1. What is a digital use policy?
Simply put, a digital use policy covers how digital devices and products can or should be used in schools. Many schools have had some sort of digital policy in place for years. For example, parents are often asked to sign a ‘digital consent form’ for primary and secondary school children, which gives (or refuses) permission to the school to use digital images of their children on a school website or in a school magazine or brochure. But with the advent of the internet, and the increasing ubiquity of mobile devices, digital policies that only refer to the use of images are in danger of becoming outdated. Many schools now find themselves in the position of needing to overhaul and update their digital use policies to bring them into line with how teachers – and particularly students – are actually using technology, both in and outside class. Some schools have no digital use policy at all, in which case it’s a good idea for them to develop one.
2. Why would my school need a digital use policy?
Increasing amounts of technology are available in schools, and it is often the students who bring the technology into class with them in the form of mobile phones. Many schools and teachers try to ban mobile devices from the classroom because they are concerned about misuse. They worry that their students may use social media instead of doing classwork. They are concerned that children may use their devices to bully each other, for example by sending unpleasant messages digitally (known as ‘cyberbullying’). They worry that students may take photos or videos of them while they are teaching, and upload them to the public domain – and even comment negatively on their teaching. These fears are not completely unfounded, and the mainstream media tend to play up cases of students misbehaving or cheating using technology.
This is why many schools develop digital policies: so that teachers and students are clear about what technology can be used where, when and how. A school digital use policy will usually include clear consequences for misuse of technology within the school grounds or in class, such as cyberbullying, accessing inappropriate content or photographing or filming peers or teachers without permission.
3. Are there any other reasons why a digital use policy is a good idea?
Safeguarding against possible misuse is just one aspect of a digital use policy, and arguably most relevant to students under the age of 18. But schools have a responsibility towards their students, too, and need to respect the students’ privacy and online data. If your school uses a virtual learning environment (such as Moodle) for online language work, exactly what happens to student data needs to be clear. Who has the right to track your students’ use of the platform? Who stores this data, and where? Issues of privacy also need to be included in your school’s overall digital policy.
Some digital policies are created not just for individual schools, but for chains of schools, or for schools in the same district, or even the same state or province. In these cases, schools sometimes insert an educational agenda in their digital policies. For example, they incorporate objectives such as developing students’ (and teachers’) digital literacies, or ensuring that their curricula integrate a pedagogically sound use of technology. This reflects a macro approach to digital policies, rather than the micro approach reflected in a single school (or even a single class) developing their own policy.
4. How can we decide what to put in our school digital use policy?
There is no single or correct answer to this. It depends on your students, their age, their access to technology both in and out of class, and even on the educational culture. But many of the issues we have discussed above appear in schools’ digital use policies, and you can also have a look online at what other schools have done. Use a search term like ‘acceptable use policy’ (or AUP) to see some examples of how schools create and implement these policies. This should give you plenty of ideas and examples to get started.
5. How can we ensure that our students actually follow our digital use policy?
This is a fear often expressed by teachers. Digital policies don’t need to be a top-down decision – that is, decided by the school administration and forced on students and teachers. Some especially successful implementations of digital use policies are charters, developed with input from students and teachers, and even from parents. Involving all the stakeholders in the development of your school’s digital use policy will ensure much more buy-in than if it is simply imposed from above. Start by canvassing your students (and their parents), and find out what they would like to see in a digital use policy. If everybody has a stake in the final product, they will be a lot more likely to abide by it!
Nicky Hockly is Director of Pedagogy of The Consultants-E, an online teacher training and development consultancy. Her most recent books are Digital Literacies (Routledge), an e-book: Webinars: A Cookbook for Educators (the-round.com), and Going Mobile (Delta Publishing), a book on mobile learning. She maintains a blog at www.emoderationskills.com. Email: [email protected]
