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Personal Technology and Social Media Usage and Conduct.
Here is a quick overview of the policy
1. The policy only regards employee's use of their own personal technology and social media
- staff is required to use cooperative provided or supported methods to communicate with students and their parents
- it can not interfere or disrupt the educational environment or process
- refrain from using the Cooperative's logo without permission
- must comply with all other cooperative policy's
2. Use of personal technology and social media must:
- only be used for personal use
- be used only during duty free time
- only be used during times and at places that will not interfere with job duties, educational environment, and learning activities
3. Assume all risks that go along with the use of personal technology and social media at school or school sponsored activities
- includes students viewing anything inappropriate
4. The rest covers what will happen if found violating the policy and how administration will communicate the cooperative's policy with the employees
That's it........
A few things that I noticed:
- there is no mention of what you can and cannot do on ECHO provided technology
- no mention of student use of social media on personal devices or on ECHO technology
- no mention of educating students on safe practices when navigating social media and the use of the internet
Needless to say that I was disappointed with the cooperative's narrow view of the use of technology and social media. I am still in the process of learning what a healthy school policy looks like, but I am sure that it would be much more robust and encompassing than what my cooperative currently provides.
I still have much to learn about technology and social media usage policy
...... and so does my district.
Thanks for your thoughts on what is lacking in the policy. Perhaps after reading about everyone else's policies this week you'll be able to make some solid recommendations for your district.
ReplyDeleteHello Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I agree with you when you say the technology policy is very vague. That makes is very unclear and confusing for teachers that want to make technology a party of their everyday classroom. When the policy says that the teacher can only use provided methods, does that mean they have shown you a list? What happens when you find a great new tool? By the the time it is approved to use in class, the moment may have passed. It is surprising that the policy is only pertaining to how the adults use technology. I'm interested to see how this changes in the future as students use more and more technology in their learning. Thanks a lot.
Theresa
My district has several loopholes and missing information as well. For example, my district's policy states that students may communicate with teachers using district-approved social media platforms, but in no place does the district specify what these platforms are. I may be over doing things, but I try to get written consent from our district's technology specialist before embarking on any new platform, just to have some kind of reassurance. I always save these emails in a file, so I can refer back to them.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher and student advocate, I'd like to see some firmer language in district policies to protect and guide employees, students, and families. However, I know that the laws are in flux about this, and new platforms are constantly being created.
Hi Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteMy school's policy was very similar to yours, in fact, it use much of the same wording. We also have a "communicating electronically with students" policy, which adds more detail and clarifies the vague wording in the social media policy.
I agree that the wording needs to be more clear cut, however, technology is constantly changing, so I understand way the policy may be kept vague on purpose. Thanks for sharing!
Hello Bonnie,
ReplyDeleteI like your schools policy for social media. It at least allow you to use it on duty free time. Ours state you can't use their network to engage in social media at anytime.lol I love it. We are really out of date.