Copyright of published materials

One of the more significant issues that arises during staff development sessions that focus on developing web pages or using internet resources in the classroom is the acceptable use of such materials. Once we start showing staff how to take existing images, text, etc and download it for embedding within their own pages, the question always comes as to whether this is legal.

We do not suggest they use materials that they did not create unless they are specifically given permission by the creator.

A couple of sites that expand upon these issues include:

• The Copyright WebSite which speaks specifically to fair use and public domain, internet and software, basic fundamentals and registration, as well as famous copyright infringement cases.
• Fairuse Server at Stanford University Libraries - includes some fairly intense information on existing laws and interpretations of such.
• The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. is a nonprofit corporation organized in 1953. It was established to foster interest in and advance the study of copyright law and of rights in literature, music, art, the theatre, motion pictures and other forms of intellectual property.

Unauthorized entry/security issues

This area is especially important within schools. With the advance of networks, servers, user accounts on the servers, and private student and staff data that flows through the networks in the schools, it is becoming increasingly important to protect what is connected to and flowing across the wires. There are several levels on security issues:

Physical security - this includes not only the physical wiring (switched or not), but what servers, workstations, firewalls, routers, etc. are hanging off the network. There is plenty of information on these types of security issues at several of the following sites:

• The Rotherwick Firewall Reference Site - a common point on the Web where folks can come and find links to all sorts of firewall and Internet security related information.
• Of course, there is no better point of reference than the World Wide Web Consortium's Internet Security site.

Acceptable Use - Within schools and other institutions with information sensitive networks, it is very important for the development of acceptable use policies for users. All should be clearly aware and legally bound to the rights and regulations that a school designates for its own network. Below are examples of business and school AUP's.

• Pacific Bell
• Champaign School District

Illegal uses of software (piracy)

One of the most unmanageable problems when overseeing a network is the issue of software privacy. As a teacher in a lab, I showed a video at the beginning of the year that was put out by one of the software companies on the importance of respecting intellectual property. I was also able to closely supervise the hard drives in my lab and what students were copying.

This is not the case today. With such a vast network that we have in the schools, many teachers and students infringe upon software licenses. This is very difficult to control as they can easily copy from one hard drive to another or download from the internet. The students are also very involved in downloading wares and other illegal files that are available on the net. Staff development and warnings have little effect on these infringements. We try to keep legal in good faith.

There are several companies that provide software license management software for networks, including Pace's InterLok. Most of this software is cost prohibitive for schools.

Sexual predators

One of the more recent problems that I have been encountering is the innappropriate use of web-based chat rooms that have gained such popularity among the students - especially at the middle and high school level. Our accectable use policy does not rule out web chats, and it is very difficult to make sure that students are properly using these discussion tools and using proper netiquette. Unfortunately, these web chats are open to the general public and are attractive to sexual predators.

There are several ways that we try to combat problems:

Teacher training - during our staff development sessions for appropriate use of the Internet in the classroom, we discuss the problems of web-chats and the opportunities for sexual predators. Our biggest push is for teachers to understand that this needs to be closely monitored, to remind students of the acceptable use policy, and to keep students aware of proper language and interaction with strangers.

Parental Involvement - parents of students in our district are also required to review and sign the acceptable use policies so that their son/daughter may use the Internet in the classroom. Within our AUP we cover proper netiquette, security issues, and the like. One site that I suggest we should add to the acceptable use policy, is the U.S. Dept. of Education - Parent's Guide to the Internet. This is a wonderful site to get parents started on understanding the proper use and value of instructional technologies like the Internet. It provides tips on safe traveling on the Internet including interacting with strangers, proper netiquette, and content control issues.

State and Federal Government Assistance - I am very interested in the movements that are being made by the state and federal governments on tracking sexual predators. Kid's Online is an website that provides information about the December 1997 Internet Online Summit: Focus on Children which was a gathering of more than 650 individuals representing over 300 organizations. Participants included Vice President Al Gore, Attorney General Janet Reno, Education Secretary Richard Riley, industry leaders, public interest and childrens advocates, and many others. I noticed that the website has not been updated since 2-24-98, but looks to be a good clearinghouse for information about Internet Safety.