Recommendations for Changes to Local Acceptable Use Policy

Jessica Pauselius

Silver Spring International Middle School

March 2013
 Pauselius AUP Recommendations, Page 1

Montgomery County Public Schools [MCPS] outlines expectations for use of

district technology in a 9 page document created by the Office of the Superintendent of

Schools (2012). It is expected that anyone who uses technology and MCPS network

tools follow all procedures and rules summarized in the document or face administrative

consequences. MCPS has done an exceptional job of covering many aspects of

technology use in schools, however our school would benefit from creating a local

Acceptable Use Policy [AUP] specifically for students, created by a group of

stakeholders, with changes that are student centered and provide clarity on

expectations of technology use. It is also recommended we institute a school-wide,

interdisciplinary approach to educating students about appropriate online behavior and

advocate for more professional freedom in relation to hardware and software use.

While the MCPS AUP gives us a good starting point, and we certainly want to

adhere to all of the procedures for using technology within the document, we should

also consider creating an AUP which focuses specifically on how students engage with

technology. Within the MCPS document, there are references to information students

do not need to be concerned with. Examples of these would be electronic signatures (p.

4) and signing out teacher related equipment (p.5). In addition, the language of the

document is not written for middle school students. Using the Flesh-Kincaid Grade

Level Test in Microsoft word revealed that the MCPS documents readability level is

equal to that of 11th graders. In creating an AUP specifically for our students, we can

focus on procedures more relevant for our students and compose the document in

language students can interact with.

 Pauselius AUP Recommendations, Page 2

In creating an AUP for our school, we should form a committee of stakeholders to

develop and create the policies (Education World, 2013; AUPCheck, 2005). This

committee should be comprised of students, staff, school leaders, and parents. All of

these stakeholders have access to technology within the school building (MCPS, p.3)

and input from all regarding policies would help to promote an effective AUP.

While the stakeholder group would be responsible for submitting the final AUP,

there would be recommendations made for certain items to include that are missing

from the MCPS policy. A review of other AUPs revealed that it is made very clear to

users that anything they do while using a district computer is not private (UMUC, 2011;

Arkansas Virtual High School, n.d.). Providing users with this view will provide clarity

that anything they do with technology at school is viewable by someone else. This will

encourage users to think twice before they consider violating any section of the AUP. It

would also be recommended to the committee that they use a verb to begin each

procedure. The University of Maryland, University College AUP (2011) outlines rules in

this way, allowing the user direction in how they engage with technology. Finally, the

committee should consider deleting and adding some vocabulary to the definition

section of our local AUP. Again, students need not be concerned with what electronic

signature means, but should have a definition to reference of cyberbullying or filtering.

The MCPS policy states that, Students are to be educated about appropriate

online behaviorand about cyberbullying awareness and response (p.8). We currently

do not have a school-wide initiative which addresses this section of the policy. As we

stand now, teachers are individually responsible for monitoring student safety and

security in the classroom. It is recommended grade level teams create an

 Pauselius AUP Recommendations, Page 3

interdisciplinary unit about online safety and cyberbullying. Providing students with the

opportunity to learn about appropriate behavior holistically and in all classrooms would

allow for better connections and expectations about technology use to be consistent.

This can be done during team planning time, and led by Team Leaders. Team Leaders

would communicate between grade levels to ensure student knowledge is being

articulated and grown between 6th to 8th grades.

We should also consider lobbying the Office of Technology and advocating for

the ability of teachers to add additional hardware and/or software to computers (MCPS,

p.5). Teachers will continue to follow all rules regarding filtering, appropriate behavior,

and using technology for educational purposes, but will have the added benefit of

engaging students with devices such as tablets, digital cameras, and education related

applications. For example, Notefish is an application which would allow students to

create interactive notes during research. However, because of the limitations on adding

software to computers, teachers are not able to utilize this technology. All adults would

be required to adhere to policies outlined in the AUP, but given more freedom to make

professional decisions which will benefit student achievement.

The MCPS AUP provides us with a starting point for developing a student

centered document that will promote more effective use of technology within our local

school. A more transparent policy and the communication of expectations for use to

students will allow for more time dedicated using technology for educational purposes.

Providing teachers with professional freedom will also allow us to use tools that will

enhance student learning.

 Pauselius AUP Recommendations, Page 4

References:

Arkansas Virtual High School. (n.d.). Arkansas virtual high schools acceptable use
policy (aup). Retrieved Feb. 22 from:
http://avhs.k12.ar.us/Student%20%20AUP.htm
AUP Check. (2005). Creating an aup. Retrieved from:
http://aupcheck.com/information/questions-and-answers/how-do-i-create-an-aup-
.html
Education World. (2013). Getting started on the internet: Developing an acceptable use
policy (aup). Retrieved from:
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr093.shtml
Montgomery County Public Schools. (Jul 2012). User responsibilities for computer
systems, electronic information, and network security. Retrieved Feb. 22 from:
http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/igtra.pdf
Notefish. (2013). http://notefish.en.softonic.com/
University of Maryland, University College [UMUC]. (Mar 2011). Policy on computer
use. Retrieved Feb. 22, 2013 from:
http://www.umuc.edu/policies/fiscalpolicies/fisc27000.cfm