Acceptable Use Policy Proposal:

Holy Child is embarking on an exciting time for teaching and learning with two

initiatives, 1-1 Surface Program and Innovate the Space, which supports more collaborative and

innovative learning environments for our students. Our 1-1 Surface Program will allow for more

meaningful and smooth technology integration that will transform the way that our students learn

and prepare them to become lifelong learners. A major aspect to the success of the roll out of this

program will be communication and making expectations clear for all members of our Holy

Child community. I propose that we revise, communicate, and enforce our Acceptable Use

Policy (AUP) as well as further develop a long term scaffolded digital citizenship curriculum.

Acceptable Use Policies are very important to having written policies that make expectations

clear about appropriate behavior with regards to the use of technology, protect the students, and

protect the school.

Our current AUP which is included in the Student/Parent Handbook covers many of the

expectations encouraged by Common Sense Medias 1-1 Essentials and is in line with the

Childrens Internet Protection Act, but some revisions have to be made to update the language to

include the 1-1 Surface devices. I also propose is an update to our cell phone and social media

policies on campus. Specifically, the language should be updated to reflect the transition period

from BYOD to 1-1 devices and expectations for home use of the 1-1 devices should be

established. Many of these policies are somewhat mentioned in the Surface Program agreement,

but they should also be documented in the AUP. The current AUP lists unacceptable use of

technology, but I propose that we also include a list of acceptable behaviors and positive ways to

utilize the tools to support learning. This changes the tone of the policy to reinforce positive

behaviors. Furthermore, our current social media and cell phone policy is inconsistent with what
was enforced last year. I would propose that social media sites and cell phones only be used

during class time for academic purposes with the approval of the teacher, but that they not be

restricted in the halls and during free periods. Further education should be incorporated into the

digital citizenship curriculum to help students understand and practice healthy and responsible

uses of these resources.

Most importantly I propose that the communication of the technology expectations and

Acceptable Use Policy should be improved for all members of the Holy Child community

(students, parents, and faculty). The current policies and expectations are included in the

Student/Parent Handbook which is where they should be included and aligned with our Code of

Conduct, but as much as we hope that they do, I dont think that parents and students will read

these policies. Also, for students not all of the aspects of the AUP are age appropriate because

the language is very legalized. Plans and practices should be put in place to better communicate

this information to all members of the Holy Child community.

For students the policies should be introduced during 9th grade and middle school

orientation and should be included in the technology training that is already occurring for the 1-1

Surface Program. These expectations should be presented in smaller training groups using age

appropriate language and examples. Visual representations of the information using PowerPoint

or handouts would be helpful. Potentially using video to present the information would be

helpful and engaging for students. This would also help to make sure that the expectations are

communicated consistently to all groups of students and teachers are aware of exactly what was

presented to students.

Parent support and understanding of the policies is very important for effective support

and monitoring at home. This is probably the hardest members of the community to
communicate this information to because of limitations of time and location. I propose that a

short presentation of our policies be presented at Back to School Night and grade level parent

meetings. I would mainly focus on updates for returning parents and the 1-1 Surface expectations

for the new parents. During Back to School Night I would encourage faculty to talk specifically

about any particular uses or expectations that they have for technology use in the classroom and

at home so that parents are prepared for how students will be using technology in the learning

process. Lastly, I understand that only approximately a third of our parent population will be able

to attend the parent meetings because of schedule restraints so I would propose creating FAQ

resources for parents to reference and short information videos that highlight any announcements

they might miss at the meetings. This will engage more parents with the information presented

and hopefully encourage buy in with our larger vision for technology at Holy Child.

The last group that should understand and be able to enforce these technology

expectations are the faculty members. To be able to effectively model and enforce these

expectations they have to be communicated to the faculty consistently. Reminders about these

policies and updates should be presented during faculty orientation. Specifically, for middle

school and 9th grade faculty they should be present when students are presented with this

information so that everyone knows and is aware of expectations and how they will be enforced.

Situations where students misuse technology are great learning opportunities to teach students

lessons, so our policies and enforcement should reinforce these learning opportunities. Faculty

consistence and understanding of protocol for handling misuse will encourage more learning

opportunities.

Finally, the action step that will be most meaningful for preparing our students for their

future use of technology is to develop and scaffold our digital citizenship curriculum across all
disciplines and years that our students are at Holy Child. Preparing our students to be safe,

effective, responsible, and engaged users of technology will help them to utilize these tools for

learning and future careers. Becoming confident digital citizens in a world of technology should

be one of our main priorities for preparing our students for their future. I propose that we utilize

resources and standards established by Common Sense Education and ISTE to provide structure

and guidance for the curriculum. Although we do not have a formal class for technology these

ideas and skills can be incorporated in the Health & Wellness class for underclassmen and the

class meetings for the middle school. Establishing consistent language and standards will allow

all other teachers to support the mastery of these learning objectives throughout their own

classes.

In conclusion, the need for clearly communicated expectations is vital to successful

technology integration and safe use of technology both inside and outside the classroom. Having

all members of the community on the same page regarding these expectations will make meeting

and enforcing these expectations more consistent. Establishing a digital citizenship curriculum

that is meaningful and integrated into the entire Holy Child curriculum will prepare our students

for their own use of technology during their time at Holy Child and beyond.