Acceptable Use Policy and Cyber Aggression
As I mentioned in Forum 1, my doctoral research was on institutional and counseling policies and procedures response to cyber aggression. When I read about the Communication Code of Conduct, I reflected back to the Acceptable Use Policies of the institutions I researched. Their AUP did not really address cyber aggression or clear consequences for inappropriate behavior.
If your institution has an Acceptable Use Policy, then the Communication Code of Conduct should stem from that policy correct?
If not, other than the instructor, who would enforce or support the Communication Code of Conduct? Should legal counsel or someone in administration, Provost, approve this policy and should it not be included in ALL online courses?
Gretchen,
I have found that AUP is used more at the K-12 level and Code of Conduct more at the post-secondary level. However if a university has both, I would think that they should be connected. Thanks.
Hi Gretchen,
I taught for a school (that I won't mention here) where one of the students posted multiple times that she felt the urge to be a serial killer and that she became aroused watching Dexter. The class was a humanities class, and we were discussing censorship, so it was sort of on topic, but it was definitely crossing a line. She also would repeatedly post to two students in the class who were "out" and tell them why they were wrong.
Suffice it to say, I reported her actions, and in return, I was told that she had done nothing wrong. This continued throughout the class, and resulted in a very high stress level for me because the students seemed sincere and disturbed, and no matter who I contacted, I was told that nothing was wrong.
Eventually, after the class, the school finally sent an email (that I got copied on), stating that what she said in class was inappropriate.
So, to me, the question isn't whether or not there should be a policy, but how it can be enforced. If teachers are not allowed to enforce it, and if the school itself doesn't enforce it, it seems to be completely pointless to even have it.
(I do not teach for that school any longer due to that situation...)
Thanks,
Kate
Katherine and Gretchen,
Good point. The enforcement of any policy is important. This is kind of scary - Dexter. . .
I agree. Managing cyber aggression is very important. I am sorry that you experienced this situation but you took the right actions.
Dara,
It is good to have these policies in place to be able to help students understand the consequences as well. Thanks for your input.
