James Couch, Ben Thompson, Michelle Lawgun, Andrew Vicars and Rick Monge and I collaborated to produce the following AUP for Grades 3-5 students at Taipei American School.
The first thing we did in developing this AUP was to take a look at all 3 divisions’ AUPs: Lower, Middle and Upper Schools.
After doing so we decided the Grades 3-5 AUP needed the most work. It consisted of 11 pages of 20 bullet points (some very long and wordy) and Toon Doo cartoons supporting each bullet point. The current AUP needed to be…
- More concise
- Have a philosophy statement
- Have a Consequence Statement outlining what would happen if the guidelines were not followed
- Have a Statement of Agreement for Students and a place for the student to sign
- Have a Statement of Agreement for Parents and a place for the parents to sign.
Having looked at the Middle School AUP and seeing that they divided their guidelines into the TAS Values of Honesty, Respect, Responsibility and Kindness we decided to do the same. We thought this was a nice way to tie in the range of technology guidelines into what the students already know (the TAS Values) and use every day. We also thought it was important to add a fifth heading of Safety, as this is so important when using technology and being connected.
Another thing we tried to do was to make each bullet point more concise and in language a grades 3-5 student would hopefully understand without having to ask an adult. It is also made clear in the Student Agreement section if a student does not understand any part of the AUP then an adult (teacher or parent) will explain it to them.
Finally, this document could be shared with students at their first session of tech class at the start of the new academic year. The AUP would be read to students making sure each section (philosophy statement, guidelines, consequences, agreement statements) are understood. The students would take a hard copy home to their parents for the parents to read and understand. Only when both parents and students clearly understand the AUP and agree to adhere to guidelines set out, and both parties sign the AUP will a student be allowed to use any form of technology at Taipei American School.
Parents and students will also be emailed a copy of the AUP, along with a link to the school website where they can also view the AUP.
3 comments
3 pings
Clint Hamada
May 20, 2012 at 8:46 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
As cute as the ToonDoos are, I like that you’ve decided to take them out of the AUP. I wonder, though, if you could get the students interacting with the AUP by asking them to create similar products for different aspects of the document?
James Couch
June 27, 2012 at 4:16 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Nice idea Clint. That would be an interesting way to get kids really thinking about what they are agreeing to, and thinking about examples of actions that would be in violation of the AUP.
Jen
July 21, 2012 at 1:41 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I like how you took a lengthy document and made it concise and understandable to a student in grades 3-5. I think that by taking ownership in their school’s AUP, they will also learn the importance of this type of document and take it seriously.
Course 2 Final Project AUP | Teacher Thompson
May 13, 2012 at 5:18 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] formed at Taipei American School to brainstorm, collaborate, and create a new AUP for grades 3-5. Rock Hudson, Michelle Lawgun, Andrew Vicars, James Couch, and Rick Monge met last Wednesday to stir the pot of [...]
Course 2 Final Project: Grades 3-5 AUP | Tackling the Technology World
May 13, 2012 at 6:47 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] 2 project, I worked with the following fellow COETAILers at Taipei American School (TAS): James, Rock, Rick, Ben and [...]
Course 2 AUP Project – oso polar
May 13, 2012 at 11:00 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] collaboration with James, Rock, , Ben and Andrew, who are all teachers with me at Taipei American School, we revised and [...]