University of California at Berkeley Extension is

teaching one of the first courses aimed at giving

administrators, parents and teachers answers to these

problems.

Taught by Ana Solomon, will include topics like

copyright law,

intellectual property, profanity, pornography, online

etiquette, and gender issues related to technology.

“In schools there needs to be some guidelines for how

to use technology,” Solomon said. “It’s very easy to

break the law and not know it. Because the Internet is

coming into so many homes and classes, it has the

potential to be a very powerful and dangerous tool,

and there need to be guidelines.”

In the class, students will also formulate a “fair use

policy.” Now mandated by the California Department of

Education, a fair use policy is a contract made

between the student and their school in which the

student, parent, and teacher agree to a certain level

of behavior while using the Internet and school

computers.

The fair use policy, “puts in black and white, and on

paper what everyone’s responsibilities are,” Solomon

said.

Although she acknowledges the many ethical pitfalls

that educators come across in offering technology to

their students, Solomon feels that the Internet and

computers can be an invaluable teaching aid.

“If we do not give our kids a chance to use this

technology, we are denying them a tool of the

future.”

– University of California at Berkeley