W. Va. Code R. § 126-41-4

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 43, October 25, 2024

Section 126-41-4 - Digital Citizenship

4.1. The appropriate use of technology and digital resources promotes positive and effective digital citizenship among students and staff. Digital citizenship represents more than technology literacy. Successful, technologically fluent digital citizens live safely and civilly in an increasingly digital world and use technology responsibly. They recognize that information posted on the Internet is public and permanent and can have a long-term impact on an individual's life and career.

4.2. All users need to be part of this digital citizenry to appropriately and safely learn, work, play, and live in today's global society.

4.3. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) includes standards and provides guidance related to digital citizenship for students, teachers, administrators, instructional coaches and computer science educators.

4.4. Digital/Network Code of Conduct:

4.4.a. Users are expected to abide by the generally accepted rules of digital/network etiquette. These include, but are not limited to, the following:

4.4.a.1. Be polite. Do not write or send abusive messages to others.

4.4.a.2. Use proper English and appropriate language; avoid "Netspeak." Do not swear; do not use vulgarities or other inappropriate language.

4.4.a.3. Use extreme caution when revealing personal information, including a home address and phone number, on web sites, videos, social media, other digital communication platforms, e-mail, or as content on any other electronic medium.

4.4.a.4. Do not reveal, on any electronic medium, personal information about another individual.

4.4.a.5. Do not use the Internet in a way that would disrupt the use of the Internet by others.

4.4.a.6. Electronic educational material containing confidential student information shall be stored only in secure locations consistent with federal, state, and local privacy regulations. Electronic educational material containing no confidential student information, including but not limited to, lesson plans, worksheets, primary source documents, and other materials used for instruction, may be stored in appropriate locations but should follow state/district guidelines.

4.4.a.7. Educators electing to use third party classroom based applications should carefully review the terms of service and privacy policies prior to use for those applications to ensure consistency with best practice. For use of applications with students younger than 13 years of age, recommended best practice is to obtain parental consent prior to use and/or entering any student data. All use of third party applications must be consistent with local policy/guidelines, Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ( 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99) FERPA), W. Va. Code § 18-2-5h, and W. Va. 126SR94, WVBE Policy 4350, Procedures for the Collection, Maintenance and Disclosure of Student Data (Policy 4350).

4.4.a.8 Activate the appropriate automatic reply message if account is to be unused for an extended period of time.

4.4.a.9. Appropriate permission shall be obtained prior to publishing student pictures or names on class, school, or district web sites or other publications, provided that such information is not designated as directory information under district policy. All releases of information designated as directory information under district policy must comply with parental opt-out provisions as described in the FERPA and WVBE Policy 4350.

4.4.a.10. Notify the appropriate school authority of any dangerous or inappropriate information or messages encountered.

4.5. Digital Security:

4.5.a. Users who identify a security problem on the system must notify a system administrator. Users who are aware of or suspect that confidential information may have been exposed to unauthorized parties must notify district and/or state officials responsible for implementing privacy incident response protocol consistent with federal and state regulations including, but not limited to, Policy 4350 and the Student Data Accessibility, Transparency, and Accountability Act, W. Va. Code § 18-2-5h.

4.5.b. Users must not demonstrate security problems to users other than school, district and/or state officials responsible for implementing the privacy incident response protocol.

4.5.c. Users must not use another individual's account or give their passwords to others. Unauthorized attempts to log into the system as a system administrator may result in revocation of user privileges based on state, district, or school policies.

4.5.d. Any user identified as a security risk may be denied access by the appropriate disciplinary authority.

4.5.e. The WVDE is the proprietor of a class B license of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. These addresses include 168.216.000.001 through 168.216.255.255. All addresses are assigned, maintained and managed by the WVDE. Any unauthorized use is strictly prohibited.

W. Va. Code R. § 126-41-4