Internet Use and Web 2.0 Guidelines

Internet Use and Web 2.0 Guidelines 2008

Operational Policy

INTERNET USE AND WEB 2.0 GUIDELINES

Name of Policy Internet Use and Web 2.0 Guidelines Code Number HTC; PR1203; -2008-11 Date of Drafting October 2008 Policy Status APPROVED Date(s) of approval: 28 November 2008 By: Executive Principal Contact Person Head Teacher Curriculum Date for Review November 2010

1 HTC; PR1203;-2008-11 Internet Use and Web 2.0 Guidelines 2008

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………. Page 3 2. Background 2.1 External Internet Connections …………………………………. Page 3 2.2 Filtering …………………………………………………………… Page 3 2.3 Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) …………………...... Page 4 3. Guidelines …………………………………………………………….. Page 4 4. Communicating the Policy …………………………………...... Page 5 5. Training and Development ………………………………………….. Page 6 6. Appendices 6.1 Content Currently Filtered Out …………………………...... Page 6 6.2 Aspects of Web 2.0 …………………………………………….. Page 7 7. Acknowledgement of Understanding of the Policy ……………….. Page 15

1. INTRODUCTION

Filtered, sensibly restricted internet and intranet access is provided to the College community via cabled and wireless access. It is intended as an attractive option within the College grounds based on: ubiquitous access, high access speeds, uncapped capacity, extremely high reliability, large file storage capacity, reliable backup and support from sound educational software.

This service is provided based on a system negotiated and facilitated by AIS with filtered internet content. (See Appendix 6.1 for content categories currently filtered.) The College has the additional capacity to monitor all activity and access within the system, should the need be warranted.

2. BACKGROUND

2.1 External Internet Connections.

The PLC Sydney Internet Use Policy must be understood in the context that a significant and growing portion of the student (and staff) population has 3G mobile devices (mostly phones) with independent internet access. There are also multiple leaked wireless signals from local dwellings with unfiltered and unprotected access. These sources provide limitless access to all internet content. They are controlled by the subscriber and not by PLC.

2.2. Filtering

a. Granularity of filtering.

Granularity refers to the level of detail to which content can be filtered. This cannot be based on age or year grouping. School work crosses many boundaries with non- school study, and filters cannot differentiate. Parental and teacher supervision plays a large role in the success of filters that cannot "think". Filters cannot be changed on an ad hoc basis so can never be pitched perfectly. In addition, filters are easily bypassed. What is appropriate to Australian culture may not suit others. For example, the internet doesn’t “understand” irony, colloquialisms or slang

b. General text items.

Current filtering technologies rely heavily on the accuracy of text-based descriptors to classify content – text entries are being superseded by multimedia graphics, video, podcasts, audio files, etc. It is not possible to automate the classification of these, and intervention is not feasible and could be too subjective.

2.3. Personal Learning Networks (PLNs)

It is no longer desirable or feasible for the teacher alone to cater for the diverse needs of a class for their journey from knowledge and recollection outcomes to achieve the necessary deep understanding and creative application that is required for success in the world of their future. More than ever before schools need to prepare students to become effective and independent, life-long learners who can respond to the ever growing knowledge landscape, the dynamism inherent in 21st century learning, the consequent shortening use-by dates of all qualifications and the expectation of multiple career directions, that will mark their lives.

The advent of the internet has enabled rich, targeted learning experiences to take place unbounded by institutions or geographical boundaries or timetables, but which compliment and go beyond classroom activities. These may be delivered by school directed On-line Learning Environments or by various independent internet communication tools, sourced by either students or teachers. The most effective 21st century learners will be those who are “connected” to numerous and varied resources comprising their Personal Learning Network (PLN) and who have developed the digital literacy and academic and ethical skills to apply their learning with creativity and wisdom.

PLC therefore needs to take up the challenge of helping our students to develop these necessary life-long education skills and to model learning as the building of rich personal learning networks.

3. GUIDELINES

In accordance with the College Teaching and Learning Charter, the Values Statement and the ideals of the 2020 Preferred Futures Project, PLC takes a liberal intellectual approach to developing independent, self-disciplined, digital citizens – capable of being self-protecting, sensible and responsible users of digital internet-based content.

 The College will provide students with the age-appropriate knowledge and skills necessary to develop self-protecting, sensible on-line behaviours. Staff will follow the guidelines provided in the Australian Government’s NetAlert Cybersafe Schools guide1.

1 See: http://www.netalert.gov.au/_data/assets/pdf_file/0003/1884/02456-teachers-Guide-to-Internet-Safety.pdf

 The College expects all students to use information technologies and their content appropriately. Students are expected to: o follow the guidelines laid out in the Student Handbook – Using Information and Communication Technology, College Standards and Expectations – Conduct and Guidelines for Mobile Phone Use o adhere to the standards of the Respect for Others document o apply the rule of thumb standard of: ‘would I want the Principal to see this?’ before posting any internet or intranet material, and not post unacceptable language or images

 Students suspected of breaching any of the above expectations will be disciplined using the guidelines laid out in the Student Handbook – College Standards and Expectations - Conduct and Helping Students Develop Self- Discipline

 The College expects all staff to model appropriate use of information technologies and their content and to provide guidance to students as part of their normal professional duties. Staff must not allow student access to a staff member’s personal social networking sites, such as Facebook, and must not participate in personal student social networking sites. Staff are referred to the College Code of Conduct and the Respect for Others document. Staff are also reminded that their sites may be visited by potential employers.

 Staff using information technologies such as blogs and wikis in their teaching practice should not: o divulge any personal information about students, or jeopardise their safety o defame or allow the defamation of the character of any individual, organisation or institution o promote or advertise commercial products o conduct or promote outside business activities

4. COMMUNICATING THE POLICY

This Policy will be available on the PLC College intranet and in printed form with the Head Teacher Curriculum, Head Teacher Compliance and Human Resources, Heads of Senior School and Junior School, and the office of Information and Communications Technology.

5. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

5.1 Training

All staff will undergo professional development to ensure they have read and understood this policy. Training will be part of the induction process for all new staff. Ongoing training will occur at regular intervals.

5.2 Development

All staff are encouraged to review and supply feedback regarding this Policy so that amendments can be implemented as necessary. Staff are encouraged to attend training courses and in-service opportunities that enhance their contributions to their professional development and the welfare of students.

6. APPENDICES

6.1 Content currently filtered out of the PLC internet connection

Anonymisers Criminal skills Drugs Extreme Gambling Hate speech Nudity Phishing Pornography Spyware Violence

6.2 Aspects of Web 2.0

The following is an extract of an article by Mr Chris Parker reprinted with permission:

Reprinted with permission from The Christian Teachers Journal Vol 15.1. For further details see www.cen.edu.au.

What in the WWW is happening?

Introduction

It is appropriate that this article start with questions. I suspect that it will ask more questions than it answers. It will provoke us to consider the future of the nature of education …in light of some fairly radical ways that communication, relationships, social networks and knowledge acquisition are changing in the “wired” world. The internet is undergoing a threshold change unlike anything it has experienced since the development of the World Wide Web (WWW) in the early 1990s. This new form of the WWW has been coined Web 2.0. This article will consider the characteristics of Web 2.0, the nature of those embracing it (a demographic largely made up of our students), its impact on education and a brief exploration of some of the questions that arise...

Communication and education

Communicating is fundamental to the education process. It’s hard to imagine that teaching would be possible without being able to communicate in some form. If the nature of our communication as humans changes, will the nature of the way we educate change? Will it have to change? Communication also plays a central role in the development and maintenance of our canon of knowledge and understanding. The same questions arise when we consider a change in human communication and its effects on knowledge. Will the nature of knowledge development, and the ways we service and maintain that knowledge, have to change also? If the way we communicate changes, will the nature of our relationships therefore change, and if relationship is likewise fundamental to the education process, what affect will this have?

To answer these questions we must take a detailed look at Web 2.0. However, before we explore the nature of this new internet, let us consider the characteristics of the users who are most richly embracing it; our students.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….. What are our students like

Our students find it difficult to wait for telephony, txt messaging, portable everything, anything. They want instant chat, fast food, video music clips with scene edits of less than quick research, minimal delays, mobile a second, instant thrills and short sharp bursts

of high energy experiences. They are growing up in a culture of instant gratification. They xtin is gr8 & quik & easy 2 rite! live in a world of microwaves, broadband internet, ATMs, remote controls and wireless hi m8 u k?-sry I 4gt 2 cal u lst nyt-y dnt we go everything. This is the generation that has c film 2moz developed web pages like 50WordReview and Book-a-Minute: wen wld u lyk 2 cum ova? im frE wen u r!

We at Book-A-Minute understand that your time is valuable. You want to experience the Our students also have a high degree of technical wonder and excitement of the fine art of savvy. They are a generation that are highly exposed to literature, but reading actual books requires a information and communication technology. This significant time investment. We’ve solution for ubiquitous technology is constantly innovating, but our you. Our ultra-condensed books are just the students are the ones that seem not only to easily ticket (http://www.rinkworks.com/bookaminute/) embrace the new, but to easily learn how to operate They have even developed a new language or the new. This cross generational literacy results in us techno literacy to assist in making getting our teenage kids to “stepup” our new mobile communication brief, punchy and instant. Can phones for us. So, we can describe our students then as you translate the following examples of txt a techno literate clickerati, seeking instant gratification. messages? Let’s turn our attention now to the tools that this generation are therefore developing and playing with. wot do u mean?

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What tools are our students using?

We will now narrow our attention to the internet. The mid 1980s saw the first crude developments of the internet. However, it was not until the World Wide Web (WWW) was conceived and developed in the early 1990s that there was any public appeal. The development of the WWW might be seen as a threshold change in the internet’s history that had a significant affect. In 2004 the term Web 2.0 was coined to describe the next threshold change in the nature of the internet.

The first expressions of the web were characterised by static information-based websites that were set up largely by companies and organisations and they rarely made content changes. By contrast, Web 2.0 is characterised by an architecture of participation where there is now interaction by the user with the data on the site. In fact the sites can now be entirely defined and constructed by the community of users. O’Reilly (2006) suggests “a social phenomenon embracing an approach to generating and distributing web content itself, characterised by open communication, decentralisation of authority, and freedom to share and re-use”. Web 2.0 has become dynamic and about creating and sharing knowledge rather than just consuming information from static sources. There is a sense of community, transparency, democracy and a decentralisation of authority where the editorial process has become focused on the network of users.

Before we start to look at the effects that this shift is having on our students and the subsequent impact on education we will look in a little more detail at some of

8 HTC; PR1203;-2008-11 Internet Use and Web 2.0 Guidelines 2008 the expressions of Web 2.0. Early examples of Web 2.0 sites might have been internet banking, online shopping sites (Amazon), forums sites and web auctions (eBay). While we need to now talk about wikis (Wikipedia), blogs (Blogger), phlogs (Flickr), vlogs (YouTube), podcasts and social networking sites (MySpace).

Wikis Wikipedia (an online encyclopaedia based on suggestions as to why it should or should not be the concept of a wiki) defines a wiki as a: kept and come to a majority opinion). It is interesting to reflect on why people might be …type of website that allows the visitors involving themselves in the contribution process. themselves to easily add, remove and The following quote from a university student otherwise edit and change some available might help us to see that Web 2.0 is also content, sometimes without the need for characterised by an interaction between the registration. This ease of interaction and personal with the global: operation makes a wiki an effective tool for collaborative authoring. You write all these pages for college and no one (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki) ever sees it, and you write for Wikipedia and the whole world sees it, instantly. A wiki such as Wikipedia is a representative example of a Web 2.0 website. It is entirely The concept of a wiki may not seem too collaborative. There is no editorial process offensive and largely can be seen as a helpful besides that performed by the community of tool for collaboration and group development of users. There are no articles on Wikipedia that ideas. However, when the notion is used to have not been contributed by the users. Not only develop an online encyclopedia that has become can our students use Wikipedia for information very popular to many (and is often the first to and research, but they can edit articles, come up in search engine hits), … questions can create new articles or even flag an article for be raised by educators about the accuracy and deletion (flagged articles stay that way for a integrity of the information… week while the user community offer

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Blogs If nothing else, the community of Web 2.0 developers and users is coming up with great If you would like to set up your own blog (just names for these new technologies. The name for fun or because you have thought of a good blog comes from the two words web and log. educational use for one) or you would like to A blog is a kind of log or journal of entries in randomly read other people’s blogs to see reverse chronological order in the form of a what is being journalled by Web 2.0 users, website. With some hesitation (after the last then try the most popular blogging website – section) I offer this definition from Wikipedia: www.blogger.com. When you start to read some blogs you notice quickly some Blogs often provide commentary or news on a interesting features. They are inane with a particular subject, such as food, politics, or frequently blogged topic being what food the local news; some function as more personal blogger has been consuming. They have online diaries. A typical blog combines text, facility for people who are reading a particular images, and links to other blogs, web pages, blog entry to click and then make comment on and other media related to its topic. that entry. You also notice the lack of editing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog) and censorship of ideas. But you also get a feel for the extent in which these blogs have been Anyone and everyone is keeping a blog or two. embraced by the clickerati. Many blog entries They may have some photos and maybe the have had comments added and many blogs occasional video or audio link but they are are linked to other blogs which are then linked principally text based. There are lots of to other blogs. This intertwined online blogging websites that offer you a free community or social network is sometimes blogging space and a blog can be set up and referred to as the blogosphere. As a creative entries made in minutes. In research for the educator, you may already be thinking of ways writing of this article, I experimented with in which you might be able to embrace this setting up a blog and it took me approximately technology in your teaching. Can I encourage 15 minutes. (http://toffblahblah.blogspot.com/) you to keep thinking and to visit edublogs

(http://edublogs.org/) which is an educational becomes quickly apparent that they are more blogging website set up by an Australian than just data storage. The Web 2.0 elements teacher that offers “Free blogs for teachers, of global community, open sharing and trainers, lecturers, librarians and other edu transparency are richly evident. The site is professionals”. structured for ease of sharing and comments are able to be made on anyone’s photos. The notion of a free website that already has all the code written and graphic design done These phlogs and vlogs have the notion of a for you and is ready for you to make entries personal space to them (even though your simply, has also now morphed into media data can be readily shared). Interestingly, two storage and interaction sites for photos of the fastest growing websites (in terms of (phologs) and videos (vlogs). These sites offer visits and contribution) at the moment are the two main features; photo storage and video sites YouTube and Google Video management as well as facilitating easy (although Google has just taken over sharing of your photos with people all over the YouTube). With facilities for recording and world. One of the most popular of these sites editing video so ubiquitous (video cameras is Flickr (www.flickr.com) who claim that and mobile phones) it is no wonder that there “Flickr is the WD-40 that makes it easy to get is a great desire for somewhere that people photos from one person to another in can share their footage. These websites whatever way they want.” When you spend a provide exactly that. few minutes looking around on sites like this it

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Podcasting and feeds When you visit wiki based websites you will will have the option of subscribing to the notice references and links to blogs and regular feeds. Your favourite programs will podcasts. When you visit blogging sites or always be there on your hard drive ready for media sharing sites you will also see links to you to listen to at a time that suits you. This is wikis and podcasts. There is a blending being referred to as content pushing rather together of Web 2.0 concepts in all Web 2.0 than each user going to the site and pulling off enterprises. Although not a website in itself, what they want. This technology is not limited the concept of podcasting is richly embraced to audio (though this is principally how it is by the Web 2.0 clickerati. Podcasting is all used). The Flickr site allows subscription to about sharing of media files. people’s photo collections. If you want to know if a certain fellow member of the Web For some time, websites have been offering 2.0 community has added new photos to their the option to either download audio files or to collection without having to continually check, stream these files to your computer (or you can subscribe to their space on Flickr and mobile device via your computer). However, the new photos will be pushed or podcast to this required you to visit the site and choose you. Are getting a feel for how all these to download the data each time it was made technologies are blended/mashed together? available. Podcasting technology allows the user to subscribe to a “feed” or broadcast of On the company’s site, Apple these files on a regular basis. If the user has a (http//www.apple.com/) claims podcasting to podcatcher (or aggregator) they can subscribe be a means to “free learning from the to a chosen feed and it will be automatically constraints of the physical classroom.” There delivered to their PC via the internet. The term are schools in Australia that have issued every podcast blends the trade name iPod (one of student an iPod and learning content is the first MP3 players) and broadcast. podcast directly to each student. It is Examples of podcasts are the weekly radio interesting to consider the length and breadth programs on ABC radio. If you visit the ABC of possibilities of technology like this in Radio website (www.abc.net.au/radio) you education.

Social networking sites I have made reference already to the popular English language website, the sixth overlapping and interweaving of the most popular website in any language and the technologies that seem to typify Web 2.0. This third most popular website in the United is happening in an informal way. What States, though it has topped the chart on happens when you formalise all these various weeks. The service has gradually technologies and concepts into one website gained more popularity than similar websites that will offer a “space” to any user? The to achieve nearly 80 percent of visits to online space will offer blogging, media sharing of social networking websites. It has become an audio and video, podcasting, inbuilt search, increasingly influential part of contemporary forums, personal profiles linking to other popular culture, especially in English speaking community member’s spaces and wikis (and countries. MySpace is also home to various you make the interaction between all these musicians, filmmakers, celebrities, and features click-simple). What you get is a social comedians who upload songs, short films, and networking site. One of the fastest growing other work directly onto their profile. These entities on the planet in the last four months songs and films can also be embedded in other is a social networking site called MySpace profiles, an interconnectedness which adds to (http://www.myspace.com). I do not have one MySpace’s appeal. single year 9 student in my school who does (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_space) not have a MySpace account. The 100 millionth account was created in August 2006 The popularity of these online communities and it is claimed to be growing by 230 000 with our students should force us to consider new users per day (Sellers, 2006). Again, let’s them. Not to just ponder the “problems” or turn to Wikipedia: dangers associated with them (of which I am sure that there are many) but to think outside MySpace is a social networking website the education square and wonder and dream offering an interactive, user-submitted about how we might be able to embrace network of friends, personal profiles, blogs, them. Not to just incorporate them into our standard groups, photos, music, and videos. MySpace teaching practices, but allow us a few also features an internal search engine and an moments to ponder the way in which our internal email system. According to Alexa educational paradigm might actually shift Internet, it is currently the world’s fourth most entirely into new forms.

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Learning Management Systems It would not be completely fair to say that administration. At a minimum, the LMS there has not already been a blending of usually allows for student registration, the notions of Web 2.0 and education. Learning delivery and tracking of elearning courses and Managements Systems (LMS) have been used content, and testing, and may also allow for by some educational systems for up to a the management of instructor led training decade. An LMS takes the existing internet classes. In the most comprehensive of LMSs, features of file transfer, email, forums, wikis one may find tools such as competency etc and packages them all together into a management, skills gap analysis, succession system customised for teaching and learning planning, certifications, virtual live classes, asynchronously and remote from face to face and resource allocation (venue, rooms, tuition. Wikipedia helps us at this point also: textbooks, instructors, etc.). Most systems allow for learner self-service, facilitating self A Learning Management System (or LMS) is a enrolment, and access to courses. software package, usually on a large scale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_Mana (that scale is decreasing rapidly), that enables gement_System) the management and delivery of learning content and resources to students. Most LMSs There are both commercial and open source are web based to facilitate “anytime, options available. The most popular open anywhere” access to learning content and

source version is probably Moodle, which is currently growing in popularity in Australia.

Web 2.0 and education

I remind us again that it is the intention of this article to raise more questions than it answers. It is designed to get educators thinking about future possibilities. It has the dual purpose of preparing us for the future, as well as inspiring us to be equipped to be a part of the moulding and shaping process. If Web 2.0 is in essence user created and defined then let’s get in the game as educational users and play our role in helping to define.

It is interesting to reflect on the journey to date in the relationship between computers and education. Rod Paige the US Secretary for Education suggests that “Education is the only business still debating the usefulness of technology” (Mullaney, 2006). What I believe he means is that although education has embraced computers (and the portion of the technology in school budgets has increased dramatically in the last 20 years), it may well be the only industry that has not significantly changed as a result of computers. Computers and the internet have simply been a useful addition to the suite of tools encountered by teachers and students without the traditional didactic paradigm being challenged by their existence.

How might education change? If the notion of a community of experts and knowledge “creators” is being replaced by a community of collaborative users who share editorial responsibilities, what will this mean for teaching and learning? If communication is changing even to the point of redefining social networks, then what will this mean for education? Many educational observers are asking these questions and sharing a growing excitement about the vast possibilities of the digital age for changing the way we teach and learn. Innovation in education may well be on the verge of a threshold change that it has not seen for quite some time. The continued development of the web and its affect on society combined with the continued innovation of portable computing devices, promotes a great sense of wonder about the future (near future?).

It is already being suggested that there is a shift away from the traditional three R’s for the young clickerati. Harel (2003) suggests that the three R’s are being replaced by the three Xs; eXploration, eXpression and eXchange. Harel defines these new competencies as:  eXploring: discover information and ideas, open ended discovery; children on the driver’s seat of their own learning experience  eXpressing: using digital media for expressing ideas and representing knowledge  eXchange: asking questions, sharing ideas and working with others

It is interesting to think of the limited modes of expression a “traditional” student has after they have performed research. They perhaps have a number of paper options with their work being able to be shared with their class mates, or to their family (or maybe to the school community through a newsletter). With a Web 2.0 student, their research could be blogged or offered on a wiki to be shared at a global level, instantly (and edited and “improved” just as quickly).

Conclusion

Predicting the future is fraught with difficulties. Predicting the future of computing technologies is perhaps most difficult. Bill Gales once said “640K of memory ought to be enough for anybody” (Gates, 1981; quoted by Mullaney, 2006). We do not know what the future holds for education. The development of Web 2.0 and its philosophies and culture will impact education. We must not let this take us by surprise…

References

 BBC News: Thursday, 2 November 2006, (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technolgoy/6108578.stm)  Harel (2003): ‘Future trends in education: Where are we heading?’ Paper given at conference  ‘Education and IT: the next 10 years’. Barcelona.  Just M. (2006): ‘The Death of English’. The Bulletin – 3rd November 2006  Mullaney. J. (2006): ‘How do kids communicate and how should technologies affect the way we teach?’ Paper given at conference – “AIS IT Integrators Conference”.2006. Sydney.  O’Reilly. T. (2006): ‘Levels of the Game: The Hierarchy of Web 2.0 Applications’. O’Reilly radar.  Sellers. P. (2006): ‘MySpace Cowboys’, CNN. Retrieved on 28th August 2006.

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7. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF UNDERSTANDING OF THE POLICY

This page is to be completed, removed from the Policy document and returned to the office of the Head Teacher Compliance and Human Resources (HTCHR). If you have any concerns or questions regarding the policy please seek advice from the HTCHR.

Name: ………………………………………………………………………..

Department: …………………………………………………………………

I acknowledge that I have read this policy and understand the Internet Use and Web 2.0 Guidelines and my role in applying the Guidelines. I acknowledge that I have a duty of care to all people on the premises, particularly the students, and will follow all directions to help ensure the welfare of all.

Signed: ………………………………………………………………………..

Date: …………………………………

16 HTC; PR1203;-2008-11