Acceptable vs Unacceptable Use Policy for Technology

Recently, my students worked on a performance task where they had to investigate the interest rates offered by different banks. During the activity some students began mentioning that the webpage was not loading. Walking around I also noticed that they accepted all cookies without hesitation. These curiosities led to a conversation on why certain websites were not loading and whether it was good to automatically accept all cookies. This led to a conversation on internet safety and made me realize that they have had very little training on measures they can take to protect their identity. 

                                                    Image  Source: Pivotal It Blog

The question then becomes who is responsible to teach students online safety? At the beginning of the school year all students receive a student handbook that contains all the rules and policies students must abide. Within the handbook on page 65 students are provided an AUP that reads more like a list of what not to do. At the end of the list students are warned of negative consequences for violating any of the rules. What normally happens is that students blindly sign the usage consent form without actually knowing how to safely or properly use the internet. That is a drastic contrast to how the Boston Public School's state their AUP. They write their policy as "A responsible student will...". I believe that such statements provide a clear guidance for students. In that aspect my school district needs to improve on their AUP. According to Kajeet, the AUP needs to include an introduction, definitions, policy statement, acceptable uses, unacceptable uses, and violations/sanctions. From that list district 201, Morton High Schools, are missing definitions and acceptable uses. The language used could also be more student and family friendly. To improve the policy the district should involve teachers and students, just as the Boston Public schools did. Doing so will help ensure the language is student friendly.

 Image Source: Stanford University IT

Phishing e-mails and scams are pervasive and the responsibility to teach students about online safety and security falls on all stakeholders. That includes students, school staff, and parents/guardians. I consider myself adept at identifying phishing emails and decided to put my skills to the test by taking the Phishing Quiz by JIGSAW. The outcome was that I was unable to identify two of eight phishing e-mails. Unfortunately it only takes 1 time to fall victim. This highlights the importance of continual training. That is something lacking in my school community. Teachers receive a copy of the district policies, but never receive training in regards to internet use and online safety. If we are not trained, how are we to model and teach students?