Fair Use

Fair Use Philosophy Statement:
The classroom teacher is committed to preparing students for the challenges of life in the 21st century.  This includes providing opportunities for students to become competent and responsible users of technology.  One of the tools for accomplishing this is the Internet. The Internet is the "electronic highway" that connects thousands of computers worldwide and makes possible access to a vast array of educational resources that, until recently, were inaccessible to students, teachers, and parents. The Internet is now available to students and employees as part of an overall plan to increase the use of technology as a teaching and learning tool. The goal is to promote student achievement and to facilitate communication in order to share resources with others in education, business, government, and science.  The classroom teachers will utilize the Internet to access the following:
-World Wide Web databases
-Electronic mail communication internationally
-Public domain and shareware software
-Access to libraries, large and small, internationally
-News and information from research institutions
-Discussion groups on topics ranging from music and art to science and engineering

Access that the Internet offers may be invaluable to students and teachers and some material may not be considered educational.  Students and teachers may discovered topics that are controversial and even offensive.  It is the position of the school system that the value of the information available and the opportunities for worldwide interaction on the Internet far outweigh the negative aspect that users may access information that is not consistent with the educational goals of the school system.

Terms and Conditions:
- The use of the Internet is a privilege, not a right. Inappropriate use will results in cancellation of those privileges. Each Internet user must participate in a training session on the appropriate use of the Internet. Building administrators will determine what is inappropriate use.
-The purpose of providing access to the Internet is to promote learning through research and collaboration. The use of the Internet must be consistent with this and with the instructional objectives set forth by the school system.


Fair Use Guidelines:
-Users may not give out personal information such as names, phone numbers, or addresses of themselves or others over the Internet.
-Users may not access or send material that is obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors. The Board of Education will install and operate technology protection measures that blocks or filters access to such materials or any other materials that may be determined inappropriate.
-Users may not willfully violate copyright laws of the United States or the established copyright policies of the local Board of Education
-Users may not engage in any unauthorized access while using the Internet.
-Users may not engage in non-educational games or waste valuable online time.
-Users may not download software from the Internet without the permission of the site administrators.
-Users must observe common rules of network etiquette such as politeness and allowing other ample online time.
-All users are required to notify the classroom teacher or administrator if they observe a security problem.
-Student work that is published on the World Wide Web will only be published under the direction of the supervising teacher(s) and with the approval of the school's Media Committee and school principal.


**The preceding information was adapted from the Effingham County Board of Education technology policies.

Classroom Strategies to help prevent Fair Use violations:
-Teachers will constantly supervise students while on the Internet. 
-All monitors should be easily viewable.
-Students will be taught appropriate Internet activity and safety precautions.
-The teacher will research the sites that students will access before the lesson takes place.
-Students will use the Internet for 30-minute increments.
-Students will "track" what sites they accessed in an individual journal.
-The teacher will teach students the appropriate way to reference the resources they used, this is not limited to the Internet.  The teacher will demonstrate the correct way to create a "Works Cited" page.