Legal+and+Ethical+Issues

= Legal and Ethical Issues =

Copyright and Copyleft
Students and teachers need to be aware of copyright law and how to correctly site the information that they are using. Now that the internet is being used for research, pictures, music and videos it is important to educate students and staff on how to take online materials they would like to use and incorporate them into their projects without having copyright problems.

Key Points

 * Be familiar with the provisions of copyright law and use the guidelines when using various medias
 * Educators and students need to familiarize themselves with Creative Commons Licensed Works []
 * When creating videos government areas are normally out of question. Communicate with local owners if creating videos is allowed. Release forms are available at []
 * When creating a [|Power Point] presentation this link provides how much material you can use.

Social Networking
Social Networking is becoming more and more popular everyday. When creating a policy guidelines for social networks is imporatant. As a teacher or staff member of a school district, or any other job, you need to remember that everything you post is public knowledge and everyone is able to see what you post. You are representing an organization and your thoughts and posts need to reflect that.

Key Points

 * A policy can establish clear guidelines for staff members. Policies should address blogs, Facebook, Twitter, additional social networks, and other emerging technologies.
 * Some suggestions for staff: 1. state that your opinions are your opinions and do not belong to any certain organization. 2. Understand copyright 3. Respect colleagues 4. Post accurate information 5. avoid online fights 6. use good judgement
 * "We have a professional image to uphold and how we conduct ourselves online impacts this image" ([|Blue Skunk Blog])
 * "By using both traditional and emerging sources of authoritative information, we can provide our students a broader menu of information sources for exploration and to ignite learning through research." (Buffy Hamilton [|AASL Blog: the Web Log of the American Association of School Librarians])
 * Educators need to inform students on cyber-bullying. If cyber-bullying is occurring it needs to be reported immediately.

Youtube at School
YouTube provides thousands of videos for education that are often blocked my district filters. KickYouTube, Voobys, and TechCrunch are all programs that can help you access YouTube from school. If you can not access YouTube go to your district administrators with educational YouTube videos that you would like to use in your classroom to prove that this is a site that needs to be allowed for teacher access.

Key Points

 * YouTube provides videos that are legitimate for education.
 * Suggest that your district checks into unblocking Youtube. Administrators might not be aware of the latest YouTube research.
 * If YouTube is blocked in your school look for other video portals to find the same video.
 * TechCrunch provides a YouTube download tool where you can access YouTube videos.
 * Download YouTube Videos using KickYouTube or Voobys

Acceptable Use Policies
Acceptable Use Policy is one of the most important documents that is created for a school district. Policies are created for students and parents to sign and understand the importance of internet safety and the possible risks if students aren't following the policy.

Key Points
An example of a Acceptable Use Policy [|ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY AGREEMENT FOR STUDENTS (2008-09 School Year) Santa Rosa County School Board]
 * Policies are created for parents and students to sign and read about internet safety.
 * Signing the policy take of a lot of the responsibility of the school district. The Santa Rosa School District states "Upon signing this document you affirm that it is not reasonable that the Santa Rosa School District can directly supervise your child every minute he or she is on the computer. Therefore, you agree that when your child is not directly supervised, he or she will obey all school computer use policies, civil and criminal laws. In the event your child notifies you they are receiving computer messages threatening death, bodily harm, or destruction to property, you agree to report this event immediately to both law enforcement and the Santa Rosa School District."
 * Policies should include:
 * a preamble,
 * a definition section,
 * a policy statement,
 * an acceptable uses section,
 * an unacceptable uses section, and
 * a violations/sanctions section.
 * Policy should be a kid friendly, yet firm document

Internet Safety
Informing students about online safety and appropriate online behavior is a necessity. Cyber-bullying and sexting are becoming very popular and students need to know how to handle different types of online situations. "Recommendations include creating a web-based clearinghouse of online safety education research, avoiding scare tactics, promoting digital citizenship at all grade levels, establishing industry best practices for effective internet safety education programs, and looking to young people as experts in the online and digital media arenas by involving them in risk-prevention education." ([|eSchool News])

Key Points

 * Provide internet safety to students
 * Encourage best practices on the internet: how to interact with others on social networks, chat rooms and preventing cyberbullying.
 * It's important to talk [|Kids About Being Online] This website will guide your discussion with you students
 * You can create an [|internet safety plan] with your students.