21st Century Policies in Halton

Halton has a number of policies and procedures in place for ICT. Our Chief Information Officer oversees all ICT and Information Services business, including technology, libraries and communication to the public. Our CIO create an advisory team to meet 4 times a year. It is a group of Administrators, Trustees, School Programs staff and Teachers and I happen to be one of them. We meet quarterly and during these meetings we review policy changes, issues that have arisen and share feedback about plans that are in the works. As an example, we recently began some internet filtering as a result of a few minor events that took place in elementary schools in our board. It was a hotly contested move, but the CIO brought it to the team so we could share our feedback and help him to understand what messaging would need to go out to schools and to parents.


Our team also works to review Acceptable Use Guidelines and Bring IT guidelines. While we are not part of the team that creates the policies, we are able to share concerns, ask for clarification and promote an awareness of them at the school level.

The AUG is shared with all community members, staff and students at the beginning of the year.  My one criticism is that it is not something that is explicitly done but is included in the mountains of paperwork to be reviewed and signed off by parents.  It is also something that we never have time to address in detail during staff meetings.  
Acceptable Use Guidelines in Halton -Web
AUG Policy

The policies are regularly reviewed -we began reviewing the AUG last spring and are awaiting final approval before posting the updated version.  As technology use becomes more and more integrated into the classroom and less and less about designated lab time, our policies must reflect this and support the use of social media tools.  Halton has recently decided to adopt Edsby -an all in one 'Facebook meets Google Classroom" product that can provide a safe, timely and enjoyable user experience.  Whether or not the board is able to provide enough support for its adoption by the majority of teachers is yet to be seen!