543: Social Media Policies

Here are my BYOD/Social Media policies. I used many of the policies from my current school district and added many more. I decided to mesh the BYOD and Social Media policies since they go hand-in-hand.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Social Media Policies

The District defines a device as a personally owned laptop, tablet, netbook, e-Reader, iPod or iPad, or cell/smart phone. Students may now bring their own devices to their school to be used for educational purposes only. It is the student’s responsibility to comply with Osceola County School District policies in accordance with the Student Internet and Network Use Procedures, Network Acceptable Use Policy, and Code of Student Conduct while utilizing a personal device on school grounds or in any building owned or operated by the School Board.

The student is fully responsible, at all times, for the personally owned device(s) brought to school. The School District is not liable for any loss/damage/theft of a personally owned device.

A student bringing a device to school must use the BYOD wireless network. Students are not authorized to connect personally owned devices to the WIRED network. The student is responsible for the condition of the device brought to school, including updates, antivirus software, and repair. The student may only use personally owned devices for educational purposes during school hours in classrooms/designated areas in which teachers have agreed to participate in the BYOD Program. Outside these classrooms/designated areas, all electronic devices should be turned off and not be visible. No device, personal or otherwise, may be used to record, store, or transmit any type of image, sound, or video from any classroom/designated area, except for approved projects with the express permission of the classroom teacher. If reasonable belief exists that the student has violated these procedures, or other school or district policies, the student’s device may be inspected and/or confiscated. Subsequent or additional disciplinary action involving misuse of technology may extend to loss of technology privileges or further action as defined in the Code of Student Conduct. Students are not to share passwords or devices with other students (The School District of Osceola County, Florida, 2016).

Personal Safety

1. Students should promptly disclose to any teacher or administrator any messages received that are inappropriate or make them feel uncomfortable (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

2. Students will not post personal contact information about themselves or other people. Personal contact information includes: Student’s full name (First and Last), address, telephone numbers, school address, work address, etc. This information may not be provided to an individual, organization, or company, including web sites that solicit personal information (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

3. Students will not give out their passwords to anyone (even their best friends) other than their parents (Safekids.com, 2016).

Illegal Activities

4. Students shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to the School District of Osceola County network or to any other computer system through the Internet or go beyond authorized access. This includes attempting to log in through another person’s account or access another person’s files (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

5. Students are not to make deliberate attempts to disrupt the computer system or destroy data by spreading computer viruses or by any other means (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

6. Students shall not use the School District network to engage in any illegal act, which includes, but is not limited to, arranging for a drug sale or the purchase of alcohol, engaging in criminal gang activity, threatening the safety of persons, or violating any provision of the Code of Student Conduct (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

Inappropriate Language/Cyberbullying

7. Students will not use obscene, profane, lewd, vulgar, rude, threatening, or disrespectful language (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

8. Students will not harass another person. Harassment, as defined in the Code of Student Conduct, is the act of using unwelcome gestures, words, or written statements to annoy, demean, denigrate, defame, malign, or ridicule another person. Harassment can include, but is not limited to, sexual and racial harassment. If a student is told by a person to stop sending messages, he or she must stop (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

9. Students shall not post false or defamatory information about a person or organization. Students will not post private information about another person (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

10. Students shall respect other people’s views. Even if you don’t agree with someone else’s views doesn’t mean you need to be rude (Safety Net Kids).

Think Before You Post

11. Students shall think carefully before posting pictures or videos of oneself.  Once you’ve put  a picture of yourself online most people can see it and may be able to download it. It’s not just yours anymore (Safety Net Kids).

12. Students are responsible for posting comments that they would say to a person’s face.  Just because it is online, doesn’t make it any less personal.

13. Students shall be aware of what they post online.  Social media venues are very public.  What you contribute leaves a digital footprint for all to see.  Do not post anything you wouldn't want friends, parents, teachers, or a future employer to see (Cornwall-Lebanon School District, 2016).

14. Student are responsible for making sure blog and wiki posts are well written.  Follow writing conventions including proper grammar, capitalization, and punctuation.  If you edit someone else's work be sure it is in the spirit of improving the writing (Cornwall-Lebanon School District, 2016).

System Security

15. Students are responsible for individual network access and must take all reasonable precautions to prevent access by others (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

16. Students will immediately notify a teacher or administrator if a possible security problem has been identified (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

17. Any attempt by a student to look or scan for security problems will be construed as an illegal attempt to gain access to network resources. Under no circumstances are students permitted to use any device to gain unauthorized access to student grades or other private student records (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

18. Students will not install unauthorized software on computers or on file servers. Students will not use any equipment or software to bypass, destruct, modify, “hack”, or abuse the School District of Osceola County network system or disrupt the network activities of others. Any student identified as a security risk or having a history of problems with computer and/or network access may be denied network access (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

Respecting Resource Limits

19. Students may use the system only for educational and career development activities. Students will not post chain letters or engage in “spamming”. Spamming is sending an annoying or unnecessary message to a large number of people (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

Plagiarism and Copyright

20. Students should not plagiarize works found on the Internet. Plagiarism is taking the ideas or writings of others and presenting them as your own. Students shall respect the rights of copyright owners. Copyright infringement occurs when anyone inappropriately reproduces a work that is protected by a copyright. Students should contact the school’s media specialist with any copyright or plagiarism questions (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

Inappropriate Access

21. Linking to other websites to support your thoughts and ideas is recommended.  However, be sure to read the entire article prior to linking to ensure that all information is appropriate for a school setting (Cornwall-Lebanon School District, 2016).

22. Students shall not use the School District network to access material that is profane or obscene (pornography), advocates illegal acts, or advocates violence or discrimination towards other people (hate literature). Students shall immediately notify a teacher or administrator if inappropriate information is mistakenly accessed. This will protect students against a claim of intentional violation of this policy (The School District of Osceola County, 2016).

Here are some ways that I am going to make sure that I share and receive feedback from students, parents, and stakeholders:

1. Hand out a copy of the policy at open house to each parent.  Require that both the parent and student have to sign a copy and bring it back.  If a family does not attend open house, the policy will be sent home for homework.
2. Have a page for the policies on my class website and a comment section for feedback.
3. Work with the technology facilitator to demonstrate learning activities using relevant social media sites for students to apply the policies (NYC Department of Education).
4. Provide copies of the policy to colleagues at my school to encourage school-wide implementation (NYC Department of Education).

References:

Cornwall-Lebanon School District. (2016). Social media guidelines for students. Retrieved from http://www.clsd.k12.pa.us/staff.cfm?subpage=624705

NYC Department of Education. (n.d.) Teacher guide to student social media guidelines: 12 and younger. Retrieved from http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/8376D544-0F85-4B7D-8049-DD00394F0D31/0/TeacherGuide12andYounger.pdf

Safekids.com. (2016). Kid’s rules for online safety. Retrieved from http://www.safekids.com/kids-rules-for-online-safety/

Safety Net Kids. (n.d.) Staying safe online. Retrieved from http://www.safetynetkids.org.uk/personal-safety/staying-safe-online/

The School District of Osceola County, Florida. (2016, February 24). Student internet and network use procedures. In Information and technology division. Retrieved from http://www.osceolaschools.net/UserFiles/Servers/Server_567106/File/Department%20Directory/Information%20Technology%20Division/Student%20Internet%20Pro%206-29-16.pdf

543: Social Networking for Teaching and Learning

While researching ways that educators have been using social media in the classroom, I learned quite a bit.  My tunnel vision of social media in the classroom made me think that other teachers were just using Twitter to tweet with other classrooms.  Teachers are doing this in a creative way, and they are also adding authentic context to activities that would not be possible without the use of social media.  This project has really inspired me to take many of these ideas and implement them in my own classroom.

Twitter is being used for writing lessons, science lessons, geography lessons, math lessons, connecting with other classes, connecting with experts, and connecting with teachers to challenge students.  Skype is being used to connect students with writing groups, author visits, field trips, and interviews.  Facebook is being used to do character studies, communicate with students, and have students collaborate with each other.  Blogs are being used for students to raise awareness of issues and circulate petitions, writing assignments, and sharing student learning with the world.  The possibilities are endless.

Here is my Pearltrees page of the resources that I found.  I added my curation in the comments section.

Social Media in the Classroom, by amymitchell136

543: PLE Diagram

(Photo Sources: Feedly, Blogger, Wordpress, Facebook, Twitter, Diigo, Google Plus, Edmodo, Edweb, Google Classroom, Google Docs, Google Sites, TPT, Pinterest,Camera)

Here is my Personal Learning Environment diagram.  I used Popplet to create the diagram, and found Popplet very user friendly.  I learned a couple of things about myself while creating my diagram.  

The first thing that I learned is that I need more reflection tools.  I use Wordpress and Blogger to blog reflections of assignments and activities.  Then, I used a camera to show that in my own classroom, I record lessons to analyze and share with other teachers in my building.  I need more ways to digitally reflect.

I also learned that I am heavy in Google tools.  I know that I LOVE Google apps, but this really reinforced how much I use Google.  I use Google for a variety of purposes.  Maybe that's why I love Google so much, there is an app for everything! It also makes life easier.

While I was creating my diagram, I realized that many of the tools can be used in more than one area, and some can be used in all four categories.  I did put Blogger and Wordpress into two categories: reflecting and publishing.  I thought they were major resources for both categories so I wanted them in both.  My diagram also made me realize how big of an impact one little person can have.  Using my PLE resources, I can reach so many people.  It shows that one voice can make a big sound.

Looking at Courtney Calhoun's PLE diagram, we have many similarities and differences.  Courtney chose to break her diagram up into professional and personal/professional categories and I chose to break my categories into collecting, reflecting, publishing, and connecting.  We shared many of the same digital tools including: Google +, Feedly, Blogger, Diigo, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.  She uses a few professional tools that I don't: Google Reader and LinkedIn.

Here is Megan Apgar's PLE.  We have similarities in our categories and tools.  We both chose categories with aggregating/collecting, connecting, and reflecting.  We shared similar tools: Wordpress, Twitter, Facebook, Google +, edweb, Diigo, and Pinterest.  She chose working collaboratively and used Google Drive and Dropbox.  I also use Google Drive and forgot to put it in my diagram.  I chose Google Docs to use in connecting/collaborating with others.

Here is Amanda Hensley's PLE.  She chose a different way to represent her Personal Learning Environment.  She put her main dish (Twitter and Facebook) in the middle of her plate, along with the side dishes (Google Drive, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and more).  Then she put her "sometimes" resources around her plate.  I really like how she prioritized the resources by how frequently she uses them.  Like her, I use Facebook and Twitter the most.  I would also include Google Chrome, Drive, and Docs in my main dish section.  I would also have Blogger, Edmodo, and Wordpress as my "sometimes" resources that I use, but not as frequently. She has some resources that I am not familiar with and will need to look in to, such as Discovery Education.

Here is Kimmy Davis's PLE.  I really like how she showed her connections to her groups through a juggling act.  She said, "I chose juggling because that's what it feels like with so many connections  It's hard to keep all the balls in the air and really participate with the various groups." I agree that it feels like a juggling act keeping up with everything, especially once school starts.  Sometimes, though, my resources are frequented more often during school when I am looking for a particular resource, especially TeachersPayTeachers and Pinterest.  She mentioned Snap Chat in her diagram, and this is an app that I use too, with my friends and family, but did not list in my PLE.  Like Kim, I use WordPress, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and Google +.  I have not used LinkedIn, Goodreads, Tumblr, or Instagram, so these are resources that I can look into.

Let's take a look at Brian Betteridge's PLE.  Brian added in a resource that is not a technology one, that I wish I would have also put on my diagram--"Community of Educators."  This is such a major part of a personal learning environment and I should have put it in mine.  Brian and I share some common resources: Edmodo, Google +, Edweb, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Wordpress.  As with the other diagrams, I see LinkedIn, Flickr, and Goodreads as resources that I do not use.  Since I have been seeing them in so many other diagrams, that must mean they are good resources to use.

Here is Joanne Matibag's PLE diagram.  Joanne chose a very unique way to present her PLE.  She based it off of beach chairs that she saw in Morondava.  Once again, we share many similar resources, such as: Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Wordpress, edweb.com,  and Feedly.  Since her subject area is music, she has many different resources than me including: Flute Listserv and ACDA website.  She uses Facebook for personal activities and also teaching resources.  I haven't used Facebook to find teaching resources as much.  I have been using it to connect with other educators.  I tend to use Twitter, Feedly, Pinterest, and TeachersPayTeachers to find resources. 

Comparing my own diagram to other classmates' was really eye opening. Seeing some of the resources over and over show me that I need to look into these resources and they must be great if so many of my classmates are using them.  It also made me realize that I left out some important resources for my own diagram, such as Google Drive, Readworks.org, and Scoop.it.  It was really neat to see how everyone structured their diagrams differently and to see what others' PLEs entail.  

543: Joining Online Communities

The four online communities that I joined are: Tech Tools for the Classroom, Flipped Classrooms, Grammar, and Instructional Strategies for Reading Improvement K-8.  These communities were through edweb.net and Edmodo.  Here are the screenshots of what I contributed to the groups.

I joined the group Tech Tools for the Classroom from edweb.net.  I uploaded a link to an article about how to make flashcards for your classroom using Google Sheets.

Later, I added a link to the article, 5 Fantastic Apps for Reluctant Readers.

Then I remembered a great article that would benefit many teachers who have a technology rich classroom.

I went through the discussion forums to look at the topics that people were discussing.  I found this question about social media and added a resource that he might be able to use.

I joined/followed a group on Edmodo about flipped classrooms.  I provided a link to a really great article on the Teacher's Guide to Flipped Classrooms by Edudemic. Here's the article if you would like to see it to: http://www.edudemic.com/guides/flipped-classrooms-guide/

I also posted a question to the group.

My question got a response not too long after I posted it.

I am following a Grammar group on Edmodo.  I responded to someone's questions about uploading Word documents and Google Docs.

I added a link to some grammar iPad apps.

I joined the group Instructional Strategies for Reading Improvement K-8.  I really wanted to be part of this group since I am going to be teaching fifth grade reading this year.  I posted in the introduction section and hope to here back from others with resources.

I also added an article to the resources on the important of Language Purpose.

543: Twitter Chat #Edmodochat

Tonight I participated in a Twitter chat from #edmodochat.  This was not the best chat that I have participated in.  All the other chats have been in Participate Learning, and they were very easy to use.  This one was not, so I had to follow everything using my Tweet deck.  This chat was short and more about what people want in an #edmodochat instead of actually discussing resources and tips for using Edmodo.  This was very disappointing, but hopefully the next one will be about a way to use Edmodo professionally.

Other members of the chat replied that it is a great place to connect with a PLN, they are interested in learning ways to support other teachers through professional growth, to collaborate with Edmodo friends, and finding good ideas.

Others added using pictures for visuals, using themes, good moderation, and quick flow of questions and answers.

Other responses included: using Edmodo for professional growth, using Edmodo for global projects, learn how others have used Edmodo along with other technology tools, and to learn about hard and soft skills that connect to global learning and multiple intelligences.

Other members replies that it annoys them when the questions don't go into depth, when people promote their own blogs, not having the questions ahead of time, and hashtag hijackers.  Then, someone mentioned using a slow chat to help everyone follow the conversation.  There were mixed feelings about the slow chat.  I, personally, am not a fan of the slow chat.  I get too distracted during the day and forget about it.  I prefer the fast chat and to discuss topics in one sitting.