use

INTERNET POLICY

Each government school has been asked to develop a clear and concise policy and code of practice for the safe and effective use of the Internet.

We have developed a policy for Computer and Internet use at Emerald Primary School and would be most interested in parental feedback/comments on the policy. Comments should be addressed to Mr Wilmot or Mr Simpson. Or email use@eps.vic.edu.au

Emerald Primary School

Computer and Internet Use Policy

Introduction

We are pleased to provide our students with some of the best Information Technology Resources of any Primary School in the State. Much of the provision of these resources has been possible due to the hard work in fund raising by many members of our school community. These resources are provided to assist students achieve their learning outcomes whilst at the same time arming them with the skills to become fully functioning members of the Information Age. We believe it essential that students are responsible in their actions at all times when utilizing these IT resources in their studies. This applies not only to Internet access but also to all hardware and software applications.

Background

Emerald Primary School has had a long association with Internet technologies. Since 1992, when access was via Bulletin Board and a 0.3k modem, we have been making increased use of the Internet's many worthwhile educational attributes. We have had our award winning website running for 3 years and are now at the stage of finalising a 64K ISDN Internet link to the school's networked computers.

With the installation of our Information Technology Centre (now 24 PC's) and increasingly more networked classroom computers, Internet access has been made much more easily available to staff and students.

Uses of the Internet

At this stage the main uses of the Internet at Emerald Primary School have been:

Guided Research (both classroom and library related).

Email exchange (eg schools globally, Antarctic Scientists)

Web page publishing (our school's web pages).

Collaborative Online Projects (e.g Our Virtual Classroom work)

Media Studies (online newspapers, radio, TV and news services,)

Virtual Visits (e.g. Sovereign Hill, Royal Show, Penguin Parade, NASA, etc)

Video conferencing between our school and overseas "partner" schools.

The number of schools, companies and individuals connected to the Internet has been estimated to be doubling every 5 months. Each day brings a new use for the Internet in our daily lives. With such seemingly boundless possibilities for use in education comes some potential for abuse. It is the purpose of this Code of Conduct that all students who use the Internet use this valuable resource in a safe and appropriate manner.

CODE OF CONDUCT

Acceptable Use

For any computer task, (including Internet) to make a relevant and significant contribution to students' learning, it is recognised that teacher direction, guidance and supervision is essential. It is expected that the school will endeavour to provide sufficient and appropriate supervision for these computer tasks.

When students access the school's computer equipment and Internet, students are to follow these basic rules:

General

Take good care of, and be responsible with, all computer equipment.

Do not access or interfere with anyone else's saved documents, E-mail, records or "games".

Never use disks or CD's from home in school computers.

Use software as directed by your teacher.

Print once and only once, and only if you have permission. Colour printing costs are expensive, so usually print on the laser printer.

Know what you are meant to be doing, don't guess.

Internet

"Surf between the flags" - only visit sites you have been instructed to, or have permission to visit.

You should never "free surf". Use of the Internet is like a school excursion- don't go heading off by yourself….go only where you have permission to go.

Do not download any software.

If you come across any site or material that you are unsure about, don't progress any further, see your teacher immediately.

When exchanging E-mail, only use words you would use on the chalkboard.

Personal information (apart from first name only) such as address, telephone number should not be supplied via any electronic media exchange..

Know what you are meant to be doing, don’t guess.

Technical Support

When students have been instructed to search the Internet for guided research the "child safe" search engine, entitled "Yahooligans" is used extensively. In fact this is set as our "default" search engine. This effectively minimises the risk of students coming across inappropriate or incomprehensible material as all linked sites have been vetted for child appropriateness.

Our network also makes use of "CyberPatrol" for our onsite network "Proxy Server". This software actively filters and blocks some 80 000+ inappropriate sites via a series of categories that are updated daily. This program is the leader in both, the home and education market, and is widely considered one of the top products of its type in the world today. This facility also allows for the monitoring of the Internet activities of each individual workstation on the network.

On top of this level of "Gateway" protection each workstation's local browser software is set with its rating system on the safest level in line with the emerging RSACi content standards(The Recreational Software Advisory Council rating service for the Internet.) Based on the work of Dr. Donald F. Roberts of Stanford University, it classifies and rates material on key categories and levels within each. Our school website has been rated on the lowest possible RSACi ratings for all categories.

Consequences of Misuse

Deliberate misuse of the school's computer equipment will result in long term withdrawal of access rights, notification to parents plus additional work requirements as deemed appropriate. The school reserves the right to determine if and when access is restored.

Conclusion

Due to the breadth of material available on the Internet, the risk taking of young children, the limitation of supervision, and the limitations of our combination of censorship software devices, it is recognised that there are still some (albeit small) dangers inherent in Internet use ……However, Emerald Primary School students have historically proven themselves to be successful, confident and responsible users of the school's Information Technology resources and it is hoped these basic policy guidelines will help to continue this trend. It is also hoped that this policy will assist parents to understand our approach to IT so as to allay any concerns they may have about students' Internet access at Emerald Primary School.

Greg Wilmot

IT Coordinator 1998

This page is proudly brought to you by Emerald Primary School, and is maintained by Greg Wilmot in close association with Craig Potter of Mikado@Web Design.

23-09-98 08:17