Acceptable Use Staff and Other Users of the Education Curriculum Network

Acceptable Use – Staff and other users of the Education curriculum network

‘Use of ICT and the Internet: User Acceptance Form’

To use the <School Name> computer network facilities you must first of all sign and return this form before a network account can be set up for you. Your signature also indicates that you have received a copy of the school’s general guidelines : ‘Responsible Use of ICT Resources’.

Your name: ______

My signature confirms that I have read the attached ‘Responsible Use of ICT and the Internet’ document and agree to act responsibly and to exercise my professional judgement when using the school’s computer network facilities, including E-mail and the Internet.

(Signature) : ______

(Date) : ______

Responsible Use of ICT and the Internet

The <School Name> computer network is provided for staff, other professionals and pupils to promote educational excellence by facilitating resource sharing, innovation and communication. All staff, on signing and returning the ‘Use of ICT and the Internet: User Acceptance Form’ will be given full access to the network with an individual login and password and will also have access to the dc2 (Dundee City Digital Classrooms) site, Glow (the national intranet for Scottish schools), Dundee City Council’s intranet and the internet.

ICT facilities are provided primarily for the educational benefit of pupils, and the professional development of staff. Any behaviour that interferes with these primary objectives will be considered an infringement of Acceptable and Responsible Use.

Access to the school computer network infrastructure, sharing of information, and security of the intellectual products of the school community, all require that each and every user accepts responsibility to protect the rights of the whole Education network community in Dundee. Anyone who, without authorisation, accesses, destroys, alters, dismantles or disfigures any infrastructure thereby threatens the effectiveness of the Dundee Schools network and will be considered to have engaged in unethical and unacceptable conduct. Access to the school network environment and the associated systems is a privilege and must be treated as such by all users of the network.

To help safeguard the existence of this information resource environment, it is expected that all users of the curriculum network will take appropriate actions, supported by Education Department and IT Division personnel, to identify and implement technical and procedural mechanisms to make the network resistant to disruption.

All ICT use shall be consistent with the purposes and priorities of the network. It is, therefore, important that Dundee ICT users conduct themselves in a responsible, decent, ethical and polite manner while using the network facilities.

The prime objective of the Education Department's 'Acceptable and Responsible Use Policy' is to ensure that any use made of ICT facilities is consistent with its original purpose. The Department's 'Acceptable and Responsible Use Policy' does not attempt to articulate all the required, or proscribed, behaviour by its users. Each user’s professional judgement of appropriate conduct must be relied upon. To assist in such judgements the following general information and guidance is offered:

· Any use made of ICT for illegal, inappropriate, or obscene purposes, or in support of such activities, is prohibited. Illegal activities are defined as any violation of extant UK law. Inappropriate use is defined as any violation of the intended use of any part of the network and its purpose. Obscene activities are defined as any violation of generally accepted social standards in the use of a communications infrastructure provided from public funds;

· Any use made whatsoever of ICT for unauthorised commercial purposes is prohibited;

· Any use made of ICT for product advertisement or political lobbying is prohibited;

· Individuals who participate in discussions in blogs, wikis, newsgroups, mailing lists etc should only offer information and advice on matters that are appropriate to their particular job. Users should not offer help in areas which are the responsibility of other officers within the authority. In such circumstances, they may direct or pass enquiries to the appropriate person, if known.

· Individuals must not take part in discussions on matters which are politically controversial, whether locally or nationally, and must never give out information and advice known to contradict the Council's policies or interests, or which is confidential, when using Council Internet resources.

· Employees should take care to avoid defamation, breach of confidence, negligent misrepresentation and the inadvertent formation of contracts.

· No use of ICT shall intentionally cause disruption to the use of the network;

· A network account is provided for the sole use of the designated owner of that account and for authorised purposes. Network account owners are ultimately responsible for all activity carried out under their account;

The Education Department will, at periodic intervals, review the consistency of use with its ‘Acceptable and Responsible Use Policy’. The Education Department shall remain the final authority on the use of the network and the issuing of user accounts.

Learner use of the Internet

· Staff should select material that is appropriate in light of the age of the learners and is the relevant to their everyday school work

· Staff should preview the materials and sites they require or recommend learners to access, to determine the appropriateness of the material contained on or accessed through the site

· Staff should provide guidelines and lists of resources to assist their pupils in channelling

their research activities effectively and properly when they are accessing the Internet independently

· Staff should assist learners to develop the necessary skills to ascertain the truthfulness of information, distinguish fact from opinion, and engage in discussions about controversial issues while demonstrating tolerance and respect for those who hold divergent views

· Copyright is a complex issue that is still not fully resolved as far as the Internet is concerned. It is customary to acknowledge sources of any material quoted directly and it is a breach of copyright to transmit another user's document/s without their prior knowledge and permission. This includes the use of images and text. It is safest to assume all content on Web sites is the legal property of the creator of the page unless otherwise noted by the creator.

Further advice is given in the Council’s General Guidelines for the Use of Computer Facilities which can be accessed on the intranet from DC2.