Welcome to the District Media/Technology Web 2012-13

NEW....***We have policy changes that you will want to take a look at for this school year.

1.) 524 Internet Use Policy click to link directly to the policy (directly linked to School Board Policy)
  a. Regulations in regards to Children's Online Privacy Protection Act
  b. How To comply with COPPA?
  c. Regulations in regards to Children's Internet Protection Act
  d. Changes in regulations that mandated update to this policy

Why did we change our Policy?  The Schools and Library Division that coordinates E-Rate Funding for Public Schools and others made significant changes in rules surrounding our ability to received funding.  The changes are as follows: 
a.) Opened Face Book & YouTube for educational use.
b.) Mandated Internet Use and Safety Education to all students.
c.) Mandated yearly reviewal of the 524 Policy.
d.) Filtered access is still required for pornography and inappropriate web sites.  

Why did  open Face Book and YouTube?  Teachers in many School Districts across the United States are successfully engaging students using Face Book and YouTube in and out of the classroom.  Modeling correct use and behavior while using social media with students will enhance their ability to use the tools wisely.  The addition of curriculum for all grade levels through "Common Sense" media will allow all teachers access to model wisely.  

2.) 540 Cell Phone Use Policy

We will have a signature procedure posted under www.isd181.org/
  a.) Go to Resources
  b.) Parents/Students Connections
  c.) or ISD 181 Staff Connections

ISD 181 has gone “Google” for email, documents, calendars, chat, intranet sites and apps.  What does going Google mean?  We now have cloud based email, documents, calendars, chat and websites.  Why did we go “Google”?  

1.) creating an equitable and collaborative platform that is available to staff and students 24/7
2.) moving into 21st century teaching and learning

3.) savings costs the following areas: licensing for productivity suite, document storage and spam filtering.  

Students have access to Google Educational Suite of Productivity Tools, which includes the following applications: email, documents, calendar, and sites.  Students can access their email, docs, sites,  and other Google tools from home.

1.) Students are limited to sending and receiving email only from other Brainerd students and staff.
2.) Students do not have access to the staff address list.  They do have access to other district students’ names and email addresses.

Cyberbullying/Internet etiiquette isses are discussed throughout the year as students use the services in labs and classrooms.This is our first year using Google Apps, so we expect to update and revise expectations/usage as students and staff become more familiar with the tools.