The answer is astonishingly simple, fairly


easy to apply, and counter-intuitive all at once. And yes, it’s even something we can join forces and do together, with the help of some of our most trusted professional organizations around the state. ACSA, the California School Boards Association, the California Educational Technology Profes- sionals Association, the Santa Clara County Office of Education, CUE (Computer Using Educators), the law firm Fagen, Friedman & Fulfrost and others have joined forces to develop resources to help every California district and county office of education.


A new approach “ON[the]LINE” is a new statewide ef-


fort focused on tackling this challenge. The unique initiative seeks to provide relief to beleaguered districts, county offices of edu- cation and others, bringing together a suite of resources they can use to either adopt new, CSBA-approved policies in alignment with this approach, or adapt existing local poli- cies in alignment with the initiative’s guide- lines. And it will also provide help in the development of local technology use guide- lines, professional development and more. So how does it work? ON[the]LINE is


built upon understanding a simple principle about technology use today and why our old approach doesn’t work any more. You can understand it by answering these two ques- tions: 1. What’s at the core of your typical tech-


nology policies today? Technology! And what’s the flaw with


that? You are building policies around a constantly moving target. For example, to- day’s Facebook policy becomes irrelevant tomorrow when students and teachers begin communicating via an array of other non- Facebook tools. Every scenario you imagine and try to capture will be a different one to- morrow. 2. What is it we’re really trying to influ-


ence with technology policies for our staff and students? Human behavior! What we discover is


that the problems we’re trying to solve are not actually technology problems at all. Want to test this theory? Answer these ques- tions:


Johnny copies his entire essay from an


article he finds online and submits it as his own work. What is the principle at play here? Is this a technology problem? Would it not be more accurate to say the challenges we need to confront are plagiarism and cheat- ing, whether by photocopying from a book,


plied consistently, regardless of the technol- ogies rapidly changing around them. Your policies around specific social networking tools become policies around appropriate communications between staff and students (because isn’t that what your real concern is?). Your policies around cell phone use


It turns out we don’t need to list every imaginable activity online (not that we ever really could). We do need to be able to clearly define the standards that govern behavior and expectations, regardless of what technologies exist today or tomorrow. It’s the human behavior standards that can be applied consistently.


copying somebody’s paper, or from the In- ternet? Mr. Smith, the science teacher, spends


half his day in class gambling online. What is the principle at play here? Is this a technol- ogy problem? Would it not be more accurate to say the challenge we need to confront is neglecting (sometimes criminally) his pro- fessional duties, whether by gambling on- line, surfing porn, or reading a book in class while neglecting his students?


Human behavior standards You’re getting the gist. It turns out we


don’t need to list every imaginable activ- ity online (not that we ever really could) – we need to be able to clearly define what our professional behavioral standards are for our teachers and staff. Those standards should govern behavior and expectations, regardless of what technologies exist today or tomorrow. Are your teachers and staff clear on what your standards are? As you test each policy against these


guiding principles, we find that it’s the human behavior standards that can be ap-


merge into your policies on appropriate classroom behavior and academic honesty (because isn’t that what your real concern is?). Your policies around bullying are really about any form of bullying, whether in per- son or online. The examples go on and on. Even better, this new approach holds the


promise of helping us in our quest to keep education relevant, and to help foster the de- velopment of students prepared to live and work in a 21st century environment where technology is ubiquitous. Don’t kid yourself. Most students walk-


ing through your doors are already arriving with the Internet in their pocket these days. It’s no longer practical to imagine ourselves tightening our grip on the use of technology both in and outside school to confront these challenges. The genie is out of the bottle, and it’s not going back in. We need to adapt to this new world, and prepare our students and staff for survival and success in this en- vironment. Yes, there are very specific requirements


associated with protecting students online (and new legislation being passed every


November/December 2012 13


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