Legal, safe and ethical guidelines

As mentioned in my previous blog, I am going to have a look at some legal, safe and ethical guidelines which need to be addressed. This was looked at in week 2 of my E-Learning course and because I am playing around and posting information in blogs, on wikis and on websites it is important to discuss the guidelines I will use when allowing my students to work in these online environments and use these technologies.
The Department of Education and Training have a page on risk management which I feel is important. It states that:
School's policy should include:

• Obtaining informed parental/guardian permission if details of students, including photographs, are to be published by filling out the appropriate consent form
• Publishing the first name or photographs only when approved by the parent or guardian
• Involving students over a particular age in giving approval for having their details and/or photographs published

I believe that no details of students should be given out, as you never know who can hack in and access the information. It is not hard to make up a name of even say student A etc.
This site also helped me gain a better understanding of what teachers are allowed to do when working in online spaces. It is worth reading as it also gives teachers scenarios of what can be done.

Working in online spaces, and accessing online resources can be a great help in the learning process but also comes with great risks. The online space that is chosen by the teacher needs to be able to be monitored by the teacher to ensure the safe usage by the students. This may mean adding filters, or passwords to ensure certain educational resources or even wikis stay private. As you wouldn't want a stranger to be able to access the group discussion and be able to contact the students. The thought is scary. Not everyone uses the Internet and the technology in the right way. These resources have great potential to be used within our schools but only if they are used correctly.

These legal, safe and ethical guidelines are not limited to online spaces. The appropriate permission needs to be gathered for the reproduction of any work that is not your own and this is important to remember as we play and create with the tools and information available for use. As a teacher for secondary students, I feel they may be more distracted when working online and may choose to go searching for trouble therefore these students may need stricter guidelines then say a class of yr 1 students when dealing with some of the technology available for there use. This could include group or paired work to ensure not only the teacher is monitoring the students but they themselves are also monitoring each other.

We all have a right to feel safe when working online, and we need to set the guidelines and examples for the students to follow. This includes referencing our work too!! (where required)

Cheers Danielle