Ethical Use Policy
pla·gia·rism
noun
"plagiarism, no. 1." Lexico Powered by Oxford, 2019. https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/plagiarism. Accessed 5 December 2019. |
"Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition. Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional. Under the regulations for examinations, intentional or reckless plagiarism is a disciplinary offence."
Oxford Students. "Plagiarism." Oxford University, 2019. https://www.ox.ac.uk/students/academic/guidance/skills/plagiarism?wssl=1. Accessed 5 December 2019. |
All students are educated on copyright, plagiarism, and how to evaluate resources for validity as part of the CCPS Library Media program and the AASL National School Library Standards for Learners, and are expected to conduct themselves accordingly.
In addition, all staff and students are required to follow the CCPS Responsible Use of Technology guidelines, which include:
CCPS provides a variety of preferred methods to communicate and connect with families for educational purposes such as School Messenger, Power School, Blackboard, etc. Where appropriate, the district supports the use of social media by employees in pursuit of instructional and educational goals. The district may use social media to connect with students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, colleagues, and other educators. Guidelines are followed in the use of these media:
CCPS. "Responsible Use of Technology." CCPS Policies and Regulations. Cecil County Board of Education, 2014.
- Students and employees will adhere to appropriate copyright laws and CCPS Copyright policy EGAA.
- Digital resources must be used for instructional purposes at the level/school for which they were purchased in accordance with licensing agreements.
- When students are using free online services/tools to produce content, teachers and staff need to be aware of Terms of Service and instruct students in the proper use of settings to protect students' intellectual property rights and students' privacy.
- Any proposed digital resource must be reviewed and approved by the Resource Allocation Committee and follow the Instructional Materials Policy (IIA) before it is purchased.
In addition, all staff and students are required to follow the CCPS Responsible Use of Technology guidelines, which include:
- The use of any technology device, CCPS owned or personal, on CCPS property, means the user is knowingly and willingly participating in the use of CCPS technology resources and agrees to abide by this regulation and all referenced laws, policies, and regulations.
- Users will have no expectation of privacy or ownership when using CCPS technology resources.
- Use of CCPS technology resources is a privilege. Performing any prohibited activity as outlined in this regulation may result in the loss of that privilege and other disciplinary action.
- Employees will not reveal student data, employee data, or other CCPS owned data to any third party.
- All hardware, related components, and software provided for use are considered assets of CCPS. Anyone causing damage to assets may be subject to withdrawal of privileges and other disciplinary actions.
- All authorized services (email, communication services, internal or external systems, cloud-based services, social networks, etc.) are provided for use in support of education related activities only.
- CCPS is required to filter internet content based upon requirements of CIPA. Any attempt to bypass content filters is a direct violation of this policy and will result in disciplinary action.
- Users may not download, install, or use any unauthorized software/application within the CCPS network environment. Any software/apps that poses a risk or threat to CCPS, its students, or employees will be identified and restricted. Restrictions may include the report disabling of software/apps, disabling or confiscation of a device, and subsequent disciplinary action.
- Students will abide by the Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook (Policy JF) in all electronic communications, network activity, and online behavior.
CCPS provides a variety of preferred methods to communicate and connect with families for educational purposes such as School Messenger, Power School, Blackboard, etc. Where appropriate, the district supports the use of social media by employees in pursuit of instructional and educational goals. The district may use social media to connect with students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni, colleagues, and other educators. Guidelines are followed in the use of these media:
- All third-party social media used will comply with COPPA (http://www.coppa.org/).
- Due to COPPA, an effort to protect children's privacy, elementary and middle school students should not have accounts on social media and communication sites, and therefore those levels will not communicate with students through social media sites.
- Students and employees will abide by the published Terms of Service (ToS), licensing, fair use agreements, and privacy policy. If there is not a published ToS or privacy policy then the service cannot be used.
- Prior to using the Third-Party Social media for CCPS-sanctioned activities, employees will create a plan of action for the use of the third-party social media site and submit to the school principal for approval.
- The Technology Services Office (TSO) will authorize certain services for use by employees. Employees may request a review for a new service and must gain approval prior to use. Technology services will maintain an approved list of services.
- The content owner will inform the parents of how the social media is being used, how their children are being contacted online, and the expectations for appropriate behavior.
- The content owner will inform students of the expectations, appropriate use, and accountability of the social media site.
- Employees using third-party social media professionally will create an account linked to their CCPS e-mail address and separate from any personal accounts. CCPS e-mail account cannot be used to create any personal social media accounts.
- When using social media for a professional purpose, employees will identify themselves and CCPS as the employer.
- Employees must comply with confidentiality obligations imposed by law, including HIPAA and FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.)
- Employees must adhere to privacy policies and exclude students who have declined to have their pictures used for any purpose by CCPS. Images of students will not be used in conjunction with the student's name.
- Employees will configure privacy settings of the social media to limit visibility of the content to the intended audience.
- Copyright policies and regulations must be followed.
- All posts must reflect classroom activities and no personal comments or personal pictures.
- Content owners are responsible for monitoring postings and comments to social media and sites and for deleting postings that do not adhere to our policies. Acceptable content may be positive or negative in context to the conversation, regardless of whether it is favorable or unfavorable to the district. Comments that are obscene, defamatory, profane, libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, infringing of intellectual property rights, invasive of privacy, hateful or embarrassing to another person, or any other person or entity, are not allowed and should be removed. Owner/Moderator agrees to take all reasonable steps to prevent and eliminate inappropriate comments and understand that it may be necessary to discontinue the use of the social media if such comments cannot be eliminated or prevented.
- If a person is no longer employed by CCPS, it is the responsibility of the user to delete all social media accounts associated with his/her CCPS e-mail account.
CCPS. "Responsible Use of Technology." CCPS Policies and Regulations. Cecil County Board of Education, 2014.
Updated: J. Boyko, 12 December 2019.