Written by Well.. here it is! After doing research on many different AUPs out there and deciding what would work best for my school, together with a focus group of colleagues on our tech team and input from two of my fellow COETAILers, we now have an AUP that fits our Lower Elementary division (PK-Grade 2). There was quite a bit of discussion on how to begin. I think it will make it easier if I list my/our thoughts below.
* We decided early on that we wanted our document to be in kid friendly language.
* The document should have an area where the children can mark their understanding of the agreements.
* I found out that our current AUP was one document, designed for all grade levels. The document went home with a million other documents on the first day of school to be signed and returned. I found this to be a problem. It does not give the teachers time to discuss the technology policies with the children and explain to them the different technologies they will be using. When I went looking for my classes signed AUP documents, I only found that two had been turned in at all! This led to the decision that the AUP should be sent home SEPARATE from other forms the kids have to bring home on that first day. This document is meant to be sent home 3 weeks after school has started, to give the students plenty of time to be introduced to the different technologies and the teacher time to discuss the AUPs with the students and what they mean.
* The AUPs should not be a “one document fits all”. For Lincoln School, it would work best to have LES (lower elementary), UES (upper elementary), Middle School and High-school to be separate documents. They all have different types of equipment that they are able to use and expectations are more as they get older. It might be possible for 8-12 to be one document. It seems that the high school and adult technology AUPs can be almost, if not exactly the same. For my purposes, I have chosen to write the LES AUPs because that is the division I am in. (This has encouraged the tech team to consider new ones for the UES and Middle School).
*This should be a document that promotes a safe digital environment and written in positive language.
*The document should also be kid friendly to look at it, like a fun flyer (which is what I decided to do). I did not want it to just be another form to fill out.
Some of the other AUPs and websites we looked at to help develop ours were:
South Brunswick School District, First Grade Technology by Structured Learning, The American School in Japan, International School Bangkok, Taipei International School, CyberSmart Curriculum and our own NETS that we are just now beginning to develop and adopt for each grade level.
There were many others that we looked through, however we liked the wording on these. They all, in the end sounded very much the same. I particularly liked the comics and videos on the Taipei International Schools site for their AUPs. I am hoping our tech team will develop something like that for the Upper Elementary School.
Below is the final document that we hope to use next year for the students. I am very excited to have created a useable document that can help the school to move forward in its technology journey. We are a small school and still have a long way to go with technology but we are certainly going in the right direction! YAY!!!
Here it is. It is a brochure, so imagine it folded 
Also, when I uploaded it to the google docs the typing is not as easy to read. Just in case, I am also sharing the link here: Lincoln School PK-Grade 2 AUP.
Looks great! I love the flyer idea and all the visuals. Isn’t it great to be able to have such valuable conversation and then create a product that is actually useful??
As far as parents signing and returning forms, my group talked about that as well. I know that our school did the same in the past. However, this year we are going to try something different (like what many other schools do, including ISBangkok). In our handbook, our RUP (Responsible User Policy) will state that our school uses kids’ work and photos, etc. for educational purposes and the enhancement of students. If a parent does not want this to happen, then they must come into the office to sign a form. Then you aren’t chasing people around. Most likely, no one will come in.
Then, as far as the students, the teachers will be going over a RUA (Responsible User Agreement–which I helped to create for my COETAIL project;) with the students in class for them to sign. I’ve gone through and added various lessons and activities to make that paper document come alive so students aren’t just signing off on it but actually LEARNING it.
Love the idea of an AUP brochure….so user friendly. I love it…..the thinking outside the box and finding a new and better way to present the information. Who ever said that it needs to be in page format. A brochure like this makes so much sense….love it!
Your LES AUP looks great! I love the brochure filled with kid friend images and language. This is the second AUP I have seen like this. I completely agree that an AUP should be a tailored document that is age appropriate. I would like create a similar document next year for the LES. We are sharing laptops in the 4th/5th grades, which is begging to have their own AUP, addressing the concerns that go with 8 kids sharing a laptop. I like how you involved the student in interacting with the document, writing in the appropriate face to answer questions helps make it real. I think that we all struggle with the problem of it’s just another form. I’m in favor of not including the AUP in the student handbook, making it more important. My principal is not interested in creating more paperwork to manage and collect, and I can understand that point of view. It’s up to the teachers to know the AUP, and teach about and with it. It needs to come alive for the students to understand it. I will certainly be visiting your blog again to work on our LES AUP this up coming school year. Thanks for sharing your hard work, looks great!