As you nurture your own personal/professional blog, what policies will you follow about content, self-disclosure, etc.?

And what policies will you provide to your own learners as they blog under your direction?

Describe each set of policies in a separate paragraph. Write the learner-oriented policy in the 2nd person in language appropriate to your learners.

I am currently setting up my blog policies. They will be listed directly on the blog, but also be discussed at length in the classroom.

Here are the policies that I have written so far...

1) Respect - All students are expected to treat each other with respect. Even if you disagree with someone, you can discuss your disagreement with respect and understanding.

2) Appropriateness - All language and discussion must be "school appropriate." No bad language. No making fun of others or name calling.

3) Stay on Topic - The discussions that we have should stick with whatever is the chosen topic. This weblog shouldn't be used for talking about your friends or relationships in class. It is ok to bring in personal experience, if it stays with the topic.

4) Privacy - We have set up an "alias" for each student (a fake name) to ensure your privacy from the outside world on the internet. However, the teacher has these fake names on record and students will also be aware of these names as well. Do not expect to post something "in secret." Although we are setting up the safest site possible, the internet is an open area where people from around the world can peek into your "space."

5) Teacher Monitoring - Be further aware that the teacher and your parents have the right to monitor (read and investigate) what you write.

This is still a work in progress....

Personal Standards:
To post only what I would find acceptable to read about myself in someone else's blog.
To post at least once per week, potential readers/friends/family lose interest with stale content.
To share daily life with others far away and bring them into the context of my world.
To write well with limited slang.
To provide the links and pictures to make the entries interesting.

Corporate AUP:
Internet access is now available to employees of COMFISCS. The access is offered as part of the knowledge management toolkit. Our goal in providing this service is to promote organization excellence by using blogging resources for professional purposes such as:
to further teamwork
to share knowledge
to learn together
to communicate current events
to enable a mobile and virtual workforce
to focus on the mission.

Users must use their NMCI name for their account, anonymous posting is prohibited.

Discussions are encouraged, personal attacks are not. Keep the exchanges polite and courteous, this doesn't mean that you have to agree with each other on every subject. People are entitled to their own opinions.

Political posts are prohibited under the Hatch Act.

For blogs that are publicly accessible, posts must reflect positively on the Navy's behalf. Posts must be approved by the Public Affairs Office prior to posting.

The use of our Navy Blog Software and Internet connection is a privilege, not a right. Inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges. Before being assigned a Blog account and a password, each employee will meet with their supervisor to review the Blogging Policy and Guidance instruction. The Commanding Officer, Department Heads, and supervisors may request the system administrator to deny, revoke, or suspend specific user accounts if violations occur.

About ten months ago, I bought a domain name for my portfolio website. Speakeasy Designs soon became home to a blog that I wrote filled with little stupid stories about what had happened to me. Many of those stories would have been fine if a prospective employeer were to read it, but there were ones that weren't.

I ended up moving the blog, so that each of them remain separate. I stay careful not to link from my personal blog to my portfolio blog. I think its important to have a blog where you can say what you really feel where only your friends can read it. And another place altogether where you can promote your skillset without stories about dating mishaps or whiskey.

So, for me, I guess I had to establish a policy where I could use policy to determine where a post would end up. Professional blog, or personal blog.

The language I want students to use in their blog?
Hmmm, I feel that's a loaded question since what I'm really working with right now is to incorporate blogging into a digital media archive.

I enjoyed our talk with Anne Davis today. She's really got me thinking about using blogs for language learning. to keep this post from getting any longer, I'm going to have to stop.

---Revised---

I think that the lines are already clearly defined, and the policy should be simple: Everything you write in your blog should fall under the writing rules already in place in the classroom. For instance, a writer's notebook is a place for creative writing- NOT "journal" entries about your partying and sucicidal thoughts. Everything in a writer's notebook (and therefore in a blog) should be available to the teacher and peers for assessment and feedback. I always tell my students to stay PG or G rated, or I tell them to write as if their parents are also part of the audience. Students already sign and AUP before school, which would also pertain to blogs since blogs are a part of the internet, which states: Internet use is for educational purposes only. The end.

Neidhart's class blog policy:

1. Bogging is a privledge which can be rescinded at any time by me.

2. Your writing is for educational purposes only.

3. You will use standard english in your blog, and your writing will be profanity free.

4. Your links will be to informative sites only, from which others can learn. Links to plageristic, pornographic, or other non-educational sits will result in loss of all computer privledges in the school for the remainder of the year, as well has appropriate discipliary action from site administrators.

5. You will maintain anonymity for outside readers.

Edited by author 09-25-2004 02:09 PM
Without being aware of it, I developed my own rules when posting to my personal blogs. There are two personal blogs to which I contribute: a family one and my “private” one. For the family one—where the participants are solely myself and my brother—I am careful to write things that are not too incredibly revealing, like where I live. I am also careful not to write certain feelings about, say, my Mom and Dad. Someday, they may just figure out what the Internet is! I am aware that this blog is out there for anyone to read and I still need to censor some of the things I write. The same goes for my private blog. However, with that one, I’ve figured out how to use some code names to appease my need to express what I’m thinking and not censor myself completely.

As for the policies that I will provide for the blogging site techs, here is what I’ve come up with so far.

1. Thou shalt treat all others with respect in blogspace.
Be open to ideas and supportive of one another.

2. Thou shalt use the blog for professional matters only.
Please do not discuss The Apprentice 2 here.

3. Thou shalt not speak slanderously of another person.
Use this tool to work better and more efficiently, not to talk about others (bosses, colleagues, etc.).

4. Thou shalt not ever, ever type in all capital letters.
Follow netiquette rules.

Weblog policies for my own blog
• Content will always be on topic and professional.
• Do not give out any personal information.
• Do not use student, co-workers, or parents real names on the blog
• All links should be appropriate to the blog

Weblog policies for students
• You can only use first names (which will be alias names)
• No pictures of students with names
• Discussion must stay on assigned topic
• Teacher must ok all posts
• All language must be appropriate for school (no bad words or put downs)
• Respect others opinions
• If the rules are not followed you will not be able to post

My own, personal policies....

I have always been guilty of telling people "too much." I often feel that I have left conversations with people that I just met thinking, "did I really tell them that?" or "I wonder how they felt about hearing me drone on about that...." Sometimes I realize that I didn't learn as much about them. Maybe I talk too much. This is what happens when you have a room full of 9-10 year olds all day and 5 children under 10 at home....I seem to have a need for adult conversation.

This attitude enters my personal policies on the internet. I have posted some very detailed information about myself on my website(s) and then realized that future employers can easily access this information.

I guess what I am saying is that I have a policy of being free with my information. I AM hesitant to use the internet for public rants against my employers or individuals. In these instances, if I cared to share my feelings in a blog, I would create an alias for myself and hope that it couldn't be traced back. I still have to operate under the guidelines that nothing is secure on the internet.

Here is an example policy that I could use in my second grade classroom....

I would want to create some sort of a webpage showing my students the do's and don'ts of working with blogs.
1) Always write things that are respectful of others in the class and who may be reading our blog. Never write anything that may be hurtful or inappropriate for second grade. Also, respect the things that others have written.

2)Use the blog only as a tool for learning.

3)When using the blog stay on topic and only write about the posted discussion topic.

4)Use the blog to meet new peple, but please check with the teacher first if someone tries to contact you through the blog. Some strangers may not be appropriate for you to talk to.

5)Remember you want to remain anonymous to any outside users. Do not give out your password or any personal information for others to recieve.


The policy that I have in mind for myself when using my personal blog would be......

1)Keep the content professional and on topic

2)When writing about life do not use real names of friends, co-workers or students.

3)Do not give out personal information.

What rules do I want to abide by on my personal log?

My expectations for myself and those commenting to my personal log are to refrain from inappropriate language, vulgarity, and links to sites that are not relevant to the focus of the conversations. ...keep it clean and adhere to the subject matter being discussed at the time.

What language do I want my students to use in their blogs?

I like the sample AUP: which discloses the district policy on netiquette and provides a contract for everyone to sign before accessing the Internet at school.
I will use something very similar to this based on my district's policies and modify it accordingly.

Personal Standards:
To post only what I would find acceptable to read about myself in someone else's blog.
To post at least once per week, potential readers/friends/family lose interest with stale content.
To share daily life with others far away and bring them into the context of my world.
To write well with limited slang.
To provide the links and pictures to make the entries interesting.

Corporate AUP:
Internet access is now available to employees of COMFISCS. The access is offered as part of the knowledge management toolkit. Our goal in providing this service is to promote organization excellence by using blogging resources for professional purposes such as:
to further teamwork
to share knowledge
to learn together
to communicate current events
to enable a mobile and virtual workforce
to focus on the mission.

Users must use their NMCI name for their account, anonymous posting is prohibited.

Discussions are encouraged, personal attacks are not. Keep the exchanges polite and courteous, this doesn't mean that you have to agree with each other on every subject. People are entitled to their own opinions.

For readability, posts should be spell checked and grammatically correct. DO NOT use all caps.

Political posts are prohibited under the Hatch Act.

For blogs that are publicly accessible, posts must reflect positively on the Navy's behalf. Posts must be approved by the Public Affairs Office prior to posting.

The use of our Navy Blog Software and Internet connection is a privilege, not a right. Inappropriate use will result in a cancellation of those privileges. Before being assigned a Blog account and a password, each employee will meet with their supervisor to review the Blogging Policy and Guidance instruction. The Commanding Officer, Department Heads, and supervisors may request the system administrator to deny, revoke, or suspend specific user accounts if violations occur.