Chapter nine talks about contract and policy which I think it's the most important thing when you utilize technology in schools. First, the author introduces what is contract, in fact, school policies may be the most widely used contract. Contracts can be customized which will fit the audience's need. So, different contracts may not be apply for the same group. Also, how can school let parents and students know if they have a new policy, they simply just publish and distribute the policy and put parents and students on notice. AUPs (Acceptable Use Policies) have been well addressed in this chapter as well. Later on this chapter, the author talks about the role of the schools when it comes to AUPs, the author states "School leaders need to identify all the foreseeable risks to students, teachers, and staff and take reasonable precautions to minimize those risks." On page 155, the author provides five-step plan for drafting school policy and also on page 156, the author provides a sample for us to see. From page 159 to 166, the author provides example of AUP for us to see.
I think policies are the important part of schooling, schools rely on policies so that they can utilize everything they need. In this chapter, I realized that it is hard to make a school policy because you have to consider a lot of thing before you actually publish the policy. Especially for technology, in school, technology is just a tool to facilitate students' learning, so as a school leader, we need to think about all the consequences when we allow technology using in school. I think sometimes this is a hard part to decide because we don't really know what we should allow students to access technology what we should not. I think the good part of this chapter is that the author gives me a view of how to make policy for different purposes. Even though I am not a school leader, I think it is still useful for me to know this information because in classroom, I am actually a leader, so somehow I need to make classroom policy to fit my students' need, and this chapter will help me to make this easier.
I agree Tommy. I too am not in the classroom nor am I a school leader, but I see the importance of having rules for technology. I just hope it does not get bogged down with so many rules and policies that it takes away from learning and fun for the students.
ReplyDeleteAs you know policy is policy, but the truth is, how many teachers or students actually follow it? Even though they do, they are trying not to touch the boundary line so that they will not get into any trouble. I think to make a policy, we need to think a lot before we publish it.
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