropriate internet/network usage to make sure appropriate measures are taken. 

2. I wholeheartedly agree with Karen Cator from the Department of Education that “teachers need to impose their professional judgments on materials that are available to their students” (Barseghian, 2011). I believe that’s the number one rule to be applied when using new technologies with students. As with CIPA, security is of utmost importance to DASD. With that being said, the DASD Acceptable Use Policy is very firm in that passwords should not be shared and that one should not use a piece of technology equipment logged-in under another’s account. I understand the value of this, but it can be frustrating when a teacher wants to use a website with students that their access is blocked. Often times, teachers will just use their credentials to bypass the filter. This is acceptable if it is the teacher is the one accessing and using the site, but can also be a very gray area. “Administrators, teachers and staff have a professional responsibility to work together to help students develop the intellectual skills necessary to discriminate among information sources, to identify information appropriate to their age and developmental levels, and to evaluate and use the information to meet their educational goals” (“School board policy 815,” 2013). There are no set rules that I could find for gaining more access or bypassing the filter. From experience, I know that you can submit websites to our Help Desk (IT Department) for review. If you submit the website and your justification for student access, it will be reviewed and a decision will be made from there. This year marked the 2^nd year that iPads were being utilized in our district. In order to maintain security on those, apps must go through a submission and approval process before being pushed out as well. Although Nancy Willard from the Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use says, “There is absolutely NO justification under CIPA for the heavy-handed filtering that is preventing effective instruction in schools today” (Martinez, 2008), I must say that I feel more confident in allowing my 2^nd graders access because of the heavy filter our district uses. I’d rather ask for permission for more sites to be unblocked than have to explain later how an 8 year-old accessed something that wasn’t meant for them.

3. In my opinion, DASD’s policy does promote the use of new technologies in the classroom. One of the major reasons I believe in the district’s support is because they have recently created policy 815.1 Acceptable Use of Personal Technology Devices. This is not only opening the door to teacher personal devices, but students’ devices as well. During our many technology team meetings, we had a great deal of discussion about the use of iPods, iPads, tablets, Kindles, cell phones, etc. by both staff and students. I know that the district embraces this type of technology usage because they’ve begun purchasing many of these devices for all classrooms K-12.  It’s been a learning curve as we’re trying to figure out how to use the network filters on all of those devices, but it’s exciting to know that the district is in support of new technology and wants to help students and teachers embrace and use it safely. “Online communications using advanced Internet communication technologies such as blogging, texting, podcasting, and social networking sites offer students an instant, effective vehicle for student expression. The district takes student safety seriously and thus, expectations for blogging, student protected e-mail, podcast projects, or other web interactive use must follow established Internet/Intranet safety guidelines outlined in this policy” (“School board policy 815,” 2013). Teachers and administration are responsible for making sure students are protected and safe, but the district has given their support to trying new technology tools.

References:

Barseghian, T. (2011, April 26). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/ 2011/04/straight-from-the-doe-facts-about-blocking-sites-in-schools/

Dallastown Area School District (2013). School Board Policy 815 – Acceptable Use of Technology/Internet. Retrieved June 29, 2013 from http://www.dallastown.net/cms/lib6/ PA01000011/Centricity/domain/58/agenda%202013/ACTION%20-%20Update% 20to%20Policies%20for%20Public%20Review.%20May%202013.pdf

Federal Communications Commision, Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau. (2013). Children's internet protection act consumerguide. Retrieved from website: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act

Martinez, S. (2008, December 3). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blog.genyes.org/index.php/ 2008/12/03/heavy-handed-filtering-is-a-problem-not-a-solution/