Acceptable Use Policies

1) What are AUP's and why are they necessary?
AUP is an acronym for Acceptable Use Policy. Generally speaking, AUPs guide who at public schools can gain access to public computers, what they can do on those computers, and what happens to those students if and when a student breaks the rules of that contract.

2) Compare your HS/district AUP with the guidelines discussed in the resources above. Give the URL of your HS website.
I thought the district would screen more material, but it seems from the website that they think it is impossible to filter everything and that it is up to the student to be responsible.
http://woodlandshigh.org/
http://www.conroeisd.net/policies/electronichandbook.htm

3) What does CIPA require of schools and libraries?
Those that receive funding must abide by CIPA policies and regulate internet activity.

4) Did you have access to a network at your HS? If so, how did you use it? Was it helpful?
-No; if we did, no one I knew used it

5)Did your parents/guardians have access to information about you through the school/district website? If so, what?
-possibly, but they never used it

6) How do you feel about web filtering and its relationship to school networks? Look at this article. What would it mean to you as a teacher?
-it means that though we always may be coming up with new rules, kids are always going to figure out ways to break the rules; that is just human nature. I think teachers should be aware of things like this, but we can't prevent everything. If someone is determined to get into trouble, they probably will.

Introduction

Some Facts About Me

• Hometown: The Woodlands, TX (suburb of Houston)
• Major: Social Studies Education
• Minors: International Studies (Asian Studies specialization)
• Campus Activities: I am involved with various Christian groups on campus such as Intervarsity (IV) or Reformed University Fellowship (RUF) and used to serve on the executive board of Trinity Multicultural Network (TMN)
• Technology Background: I know the basics, but I would like to become more polished
• Interest in the Field of Education: I have a special affinity toward middle school kids, and I am excited to start working with them!
  

Reaction to Time Magazine's "Person of The Year" Article:

• The article captured a lot of the good aspects of the internet: how we can be active in buying and selling through amazon, how we can get all creative and upload videos of ourselves doing strange things on youtube, and how we can share different facets of our personality with programs like myspace. The internet is just another place where human creativity shows up. In the past, it was in great cathedrals or paintings or poems. I am not sure you could call the stuff produced on youtube art, but it does show how spirited man truly is. And that's cool. Let's just hope the internet would continue to be a safe haven for that creativity and not become corrupted by too many hackers or abusers of those awesome privileges.

• It's sad to see hackers going after regular people, molesters going after children, and governments such as China placing unwarranted restrictions on the internet. I know for myself when we got the internet when I was just 12 years old, I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I logged onto AOL (back when people used it), and often went to the chatrooms. If I had a kid, I would be worried about that. It's scary what can happen these days and who is out there. And kids can often just be so pure of heart that they don't think anything bad will ever happen to them (though this can happen with adults too). I remember one kid I was tutoring at Haley Elementary accidentally started clicking on pop-up ads, not realizing they were ads. So while we might praise the internet for showing man's creativity, I think that we also need to show the dangers that are inevitable in its use and that like anything else it has the ability to be manipulated and corrupted, and we need to defend this precious gift.