Equitable Access and Acceptable Use

Obtaining the technology is only half the battle, all the reasons for not using it have to be addressed and are fundamental to the questions of equitable access. One of the less realized and more established roadblocks for the use of technology in schools are regulatory in nature.  These regulations are usually promoted through misunderstood policy development in the form of Acceptable Use. Other themes that seem to promote equitable use of technology are associated with a wide variety of topics but none as prevalent on how schools are interpreting  Federal regulations that prevent the use of technology. 

The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is one of the most important documents a school will produce, as it will outline rules regarding Internet use on school property. Creating a workable AUP requires thoughtful research and strategy. The policy portion of the document must address a number of issues including personal safety, illegal activities, system security, privacy, plagiarism, copyright infringement and access to inappropriate materials. In addition, it should unequivocally rule the school’s technology property for educational purposes only. Student’s rights, such as free speech, access to information and due process, should be outlined in the document, as should the consequences for violating the Acceptable Use Policy. The policy should also address the use of social networking tools as a resource for educational applications. Secondly the AUP must outline best practices or procedures that define responsible behavior in terms of acquired digital skills that are age specific.

With the current push for mobile learning and social networking applications many schools are faced with a two edge dilemma. The first edge of the dilemma is protecting students from pernicious materials and providing access to learning resources.  Some schools rely on high end restrictive policies that eliminate access to harmful sites by network filtering and content blocking. The second edge of the dilemma is to take a less restrictive approach by teaching students digital citizenship skills while following federal filtering laws allowing students to learn responsible use of the internet.  Those districts who promote student responsible define and hold students accountable for their behavior while accessing school internet resources. Schools with less restrictive environments  also distinguish restrictiveness through age appropriate applications. 

The primary responsibility of every school district is to ensure that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) is being followed.  The law requires any school district that receives E-Rate funding to filter or block visual depictions that are obscene, that contain child pornography, or material harmful to minors. This law does not restrict the use of social networking sites or the use of web 2.0 tools. What the law does require is that school districts have in place an internet safety policy  that includes the use of a filter or blocking procedure for district computers used by minors.  Some districts who are operating on high end content restrictiveness through network filtering have yet to understand that CIPA was written before the emergence of Web 2.0 applications. That CIPA does not stipulate any specific requirements to block or ban the use social networking tools. 

The most interesting under site of some school districts is a knowledge or awareness of the Broadband Data Improvement Act. The Broadband Data Improvement Act was written into federal law in 2008 requiring schools to follow section 215 of Protecting Children in the 21st Century. The relevancy of Protecting Children in the 21st Century specifically requires all schools to educate minors about appropriate online behavior. This includes how to interact with others on social networking sites which includes awareness and response to cyberbullying.

The increasing prevalence for the need to teach students the skills necessary for social networking is causing a growing number of districts to provide less restrictive policies. Policies that were written before web 2.0 applications emerged to the forefront of useful educational resources. Now that the demon of Web 2.0 has been released from the evils of misunderstood, to a more useful forefront for opening the doors to student mobile devices, the AUP's are also being refitted for less restrictive environments.

The evolution of technology has provided us with new tools like mobile devices which will bring about a new digital medium that has the potential in Creating Classrooms without Walls. One outcome reaching this goal is to removal of some of those hindrances that are blocking prized paths of accessible tools and content. If we can develop Accessible Use Policies that promote connected learning experiences that are focused on academic gain, this may lead to restructuring ideas that promote equitable access that is associated with learned digital responsibilities.