Policy+Resources

//"There are no easy answers, but if students, parents, and teachers can partner in this endeavor, they no doubt will develop solutions for fostering the appropriate and responsible use of technology."// Pat Woessner

What is digital citizenship?Childnet's video might help jump start district and site conversations on building AUPs that promote 21st century teaching and learning.

ONtheLINE - California 21st Century District Initiative - Kelly Calhoun, Chief Tech Officer & Assistant Superintendent of education for the Santa Clara County Office of Education, has simply and brilliantly made a case for a common sense approach to weaving AUPs for Internet use into existing policies. Be sure to scroll down this page and listen to her presentation!

World's Simplest Online Safety Policy - Tom Whitby, education visionary and activist, explains CIPA, COPPA, and FERPA - and why educators should not "intentionally for convenience, or unwittingly out of ignorance" hide behind these acts when designing AUPs.

For some very practical tips on developing AUPs, check out Northern Grid for Learning's Simon Finch's interview below:

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 * Resources for Policy Building:**
 * ASCD Policy Priorities - With cyberbullying being a top policy priority for many districts, you will appreciate ASCD's interactive document, starting with Justin Patchin's thorough discussion of issues and recommended procedures.
 * Digital Citizenship - Focus Questions for Implementation - Developed by Mike Ribble, guide includes Steps for Creating an Action Plan.
 * Building Blocks for Digital Citizenship - LiveBinder collection created by Susan Brooks-Young and Dan Morris. Includes a section on Acceptable Use Policies.
 * Educational Origami wiki - An amazing collection of resources from Auckland educator Andrew Churches, including three pages dedicated to promoting digital citizenship, including the graphic below:
 * Digital Use AUA - Excellent collection of samples
 * Digital Citizen Analysis Tool - Guide should raise questions and provoke thought on developing school policies
 * Digital Citizenship and BYOD - Another conversation starter!


 * Draft of Template for Acceptable Use & Media Permission:
 * [[file:DRAFT Template of Acceptble Use & Media permiss in English.doc]]
 * [[file:DRAFT Template Acceptble Use & Media Perm in spanish.doc]]

> *****For student and teacher resources for supporting LBGTQ youth, please visit our Focus 1 - Stepping Up page.
 * Responding to State and Federal Mandates:**
 * California's AB 307 and AB 746 - The Elk Grove Unified School District has been promoting the teaching of digital citizenship principles well in advance of AB 307, which requires district technology plans to “include a component to educate pupils and teachers on the appropriate and ethical use of information technology in the classroom.” To give you an idea of how one district is meeting the requirements of AB 307 and AB 746, which references cyberbullying on social networks, here is a copy of Sections 3g and 3f from Elk Grove USD's Technology Plan - [[file:EGUSD-AB307-2012-15TechPlan.pdf]].
 * California AB 9 (Seth's Law) - Even with AB 746 in place, California legislators recognized the need to have anti-bullying policy in place to protect LBGTQ youth from harassment, intimidation, and bullying. The purpose of AB 9 is to provide a safe, respectful environment for all students.


 * S. 1492: Broadband Data Improvement Act- Section 215 amends the Communications Act of 1934 to require elementary and secondary schools with computer access to the Internet to educate minors about appropriate online behavior, including online interaction with other individuals in social networking websites and in chat rooms and cyberbullying awareness and response.
 * E-Rate Toolkit for Educators - A just-in-time resource from Common Sense Media. Includes sample audit check lists.
 * Recent Legal Mandates - We've created this printable Google Doc to put recent digital citizenship-related mandates into a nutshell. Since it is up to each district or school site to determine its own e-Rate implementation plan, we hope the growing bank of Digital ID resources will help sites jump start conversations (across the nation and globe) and aid in drafting digital citizenship plans that cover the three topics required by CIPA:
 * Cyberbullying (Digital ID: Focus 1 - Stepping Up)
 * Appropriate online behavior (Digital ID: Focus 2 - Building a Positive Digital Footprint/Focus 3 - Respecting Boundaries)
 * Safety and privacy (Digital ID: Focus 4 - Protecting Online Privacy)


 * More on CIPA- To help certify that you do indeed have a digital citizenship plan in place for students that meets CIPA requirements, we've also created:
 * An E-Rate Verification Checklist for Elementary Sites - [[file:E-Rate-verification-elem.doc]] [[file:E-Rate-verification-elem.pdf]]
 * An E-Rate Verification Checklist for Secondary Sites - [[file:E-Rate-verification-sec.doc]] [[file:E-Rate-verification-sec.pdf]]
 * A Sample Questionnaire (which can easily be uploaded to a Google form) - [[file:SampleSurveyQuestions.docx]] [[file:SampleSurveyQuestions.pdf]]
 * Digital Citizenship Webquest - Looking for an activity to kick start DC conversations with district administrators regarding the E-Rate compliance for CIPA requirements? Check out Miguel Guhlin's Digital Citizenship for School Leaders webquest and slideshow.

We are delighted to have Andrea Cascia, an education law attorney and technology teacher in San Diego, California, as a contributor to the Digital ID wiki!
 * Ed Tech Law Insights**
 * [[file:Andrea Cascia's ED Tech Law Quiz-1.pdf]] - Here's Andrea's 2012 CUE Conference handout.

Based on our experiences in our own districts and in conversations with teachers at local, regional and international venues, we'd like to share:

**Five recommendations for promoting and implementing digital citizenship initiatives **

 * 1) **Start your DC implementation plan early in the year**. All stakeholders (students, teachers, administrators, counselors, parents) will benefit from a likely decrease in incidents of cyberbullying, sexting, online impersonations, plagiarism, etc. Reserving your DC program for the weeks after testing, for instance, results in a year of missed opportunities. For a sample of a possible scope and sequence for Common Sense Media curriculum for grades 1-2, check out our Grades 1-12 Scope and Sequence Menu page.
 * 2) **Document student progress.** Have students take a pre-and post-assessment, such as the online survey we’ve posted to the Digital ID Tech Tools page. (We are also currently collaborating with others internationally to develop a series of quizzes with accompanying badges for students to earn as a mark of growing mastery in digital citizenship principles -- details will be posted on the Tech Tools page as soon as available.)
 * 3) **Document the impact of your DC program.** As a result of your DC program, compared to previous years, is less teacher/administrator/counselor time tied up in dealing with issues such as cyberbullying, sexting, online impersonations, plagiarism? Do student surveys reflect an improved school climate? Collect data that can help you assess and adjust, as needed.
 * 4) **Create a checklist for your implementation plan** so that administrators can quickly certify that all students have had access to DC instruction. Here is a sample checklist you are welcome to use as is or to change to match your program goals. For sample implementation plan checklists, visit the Digital ID Policies & Resources page.
 * 5) **Proudly and broadly showcase best DC practices at your site**, from both teachers and students! This is a great way to validate the efforts of your teachers - and for your students, you are providing gems they can add to their e-Portfolios. We hope you will consider this article an invitation to students, teachers, and administrators to join us in shared conversations, content creation - including our annual Digital ID PSA Challenge! - and curriculum collaborations that will help all of us model what is means to be an upstanding digital citizen. We look forward to featuring all the future great student-generated projects as we help them recognize the power of their own voices as they use the global microphone of the Digital ID wiki!

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Contact us at digital.ido@gmail.com