Toward a Responsibility-Based Web Posting Policy

Throughout the site, clicking on the small map () will return you to this page, which is represented on the map below as a gold oval. Additionally, a table of links found at the bottom of each page allows you to navigate directly from any page to any other page on the site.

Schools and school districts are increasingly finding themselves in the unexpected role of publisher. Students, groups of students, teachers, and administrators have valid reasons for wanting to create Web resources which are potentially viewable by anyone with a Web browser. Reasons for creating Web pages range from satisfying a creative urge to communicating with parents and community members to presenting a positive public image.

Whatever the reason for creating Web resources, an effective policy for Web posting is essential. Such a policy can help to assure the suitability and quality of Web pages, delineate responsibilities, aid in liability protection, and generally guide the creation of Web resources in fruitful and appropriate ways.

A key to creating effective policy is input from and communication with the various participant groups. One of the main reasons for the organizational structure of this site is to point out who the common players are and the lines along which their concerns and responsibilities may lie. Making sure that their voices are heard and their responsibilities made clear is a time-consuming but ultimately vital endeavor.

K-12 links

http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/web/guide.html is a Web site from a district in Fairbanks, Alaska. The standards document is particularly good.

http://scnc.lsd.k12.mi.us/~bmorrow/guide.htm is from right here in Michigan. The "responsibilities for students, teachers, and principals" page is especially good.

http://www.slc.k12.ut.us/web.html is a brief, responsibility-oriented page from the Salt Lake City School District.

University-level guidelines

http://www.utexas.edu/cc/policies/trouble.html. The University of Texas at Austin puts things fairly succinctly. A lot of it is negatively worded, which I'm not sure I like, but has some good ideas.

http://www.uiuc.edu/unit/ccnc/cnp.html#guidelines comes from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Lots of words, but some interesting angles on things.

Miscellaneous

http://www.nea.org/cet/briefs/12.html is a very useful guide to creating acceptable use policies. Created by the National Education Association, it emphasizes the relationship between the local association and the school board in creating policy.

http://mag-nify.educ.monash.edu.au/news/97News/oatacc.htm is a brief document, perhaps meant to be used as a home page for the students' Web browser. I like their idea of keeping hard copies of anything which students post to the Web.

http://www.tased.edu.au/eddiv/pubs/www/index.htm is put out by the government of Tasmania, Australia. Appealingly designed and some good information.

This work was supported in part by a grant from the Spencer Foundation to the University of Michigan.

At the University of Michigan, I would like to thank (among many other outstanding faculty members) Dr. Ron Marx for his excellent advising and Dr. Carl Berger for his continued support and wealth of technology wisdom.

Specific to this presentation, Cindi Fiechtner of Santa Maria High School and Naomi Norman of the University of Michigan were instrumental in directing me to resources, sharing web posting policies with which they were familiar, and engaging in an ongoing dialogue about shaping workable policy.

Any opinions or errors (and I hope there is a difference) found on this site are my ultimate responsibility.