FIRBANK GRAMMAR SCHOOL TECHNOLOGY GUIDELINES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS Updated 2014 1
FIRBANK GRAMMAR SCHOOL Table of Contents POLICY FOR THE ACCEPTABLE USE OF TECHNOLOGY - students... 3 General Agreement for use of Classroom Technology at Firbank Grammar School... 3 Computer Hardware and Software Protocols... 3 Communication and Internet Protocols... 4 Studywiz Use... 5 Backing Up of Work... 5 Mobile Device Management... 5 Policy Agreement... 6 Cyber Safety... 7 2
Policy for the Acceptable Use of Technology - Students Firbank recognises and values the importance of technology and the pivotal role it plays in the education of our students. The technology programs and facilities at Firbank Grammar School provide students, teachers and support staff with resources to assist with the school programs and administrative duties. The Firbank Grammar School computer network is provided for students and staff members to facilitate educational excellence through resource sharing and communication. All students from Year 3 are provided with School-administered individual network accounts enabling resource sharing, communication and internet access. As with all privileges, its use involves responsibilities. Student use of communication systems (e.g. internet and email) may be monitored to ensure compliance with this policy and privileges may be withdrawn if students fail to comply with this agreement. It is the responsibility of individual students to ensure that their behaviour does not contravene School rules. General Agreement for use of Classroom Technology at Firbank Grammar School When using technologies provided by Firbank Grammar School, students should understand that electronic communications is not a secure means of communication and nothing is private. Students must protect all computer and technology resources and adhere to the following protocols and guidelines: 1. Students must not reveal their password to anyone except the network manager/system administrator or Senior member of staff( if requested to do so) 2. Students should not consume food or drink (including water bottles) while using technology hardware 3. Students should not play computer games or use mobile devices or computers in any way not approved by a teacher. 4. Student computer laboratories are not open for unsupervised student use at lunch time or after school 5. Students should abide by Copyright laws and should not infringe by stealing, copying or using another person s work without authorisation and acknowledgement. 6. Students should be aware that any photos, videos, recordings and text that they put online will remain online (even after deletion), possibly forever. They should be aware that they have very limited control over what happens to content once it is online. Computer Hardware and Software Protocols Firbank Grammar School has modern and reliable technology facilities for the benefit of students and their learning. This equipment is expensive and must be treated with respect. 1. Students must not do anything likely to disable or cause damage to any equipment or digital information deliberately or carelessly including stealing, vandalising, marking or defacing 3
equipment, interfering with software, reducing network security, accessing another s home directory, etc. 2. Students must not attempt to change any computer settings (including screen savers, wallpapers, desktops, menus, etc) without permission. 3. Students must not bring or download unauthorised programs (including games) to the School or run them on School computers. 4. Students must take responsibility for all their printing costs. 5. External devices e.g. USBs, digital cameras, portable hard drives, ( but not limited to these), are not to be used for inappropriate purposes. 6. The use of mobile devices is encouraged in all lessons provided they are used as directed by teaching staff. Recess and lunchtime use of mobile devices is permitted provided guidelines in the user agreement are adhered to. Communication and Internet Protocols Email and other electronic communication facilities are valuable tools for personal and official communication. 1. Students must never log on for another student, or as another student 2. Students should not use the School s email or any other communication system in a manner that brings the School into disrepute. 3. Students should be aware that all email sent is the property of the School and cannot be regarded as their private property. 4. Students should understand that their correspondence via email and other communication systems while using the school network is not guaranteed to be private. All email is available to the School network administrators when they deem it necessary to investigate inappropriate behaviour. 5. Students should use appropriate language in all electronic communication; they must not be insulting, abusive, swear or use vulgarities. 6. Students should not communicate offensively using email, websites and other social media environments with the intention of attacking, bullying, harassing or intimidating any other person. 7. Students must behave online in the same way as they would offline or in person (i.e. treat everyone fairly and with courtesy). They must avoid communicating anything digitally that they would not say in person. 8. Students should be careful of websites requiring them to submit their email address because this may put them at risk of receiving unsolicited email (SPAM) which may be offensive and may render their email account inoperable. 9. Students should know and understand that anonymous electronic communication is prohibited. 10. Students must never send or receive electronic messages using someone else s name or email account. 11. All electronic communication between students and School staff should be via the student s Firbank email account or via Studywiz. 12. If an email comes from someone that the student does not know they should delete it immediately to avoid system infection, particularly if it contains attachments. They must NOT open the attachment in case it contains a virus. 13. Real time chat programs (eg. imessage, Facebook, Windows Messenger, etc) are NOT to be used by students during lesson time. 4
14. Firbank Grammar School provides access to the Internet for educational purposes. The School is aware that, despite security precautions, there is a possibility of inappropriate material intentionally and unintentionally being obtained and displayed. Students must not deliberately enter or remain in, websites containing objectionable material. The School will monitor internet sites and will block those which are deemed inappropriate 15. Students must not use the School s Internet facility in a manner that brings the School into disrepute. 16. Students must not use the Internet for inappropriate use. 17. Students must understand that their use of the internet at School is for educational purposes and that their digital footprint (analysis of websites visited) may be tracked by the School s technical staff. 18. Students should understand that material posted online or sent via social networking sites may develop a life of its own and may be used by others in ways not predicted or intended. 19. Students need to be aware and understand that, under current Australian law and Digital Rights Management (DRM), it is illegal to download or share copyrighted music, video and games without permission or payment. If they download these files illegally or share illegal downloads, they may be prosecuted. Studywiz Use Studywiz is the School s secure online intranet (or Virtual Learning Environment VLE) designed to manage any type of files (eg. MS Word, IWB flipcharts, graphics, etc) and facilitate communication between students, teachers and staff. Studywiz enables the use of Calendar, Discussions, ebulletins, Chats, Student Websites and Messaging, all within the protected and safe Firbank environment. Material uploaded by students to Studywiz must be appropriate and accurate and must not violate Copyright law. Backing Up of Work Files stored on the Home Drive and Student Public Drives is backed up. Work stored locally on classroom computers is not backed up. If you work on a shared project with other students and save it on the Student Share drive, be aware that this will be deleted at the end of each academic year. If you wish to keep a copy of the work, you need to move it to your own Home Drive or make a personal copy. Mobile Device Management Students will be allowed to bring such devices to School and use them in out of class time. Students will use these as directed by the teacher during class time, for educational purposes. The use of mobile devices on camps, tours and excursions will be the decision of the teacher in charge of the event, and will depend on the nature and need of each individual event. The uploading to public sites (including Studywiz), of any photos or videos which are taken during the course of the School day, or of a School event, is prohibited. Students may only do this when directed to by a teacher. The care and safety of mobile devices is the responsibility of the student. The School will not accept responsibility for the damage or loss of such devices. 5
Policy Agreement To be completed on enrolment by the Firbank Grammar School student Name: School: Year Level: Network User Name: I have read the attached Guidelines and Procedures for the Use of Technology document and agree to comply with the guidelines and conditions contained in this Policy. I understand that if I break any of these guidelines and protocols, appropriate penalties will apply Student signature: Date: To be completed on enrolment by the Parent or Legal Guardian of the Firbank Grammar School student and forwarded to the Enrolment Office Name of Parent or Legal Guardian: I, the Parent or Legal Guardian of have read and understand the Student Policy of Acceptable Classroom Use of Technology document. I agree that my child will comply with the guidelines and conditions contained in this Policy. Signature: Date: 6
Cyber Safety Cyber Bullying can take different forms. It includes, but is not limited to the following definitions Cyber bullying includes text or images which may be posted on personal Web sites, blogs or transmitted via email, discussion groups, message boards, chat rooms, IM or cell phones. More frequently, cyber bullying occurs on social network sites. Cyber bullying is being hurtful to others by sending or posting harmful material or engaging in other forms of social cruelty using the Internet or other digital technologies. Cyber bullying can take different forms, including the following: Flaming: Online fights using electronic messages with angry and vulgar language Harassment: Repeatedly sending offensive, rude and insulting messages Denigration: Dissing someone on-line; sending or posting hurtful gossip or rumours about a person to damage that person s reputation or friendships. Impersonation: Breaking into someone s account, posing as that person and sending messages to make the person look bad, get that person into trouble or danger, or damage that person s reputation or friendships. Outing and Trickery: Sharing someone s secrets or embarrassing information or images on-line; tricking someone into revealing secrets or embarrassing information which is then shared on-line Exclusion: Intentionally excluding someone from an on-line group, such as a buddy group. Cyber Stalking: Repeatedly sending messages that include threats of harm or are highly intimidating, engaging in other on-line activities that make a person afraid about personal safety. The impact of Cyber Bullying: Bullying can result in long term psychological harm. This harm includes low self esteem, depression, anger, school failure, school avoidance, and in some cases may lead to more serious consequences. On-line communications can be extremely vicious. There is no escape as it can occur at all times of the day and evening. Cyber bullying material can be distributed worldwide and is often irretrievable. Students may be reluctant to tell an adult because they are emotionally traumatised, blame themselves, fear greater retribution, or fear that their on-line activities or use of mobile devices will be restricted. In order to keep safe on-line and have positive experiences, students should remember these important steps Messaging and Email Never share your passwords, no matter how much you trust your friends. Do not reply to nasty messages. Block senders of inappropriate or unpleasant messages or delete the person if she or he are on your contact list. Set your account to off-line, even when you are on-line. Save all emails and turn on history in your messaging service to keep a record of all messages. Print out the history. 7
Create a screen capture of any negative contact by pressing Alt PrtSc on your keyboard. Paste the message into a document and save a copy as well as printing a copy for evidence. Go to the program s website. Find the help menu and type in How to report abuse? Follow the guidelines. Create a new email account to contact friends. Report the sender to the messaging or email provider. Remember that unknown, private and anonymous communication can be traced. Mobile Phone Don t give out your mobile number to people you don t know or trust. Don t reply to nasty messages. Turn your phone off or onto silent when it s bedtime. Save all messages as evidence. Tell a trusted adult or call the Cybersafety Contact Centre phone: 1800 880 176 Contact your telecommunications carrier to block numbers If you or someone you know is being bullied online, there are a number of ways to obtain some help. You can contact or obtain help from: Your friends A trusted adult Teachers Tutor Head of Year Parents School Counsellors Bullying No Way visit www.bullyingnoway.com.au Cybersafety Contact Centre phone 1800 880 176 Kids Help Line phone 1800 55 1800 8