In learning about how to find, understand and analyze Acceptable Use Policies (AUP), I looked at the Pueblo School District 70 AUP and compared it to the National Education Association’s (NEA) suggestions of six key elements of an effective AUP to see how it compares. The six suggested key elements are: A preamble, a definition section, a policy statement, an acceptable uses section, an unacceptable uses section and a violations/sanctions section.  Below is a table for a quick glance to compare the six key elements from the NEA to the sections found in the PSD70 AUP.

As you can see from the above chart, the PSD70 AUP has more sections, but is still missing a couple of the NEA six elements.   

1. PSD70’s AUP has the Purpose section that covers the Preamble section.  It talks about the policy and the districts code of conduct. The PSD70 AUP is missing the “process of developing the policy” as suggested by the NEA.
2. This particular AUP does not offer a definition section.  However, in the Purpose section they do define the term, “The Network” as being, “a regional electronic communication system, which includes Internet access.” 
3. There is not a specific Policy Statement section that would explain what computer services are covered by the AUP and the circumstances under which the students can use the computer services.  In the Access section they do cover the levels of access for different age groups as well as the required signed agreements from students and/or parents. 
4. The Acceptable Uses section is missing from this AUP. Throughout the AUP you can find many unacceptable uses, but not any mentions about appropriate student use of the computer network, like suggested by the NEA.  It would be nice if they had this section so parents, who may not know why they are signing their child up for this access, would have an idea of the benefits that being on the network provides.    
5. There is an unacceptable uses category. The PSD70 AUP has this section broken down further. Some of the categories in this section are; personal safety, illegal activities, system security, inappropriate language, respect for privacy, respecting resource limits, plagiarism and access to inappropriate material.
6. The NEA’s violations category is explained as, a section that should tell students how to report violations of the policy or whom to ask questions about its application.  PSD70’s AUP explains this through categories such as; due process, search and seizure, academic freedom, free speech and selection of material and parental notification and responsibility.  This section also talk about what rights the district, teachers and parents have for acquiring information from student files from the network.

While researching the elements of an AUP, I found PSD70’s AUP to be very complex and almost too wordy.  They might benefit from combining some information to make it easier for parents and students to read and understand. The particular AUP that I studied was the Student AUP, but there were also AUPs for staff/board members as well as community members.  In the same section that I found the AUPs I also found letters to the parents about the AUP, web site publishing regulations, a web policy and a student network/internet policy handbook. 

The district AUP was created to cover all grade levels. I believe that the district would benefit from having separate AUPs that would focus on specific grade levels.  During my research, I called a couple of the schools in the district to see if they had their own AUP, to which they told me that they just use the district formed AUP.  I also found that most of the AUP documents have not been revised since 2009. Many of the updates mentioned above may come through another revision.  

Bibliography

Getting Started on the Internet: Developing an AUP. (n.d.). Retrieved January 20, 2014, from Education   World: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr093.shtml

Pueblo County School District 70 Student AUP. (n.d.). Retrieved January 17, 2014, from District   70:   http://www.district70.org/pdf/tech_agreements/parents%20and%20stude...