Separate Personal and Professional Hardware, Software, and Web 2.0 Applications

Take a moment and journal about two of these four subjects.  Journal about how these issues affect you, your colleagues, or your students.

1)      Remember that a school laptop is the school’s property.   Even if you bring it home every evening.  The information on the laptop is not private and not personal.  It is owned by the school and community.  So, do not let your children or your spouse use the school owned computer, they may accidently or on purpose access an inappropriate website.

2)      Avoid putting your personal software on a school computer, unless you plan on donating the software to the school.  Avoid putting the school’s software on your personal computer, as that will allow the school rightful legal access to your personal computer.

3)      Always keep Social Networking Sites separate from professional websites.  This helps you to avoid having to explain to your students why your friend(s) is posting interesting comments and pictures on your social networking website.

4)      Filter Your Information:  Do put up a resume, when looking for a job, but do not put it up for public viewing, use a special service like schoolspring.com to post your important information.  Someone could steal your resume and assume your identity.