RUP instead of AUP

As I told you earlier I attended a workshop this morning on technology policy.  One of the big areas of discussion was the difference between policy and guidelines.  As most of us know policy emanates from school boards, which are notoriously slow at getting anything done.  One way to get around having to have the school board set the policy is to create responsible use guidelines.  You may have noticed I said responsible use instead of acceptable, this was deliberate.  If we were creating good acceptable use guidelines we should be outlining everything we can do with the technology.  Implying anything not in the policy was a violation.  By saying responsible use guideline we can create guidelines that outline more of how we expect technology to be used.

As you might guess this post is for those that are in a position to influence guidelines and policy at our institutions. 

I am going to interject some personal commentary here about filtering, CIPA, and eRate.  I am all for protecting children from the unsavory elements of the Internet, but when did protecting children from pornography include blocking websites like You tube, which has a lot of excellent educational video clips.  I think what is even more reprehensible is the fact that the federal government has tied eRate funding for, already struggling, school districts to a requirement to censor information that should be available to students and would help to enrich their learning experience.  Sorry for that little rant, and please feel free to tell me that I am wrong (I definitely don't know it all, and I am always willing to hear you out).

On to tonight's social note. 

First I attended the NECC orientation for newbies.  The comedian they had was very funny, and did a great job of making the whole thing seem less overwhelming.  After that was the general member welcome, another great event.  Kurt Stienhaus was thanked for his service as an outgoing ISTE board member.  Then there was the keynote address by James Surowiecki, he spent an hour telling us how a group was more intelligent than a individual, provided they are given the right resources and conditions.  The cap on the evenings events was the general member reception, which was great fun.  It consisted of a live band, also broadcast on ISTE Island in Second Life, a poster session, and lots of food and drinks.

All in all another busy, but fun and productive day at NECC.

It is 10:09 p.m., and we should all be in bed,

Jason

P.S. Sorry if I misspell your name or anything else.