Acceptable Use Policies or Technology Use Polices, policies that outline appropriate conduct for the use of digital tools, are a provide a perceptive window in to a technological heart. As both a teacher and parent this document increasingly helps to formulate an accurate perspective of a schools true philosophical approach to the use of digital tools in the learning environment. There are two extreme approaches to student use of technology in our learning environments: wall them in and shut’ em down to the free ranging on the Wild West.
The first approach creates an obnoxious, walled garden that severely restricts online navigation and precludes anything based possible negative interpretation. Schools that tread this path tend to believe that they are proactively assuring their students safety. Don’t take this facetious perspective of mind the wrong way at this point by thinking that I am stating that it is not our job to ensure students safety. It is our job to sagely ensure the protection of our students. The point is the approach. Walling the garden teaches little. It provides little incentive to develop traits of responsibility and self-reflection, rather creating a ‘them’ and ‘us’ perspective.
Free ranging on the Wild West, albeit seems unwitting now, was the beginning that most schools began their technological journey in by default. Students had no restrictions pertaining to the use of digital tools at all. Neither of these approaches facilitates the intentional use of digital tools to enabling and enrich learning experiences in the skills of communication, creativity and collaboration.
In their revised standards, Nation Education Standards of Technology mainstreamed the concept of ‘Digital Citizenship’, socially acceptable technological behavior, in education. For the past few years proactive teachers have inundated students on the concept of their digital footprint, consider what you are leaving behind the residual trail of high jinxs. Fortunately, we are moving beyond this rudimentary stage with focus moving towards developing a robust perspective of what digital citizenship means in the context of wider student life. Collectively, as a teaching fraternity, the question is moving towards one of how; how we teach this concept maximizing the development of an array of safe keeping strategies and behaviors.