APPP

Acceptable Posting Practice Policy
(APPP)

Click here to save/open and print the APPP (APPP.doc 46KB)

• Internet Policies
• Acceptable Use Policy

Just when you thought you could close the policy door, another one becomes apparent. As we move towards relying more and more on the school intranet as the communication tool, we need to make sure we have a policy to cover both content and operation. Schools are using their intranets to ensure integrated planning, in all aspects of school life. This includes planning of curriculum, outdoor education events, student assessment and assignment planning, the use of integrated diaries, internal communication of notices and newsletter material, announcements to students as well as the coordination of applications for funding, school budgeting and department/syndicate financing.

The strategic importance of the school intranet is now become critical and hence these set of protocols need to be put in place so that the integrity of the intranet remains assured. The school needs to decide who will have the authority to add information to the intranet, without putting off people contributing or making use of this vital resource.

The issue is complicated when we invite students to add information to this communication vehicle. Balancing the requirement for easy access as well as controlling the security and the integrity of this document can best be achieved by creating a culture of mutual need and peer to peer policing. Also there must be a formal policy and a set of procedural practices put in place to provide guidelines for students as well as for disciplinary guidance.

Each school will need to decide on the parameters that need to exist in order to maximise the usability of this essential resource. The acceptable posting practice policy that is covered in this document is provided as a set of guidelines rather than a finished document.

Some of the issues that you need to consider carefully include:

• Systems that enable authorised personnel to add and keep up-to-date the information on the intranet
• Intellectual copyright and ownership issues
• The privacy act and the protection of personal information
• Provision of a quality framework such that the information that is on the intranet is current, accurate, objective and is backed by the authority of the school
• Procedures for adding new material include quality management standards
• That all stakeholders have the technical and presentation skills required to keep the layout of the intranet consistent
• Parents are able to contribute to the development of the policy and are aware of the implications of placing information on the school intranet
• All stakeholders are aware of the implications of having material on a school intranet compared to having the information on internet web sites, available to all internet users within and from outside the school

Above all the intranet or school website must be a sustainable project and not rely on one individual for its maintenance and success. If the school makes its intranet available to external users then the school will need to use a firewall to protect the school from the misuse of information or the insertion of a virus into the school computer system. For more information check out the web sites:

http://www.berkeley.k12.ca.us/technology/web.htm or http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/intranet/agcom/posting_agreement.html

Essential reading is provided by the Tasmanian Education Department via their excellent document "Wise Web Weaving", which is available as a PDF or Word document at:

http://www.doe.tased.edu.au/wiseweb/default.htm

The Acceptable Posting Practice Policy

The intent of both the _________________ School web site and the school intranet is to

1. Highlight events, school life, curriculum, as well as providing opportunities for the school to communicate effectively with parents and caregivers and for them to communicate effectively with the school.
2. Promote the school and all of its activities internationally, nationally and locally.
3. Provide a range of communication tools to all stakeholders both within and beyond the school.
4. Provide teachers administrators with a set of tools to improve their efficiency, and the quality of teaching and learning for students.
5. Highlight events, school life, curriculum, awards and distinctions and to recognise students who have demonstrated application and effort to do their very best.

Procedural Guidelines:

In order to post information on the school intranet, each curriculum area/syndicate is responsible for designating a staff contact(s) who shall oversee the posting of information on their allocated pages. Each web page posted must contain the e-mail address of the staff member responsible for the creation of that page or pages. The e-mail address will be built into each web page with a "mailto" command. Pages posted without the e-mail address of the designated staff contact(s) will be disabled. Staff will be provided training in this area.

The school web site will not be used to promote or display:

• Political or religious aspirations of the stakeholders
• Financial opportunities that benefit anyone other than school
• Disharmony, hatred, disunity in any form, or any other activity that would negate, in any way, the mission of the school
• Images or pictures that are inappropriate on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, disability, religion or political beliefs or those that promote disunity
• The sending or receiving of "chain mail" messages
• The improper or inappropriate accessing of confidential information concerning students or any employees of the institution;
• The posting of commercial software, hacking utility software or computer viruses.

Before a site can be posted from the school intranet to the school internet web site, the teacher in charge of the school web site must clear all information to be uploaded. These guidelines are provided:

Personal information	Placed on school website	Placed on school intranet
Name	First name only	First and second names
Photograph	Parent/caregiver written permission	Parent/caregiver written permission
School work including art or photographs of work(s)	With parent/caregiver and owners written permission	With owners permission
Phone/home address	Never	Never
Student e-mail address	Never	With parent/caregiver and owners written permission

Copyright

All material created by either teachers, administrators or students automatically becomes the copyrighted property of the person who created the material, even though the copyright symbol ©. may not appear on that page or site. 

Sponsorship & Advertisements on the School Internet or Intranet

Sponsorship or advertisements to be placed on the internet or Intranet must be approved by the development team and signed off by the Board of Trustees/Management of the school. The internet & intranet development team is responsible for the content of the advertisement and the location on the web/intranet page/site where it is placed. The development team may elect to appoint someone to oversee the actual content (for instance, a specialist on the subject matter of the web page), but they should still review the page periodically for appropriateness. They remain ultimately responsible for the content of the site, and must take this into consideration before placing advertising on the site.

A disclaimer must be placed immediately below any advertisement stating the following: “the content, goods or services portrayed by the advertisement above does not carry any endorsement by the school; nor does the school warranty, in any way the content, goods or services advertised.” Immediately above the advertisement the word “advertisement” will appear.

Content Guidelines

All content on the web site shall make use of the templates that have been provided by the school Intranet and Intranet development team. Any deviation from the templates needs to be discussed with the school internet and intranet development team and agreed to, before being placed on either the intranet or the school web site.

All material must be edited and checked for grammar, punctuation and spelling before being placed on the school web site or intranet.

Information placed on the school web site or Intranet must be as visually rich as possible and keep the amount of text to a minimum where possible, without compromising the intent of the material.
A written record will be kept of all communication with the necessary stakeholders, where permission is required before information is placed on the school internet web site or intranet, according to the procedural guidelines contained in this policy.

Maintenance Guidelines

All content placed on the school Internet web site must be checked at the conclusion of each week and all material be checked for continued accuracy and currency.

All content on the school Intranet must be checked by individual staff members who have responsibility for the sections under their immediate control, at the conclusion of each week. Content needs to be continually reviewed for currency and accuracy and adapted or adjusted as necessary.

The school web site will contain, on its front page, a date stating when the last revision took place. Each section of the school intranet controlled by staff members who have responsibility for that section, will contain the date stating when the last revision took place.

Meta-tags

The web site must contain a meta-tag containing all relevant school information and key words that define the site. The site will also contain the school name as a title and the school e-mail address as a contact.

Use of Images and Sound or Video files on the School Web Site or Intranet

The school web site or intranet will use only images or files that are copyright cleared or are in the public domain. Graphics and sound or video files must be appropriate and not denigrate any individual or representative group.

File Size and Nomenclature

Image sizes are limited to a maximum of 40Kb. Each component should have its own file name, be as descriptive as possible and these file names must follow standard protocols. The use of underscores in file names is discouraged. All file names should be a maximum of eight alpha-numeric characters before a full stop or file extension. (.edu .com etc.)

Click here to save/open and print the APPP (APPP.doc 46KB)

• Internet Policies
• Acceptable Use Policy

 

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