September 10, 2016

To whom it may concern:

Distance education is connecting learners through a means of telecommunications, where

the instructor and students are physically separated. As the Internet has become much
more widespread, the Internet now is a common way to conduct distance education. K-12
students have not chosen to be distance learners, but education is evolving and moving
towards distance education to serve all learners. The AUP that students must sign is a topic
of interest I would like to address in this letter.

Three strengths of the existing student policy are:

1) Making the Acceptable Use Policy accessible for English-speaking students with a
relevant video,
2) Outlining student safety, such as having no expectation of privacy when using the
districts device and/or WiFi, and
3) Ensuring that students must abide by the law and stating that in the contract.
The Internet Safety Tutorial and Agreement video is fairly comprehensive and covers a
wide variety of topics ranging from cyber bullying to plagiarism to online safety, which
makes it safe and pertinent for students. The delivery of the AUPwith a video and quiz
prior to signingis a great way to make it significant to students, so they understand
exactly what they are signing, along with why it is so important.

However, three areas of improvement for the student policy are:

1) No parent signature,
2) Lack of availability in any other language besides English for parents and students
to understand what they are signing or the severity of what the AUP means, and
3) Include a section where students are accountable for their learning.
Parents must be aware of what their children are signing; I find it very surprising that there
is no mention of parents having to sign for the AUP as they should also be held accountable
for what their students are agreeing to and signing. Since it is their student who must sign
it (and who are also minors), I find it imperative and equally important that parents are
made aware and must also sign the AUP. I also believe that the AUP must be available in
many common languages that students speak, such as Spanish, Arabic, and Persian/Farsi.
These students are left behind as it is only available in English; therefore, when they are
required to sign the AUP, many of them are lost because they do not understand English
completely yet. They merely watch the video, not fully understanding what it is about, and
click away until they reach the agreement to use the Internet. Additionally, the AUP should
also add a section on student learning. It is not mentioned at all in the current AUP, but
student learning is a key part of distance education, and therefore, must be included in the
AUP.

The current AUP first states: I will use the network and all technology resources in a
responsible way and observe the MCS technology AUP, as contained in board policies and
administrative regulations, but nowhere does it state anything else about student learning.
The rest of the current AUP goes on and discusses:
 using the districts property,
all equipment connected to the districts network as being the districts property,
no privacy,
not giving out personal information,
not viewing inappropriate websites,
requiring students to cite sources, and
following the law.
Distance education policies concerning teachers and students should also be included in
the students AUP about what is appropriate behavior and netiquette in the actual written
AUP. According to Teaching and Learning at a Distance, it is essential that students
understand the complexity of the distance education setting in order to be certain to
participate in an appropriate manner (p. 223). At the primary and secondary levels,
students have not chosen distance education, so if it is required of them, it is important to
teach them so that they fully understand the expectations of them in order to use distance
education successfully, and that must be reflected in the AUP.

The current AUP should be updated with reference to distance education policies regarding
both teachers and students because it is a key part for students to be successful. In order
for teachers and students to be aware, all of them should be required to watch the ITSA
video as a class and given the AUP together. For example, in the secondary level, only some
teachers are exposed to the AUP as it is encouraged that students take it at home in order
for them to use their devices. Many teachers are unaware of what their students are
required of when they use the Internet. If students and teachers watch it together, they will
have a much better idea of what it is for and understand the importance of the AUP
together.

A suggestion is to show the Internet safety tutorial with the AUP guidelines to teachers
during tech training at the beginning of the year since the district is planning to go 1:1
district wide in the next 1-2 years. There should also be more professional development
centered around distance education, so teachers are more fully responsible for student
learning to ensure that all students will be successful. I also believe the AUP should be
embedded in the districts student conduct code, which parents must also sign, so that they
too are aware of what their children are held accountable for. I thank you for your time and
hope you will consider this.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Thao