Technology
Table of Contents
Our 1:1 Initiative
Our Chromebook 1:1 Initiative places a device in the hands of every hāumana (student), grades K–6. This allows us to eliminate computer labs, while increasing computer access to every student in the our school.
Grades K–2 hāumana each have access to a Chromebook in their classroom. Grades 3–6 hāumana will have access to Chromebooks daily during the school day as well as have the opportunity to bring the Chromebook home.
Highlights of our Chromebook Initiative include:
- A Chromebook for every hāumana in grades K–6
- Google Workspace for Education accounts for every hāumana
- Web based curriculum
- Custom apps with web resources
Student Privacy
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that gives parents certain protections with regard to their children’s education records, such as report cards, transcripts, disciplinary records, contact and family information, and class schedules. As a parent, you have the right to review your child’s education records and to request changes under limited circumstances.
Learn more at: http://bit.ly/FERPAHI
Nā Wai Ola Public Charter School (NWOPCS), follows strict rules regarding confidentiality of student and employee information as required by Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) for students and Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines for employees.
All of our employees are trained to protect student privacy with respect to grades and other student information, in accordance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The purposes of FERPA are twofold: to ensure that parents have access to their children’s educational records and to protect the privacy rights of parents and children by limiting access to these records without parental consent.
What does this mean for our classrooms?
Grades and all “educational records” are confidential and is treated as such at all times. We do not allow:
- Grades to be read out loud by the teacher to the whole class.
- Grades to be posted with information that identifies individual students (using their names, or other publicly identifying marks).
It is NWOPCS’s policy to protect its property, personnel, and student information. No confidential information pertaining to staff or students will be released without expressed permission, except where necessitated by law.
What are educational records?
“Educational records” include “all instructional materials, including teacher’s manuals, films, tapes, or other supplementary material which will be used in connection with any survey, analysis, or evaluation as part of any applicable program shall be available for inspection by the parents or guardians of the children.”
Safety
The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) was enacted by Congress in 2000 to address concerns about children’s access to obscene or harmful content over the Internet. CIPA imposes certain requirements on schools or libraries that receive discounts for Internet access or internal connections through the E-rate program – a program that makes certain communications services and products more affordable for eligible schools and libraries. In early 2001, the FCC issued rules implementing CIPA and provided updates to those rules in 2011.
Nā Wai Ola Public Charter School (NWOPCS), provides content filtering at the network, device, and classroom levels. It is the responsibility of all members of the NWOPCS staff to educate, supervise and monitor appropriate usage of the online computer network and access to the Internet in accordance with our policies, the Children’s Internet Protection Act, the Neighborhood Children’s Internet Protection Act, and the Protecting Children in the 21st Century Act. Our classroom teachers are responsible for providing age-appropriate training for all students.
The training we provide our hāumana (students) will be designed to promote the NWOPCS’s commitment to:
- The standards and acceptable use of Internet services as set forth in our policies.
- Student safety with regard to:
- Safety on the Internet
- Appropriate behavior while on online, on social networking web sites, and in chat rooms
- Cyberbullying awareness and response
- Compliance with the E-rate requirements of the Children’s Internet Protection Act (“CIPA”).
We are committed to both teach and train our hāumana to become effective and ethical users of technology by instilling the ability to use a wide variety of technology effectively and ethically.
Our Online Resources
We believe that technology is a tool that should be used to enhance a student’s learning. Therefore, non-educational use of technology, personal or school issued, is strictly prohibited.
As a grade K–6 school, we require our teachers to prescreen any and all educational material presented to our students.