Check out the poll on the right hand tool bar. Let us know if you think your school has an appropriate, clear, and comprehensive Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for technology!Friday, December 11, 2015
AUP in My School Poll
Check out the poll on the right hand tool bar. Let us know if you think your school has an appropriate, clear, and comprehensive Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for technology!
Thursday, December 10, 2015
School Technology & Student Privacy
- Access to Student Records: FERPA and state privacy laws must be considered when dealing with data management systems and warehouses.
- Disclosure of Student Information on School Web Sites: Standards must be set to ensure student privacy and meet parent approval.
- Disclosure of Confidential Student Information in Student Email: Students can violate the rights of their peers by sharing information via email. Educating students about this violation is a key piece to creating good digital citizens.
- Student Self-Disclosure of Personal Information: Again, educating our students on personal privacy is imperative.
- Third Party Web Sites and Market Research: It is vital for schools to know which companies serve legitimate educational purposes and which are simply attempting to gain information. Again, knowledge is key in this endeavor.
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
School Community Collaboration
A great way to create awareness and understanding of safe technology in schools is through a collective community effort. There are many ways to involve your school community with safe technology practices. One way is to create a Parent Advisory Council. Work with your parents on creating a group that become your "experts" in the latest trends and developments in the cyber world. As a school leader, you can then work with the Council in creating educational workshops for your parents in how to more effectively work with their own children on being safe and sound. Another way is to partner with outside groups that can provide programming and curricula for your school. Organizations such as i-SAFE and Get Net Wise are two examples of programs that can work within your schools to create better digital citizenship within your entire school community. You can also create a faculty team that leads your school in professional development and awareness on safe technology. These are just a few ideas. Are there others out there not mentioned? Share with us some other thoughts, programs and plans not considered!
Monday, December 7, 2015
Teaching Digital Citizenship
Here is a great activity to promote digital citizenship in your schools through the classroom:
http://cyberbullying.org/Digital-Citizenship-Activities-Educators.pdf
There are several other great anti-bullying programs and digital citizenship curricula to investigate. It all depends on your school's mission and vision and how it best fits your goal for a healthy and safe school environment. Below are a few links to help you determine which one(s) may be most effective for your school.
http://cyberbullying.org/Digital-Citizenship-Activities-Educators.pdf
There are several other great anti-bullying programs and digital citizenship curricula to investigate. It all depends on your school's mission and vision and how it best fits your goal for a healthy and safe school environment. Below are a few links to help you determine which one(s) may be most effective for your school.
- Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard by Sameer Hinduja and Justin W. Patchin
- Cyber Bullying Checklist
- Edutopia's Bullying Prevention Resources
- The Bully Project
- StopBullying.gov Resources for Schools
- Cyberbullying.org Resources for Educators
As with parents, the most important pieces for educators to be mindful of are:
1) presence
AND
2) awareness.
If you are present to your students, not only will you recognize the issues of bullying that may be going on, but due to your presence, you may just curb, or even prevent, it from occurring. You also can begin a dialogue on responsible cyber behavior and good digital citizenship with your students.
By being aware of what your students are doing and are involved with, you simply become a major factor in preventing bullying from happening on school grounds and online. By being aware of the issues in your school, students learn the appropriate boundaries in how to interact with each other.
Through being present to your students' needs and aware of their concerns, you become the role model for how to behave in a positive and healthy manner.
1) presence
AND
2) awareness.
If you are present to your students, not only will you recognize the issues of bullying that may be going on, but due to your presence, you may just curb, or even prevent, it from occurring. You also can begin a dialogue on responsible cyber behavior and good digital citizenship with your students.
By being aware of what your students are doing and are involved with, you simply become a major factor in preventing bullying from happening on school grounds and online. By being aware of the issues in your school, students learn the appropriate boundaries in how to interact with each other.
Through being present to your students' needs and aware of their concerns, you become the role model for how to behave in a positive and healthy manner.
Victims of Cyber Bullying
As a school community, we must remain steadfast in recognizing and understanding what the victims of bullying, specifically cyber bullying. look like. Remember, a majority of children who experience cyber bullying also experience the bullying face-to-face.
Stopbullying.gov reports that victims of cyber bullying are also more likely to:
- use alcohol and drugs
- skip school
- refuse to attend school
- perform poorly academically - or create a noticeable downward spiral in grades
- have lower self-esteem
- demonstrate multiple health problems
- experience some form of self-harm
In the last post, it was discussed what to do when a child is a cyber bully. But what can be done for the victim. The answer is: plenty. As you saw from the video posted earlier, being supportive, empathetic, and present is vital to victims of cyber bullying. According to the Cyber Bullying Research Center, there are ten important things you can do to help one who is cyber bullied:
1) In all settings, make sure the student is, and knows she is, safe.
2) Talk with and listen to your child.
3) Collect evidence when you can (screenshots or print: messages, conversations, pictures, etc.).
4) Work with your school and know their anti-bullying policies.
5) Refrain from contacting the parents of the bully.
6) Since cyber bullying normally violates the Terms and Services agreements of most web site
providers, contact the content provider to inform them of the violation.
7) If your child has been threatened with physical violence, contact the police.
8) If the bullying is based on race, sex, or disability, contact the Office of Civil Rights
9) Seek counseling for the child if necessary.
10) Take steps to prevent the cyber bullying from occurring again.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Bully or Victim? What to Recognize and How to Intervene as Parent of a Cyber Bully
The concept of bullying is a difficult one for students to discuss based on the complexity of the bully-victim relationship. Bullies gain power and popularity from aggressive behavior because the victim has little means to counteract the bullying. Additionally, peer groups tend to expect the bully-victim relationship to remain stable; that is: they expect the bully to remain a bully and the victim to always be the victim. Because of this dynamic, technology can become a powerful means to maintain and sustain the dysfunctional abusive relationship (from Educaton.com article).
In this day and age, it is vital for parents to know how their own children are interacting with each other through technology. It is your right, as a parent, to monitor how your child is communicating with others. Parents need to be vigilant in their child's use of social media and cell phone messaging and application usage. This can be difficult as it requires confronting your child on a regular basis. Parents need to understand that by setting clear expectations and guidelines in their child's use of technology, they are empowering themselves and their child to become responsible digital citizens.
Therefore, the first step for parents is vigilant awareness.
If you become aware that your child is abusing their technology privileges by being hurtful to others, the next step is interventions through a balance of consequences and education.
Parents must not be afraid to confront their children. Children are resilient and, as they mature, are going to test boundaries. We know this. We also know that children are going to be resistant to consequences and confrontation. That does not mean, as parents, we do not follow-through on these consequences. It is just as important that it does not become solely about the consequences, especially if they are severe.
The severe consequence parents normally revert to is to take away the technology altogether. While this can be effective means of discipline, it rarely if ever alters cyber behavior. In her 2010 New York Times article, renown psychologist and bully interventionist Tara Parker-Pope outlines some clear options on how to educate your child if he or she is partaking in negative digital behavior (the article is posted as a resource in the Parent tab found at the top of the blog page). She suggests:
1) Work on understanding why cyber bullying is wrong. She offers great examples of recent cyber bullying cases to illustrate the lesson.
2) Insist that your child discuss this with you at length with some reflection on how he might feel if he were the one on the receiving end and what led him to post such hurtful words in the first place. This not only reinforces and teaches empathy, but it also allows for your child to be introspective about his or her own behavior.
3) Taking away technology is fine, but offer clear guidelines and limitations upon its return. Remember, you are the parent who is setting the expectations and parameters for your child.
4) Address the victim appropriately. There may be some legal concerns here, but simply writing a letter to the family acknowledging your child's poor behavior and the remediation taking place to ensure it will not recur is an indicator that you and your child demonstrate remorse and corrective action.
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Maryland's Stance on Cyber Bullying
It is important to understand that cyber bullying is considered a criminal offense by the state of Maryland. Here is a great link explaining State laws for cyber bullying and state mandated school policies to prevent cyber bullying:
http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/cyberbullying-maryland.htm
As a school, it is vital for us to be clear on our Acceptable Use Policies for technology for students, faculty and parents. The law gives us specific language to follow to aid all of our stakeholders in understanding the importance of responsible use of technology.
It is important for parents to understand the effect these laws can have for themselves, and more importantly, can have upon their own child.
The next blog will discuss ways in which parents can identify:
1) whether their child is being cyber bullied
OR
2) whether their child may be cyber bullying.
http://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/cyberbullying-maryland.htm
As a school, it is vital for us to be clear on our Acceptable Use Policies for technology for students, faculty and parents. The law gives us specific language to follow to aid all of our stakeholders in understanding the importance of responsible use of technology.
It is important for parents to understand the effect these laws can have for themselves, and more importantly, can have upon their own child.
The next blog will discuss ways in which parents can identify:
1) whether their child is being cyber bullied
OR
2) whether their child may be cyber bullying.
Friday, December 4, 2015
Understanding "Cyber Bullying"
Parents want to protect their children from being hurt. This is an understandable reaction. It is a parent's duty and obligation to care for and protect their child. Yet, it can also lead to misnomers and improper labeling when their child's feelings are, in fact, hurt.
As an institution, it is important to get a handle on what exactly cyber bullying means. Too often, the word "bully" is used out of context. A child being upset because another child was unkind to them once, is not truly bullying. In the same regard, a student sending an angry text to their friend because of a conflict is not cyber bullying, either.
This is not to minimize the effect of mean-spirited messages, or the relevancy of cyber bullying, nor is it to dismiss the presence of bullying in schools all together. But understanding what bullying and cyber bullying truly means is important.
According to stopbullying.gov, bullying is "unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose."
The website also defines cyber bullying as "bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites."
The important point to understand is: unwanted, aggressive behavior being repeated or has the potential to be repeated utilizing electronic technology."
The 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey finds that 15% of high school students (grades 9-12) were electronically bullied in the past year. While this number may seem small in comparison to actual physical bullying, it is still an issue that needs further research and data. Because technology changes so rapidly and students can be difficult to engage in conversation about bullying, this data may be incomplete.
The good news is that while it is difficult to monitor, we can do something about educating our community about cyber bullying and steps we can take to prevent, or at least, curb it's presence.The next few posts this week will focus on the relevancy of cyber bullying and what we can do about it.
As an institution, it is important to get a handle on what exactly cyber bullying means. Too often, the word "bully" is used out of context. A child being upset because another child was unkind to them once, is not truly bullying. In the same regard, a student sending an angry text to their friend because of a conflict is not cyber bullying, either.
This is not to minimize the effect of mean-spirited messages, or the relevancy of cyber bullying, nor is it to dismiss the presence of bullying in schools all together. But understanding what bullying and cyber bullying truly means is important.
According to stopbullying.gov, bullying is "unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose."
The website also defines cyber bullying as "bullying that takes place using electronic technology. Electronic technology includes devices and equipment such as cell phones, computers, and tablets as well as communication tools including social media sites, text messages, chat, and websites."
The important point to understand is: unwanted, aggressive behavior being repeated or has the potential to be repeated utilizing electronic technology."
A majority of students experiencing
cyber bullying are also experiencing some form of interpersonal bullying as
well. The hard part is that students used to be able to go home and be safe
from the in-person bully. With technology, that student can now be confronted
with bullying 24 hours a day.
The 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey finds that 15% of high school students (grades 9-12) were electronically bullied in the past year. While this number may seem small in comparison to actual physical bullying, it is still an issue that needs further research and data. Because technology changes so rapidly and students can be difficult to engage in conversation about bullying, this data may be incomplete.
The good news is that while it is difficult to monitor, we can do something about educating our community about cyber bullying and steps we can take to prevent, or at least, curb it's presence.The next few posts this week will focus on the relevancy of cyber bullying and what we can do about it.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Digital Citizenship the Key to Safe and Sound School Technology
"Children are handed powerful, connected devices by parents and schools at younger and younger ages. The messages and media that children are consuming, creating, and sending connect them to their friends and the world, and allow new opportunities for self-expression, but can also have negative and sometimes life-changing consequences." - Erin McNeill, founder and president, Media Literacy Now.
Safe schools are always a priority for any administrator. However, when one thinks of a safe school, one tends to only consider the physical environment itself, and the physical harm that can come within. As technology continues to grow and evolve in our schools, it is of utmost importance for school leaders to become, or remain, vigilant in safe technology practices within their school communities.
Too often, society immediately jumps to labeling when it comes to safe practices in school technology. The term "cyber-bullying" is one such label.
As Erin McNeill states in her commentary on educating Digital Natives (and wiredsafety.com supports), sometimes what appears to be cyber-bullying is really just children demonstrating poor digital citizenship. Sometimes a shared picture or post may be done out of malice, but more often it is simply a poor judgment call, a poorly devised prank, or a misunderstanding gone horribly wrong.
Children will make mistakes. It is up to us as educators to instruct them on how to avoid such mistakes, or how to ensure the same mistake will not be repeated. This requires the education of digital citizenship, an effort we are putting forth in our school right now. Just this year, the state of Utah enacted a bill
As students are given more and more access to different educational tools through technology, it has become our responsibility to make sure they are able to utilize these tools responsibly. The only way to ascertain student accountability is through consistent and timely education on the topic and then the proper instruction of it. It is our obligation, to our students and the community at large, to provide such an opportunity for lifelong learning in a safe and sound technological world. This blog will serve as another resource in that endeavor.
Similar blog links:
http://safetechforschoolsmaryland.blogspot.com/
http://schoolsafetytechnology.blogspot.com/
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/
http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration
Safe schools are always a priority for any administrator. However, when one thinks of a safe school, one tends to only consider the physical environment itself, and the physical harm that can come within. As technology continues to grow and evolve in our schools, it is of utmost importance for school leaders to become, or remain, vigilant in safe technology practices within their school communities.
Too often, society immediately jumps to labeling when it comes to safe practices in school technology. The term "cyber-bullying" is one such label.
Children will make mistakes. It is up to us as educators to instruct them on how to avoid such mistakes, or how to ensure the same mistake will not be repeated. This requires the education of digital citizenship, an effort we are putting forth in our school right now. Just this year, the state of Utah enacted a bill
that requires schools to provide opportunities to learn safe technology use and digital citizenship. The legislation builds on laws requiring internet safety and social-media instruction in Illinois and New Jersey. Lessons on digital citizenship help youths learn norms of appropriate, responsible, and healthy behavior, such as: what's appropriate to share online and why privacy matters; how comments on anonymous social-media apps may hurt others; and what message youths are sending to a potentially worldwide audience when they post videos of bad behavior (McNeill 2015).There are great lesson plans through wonderful resources to educate elementary students (How to Teach Internet Safety to Younger Elementary Students) and high school students (Learn NC) on safe practices.
As students are given more and more access to different educational tools through technology, it has become our responsibility to make sure they are able to utilize these tools responsibly. The only way to ascertain student accountability is through consistent and timely education on the topic and then the proper instruction of it. It is our obligation, to our students and the community at large, to provide such an opportunity for lifelong learning in a safe and sound technological world. This blog will serve as another resource in that endeavor.
Similar blog links:
http://safetechforschoolsmaryland.blogspot.com/
http://schoolsafetytechnology.blogspot.com/
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/
http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration
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