3.3 Appropriate Use of Technology

List of 11 items.

• Access

  The use of the School Network and Technology is intended for School purposes. Employees may make limited personal use of the School Network and Technology provided that such use does not compromise normal work obligations. School staff must comply at all times with the terms of this policy and all other applicable laws, policies and guidelines when accessing the School Network and Technology for any purpose.
  
  

  The School may at any time revoke the access of any staff member to the School Network or to the School Technology. Permitting other persons to use a staff member’s account and password shall be grounds for loss of access or other disciplinary action. Once access has been terminated, the School is under no obligation to store or forward electronic communications, electronic documents or other data stored, accessed or sent by or to the account.

• Appropriateness

  Every employee shall use the School Network and Technology in a fashion consistent with Crescent School’s values and in an ethical and lawful manner. It is the shared responsibility of all School staff to keep the School Network and Technology and any other applicable networks safe and secure.

  School staff must not use the School Network and Technology for:

  • creating, processing, distributing or accessing illegal, offensive, pornographic and/or inappropriate materials;
  • sending/receiving defamatory, abusive, obscene, profane, sexually-oriented, threatening or racially offensive messages;
  • downloading, storing or sharing obscene or offensive material;
  • accessing any other person’s social media accounts, email, data or personal information without prior express prior written permission from that person;
  • accessing, downloading, storing or sharing media files, including music and video files or any other materials that are illegal, offensive, obscene, inappropriate or that are not intended for School purposes;
  • knowingly accessing sites containing sexually explicit, racist, homophobic or other material that is discriminatory or inappropriate to a school environment;
  • uses that are malicious, unethical or in violation of accepted community standards or School guidelines and policies;
  • attempting to or actually violating or infringing any other person’s intellectual property and related rights (including copyright);
  • uses that violate any federal or provincial laws, including the Ontario Human Rights Code, copyright, intellectual property or other laws, guidelines or agreements;
  • knowingly creating, exchanging, transmitting and/or downloading messages, content or data that are offensive, harassing, obscene, libellous, abusive, discriminatory, or threatening or that encourage violence;
  • conducting business or commercial activities which are unrelated to the employee’s duties and responsibilities at Crescent School;
  • advertising or soliciting, including advertising for personal services;
  • advertising or soliciting, including for cannabis-related products or services, unless prior written permission for specific School-related purposes has been obtained from the applicable School authorities;
  • impersonating any other person’s online profile or presence or misrepresenting themselves online;
  • computer-hacking and related activities, including installing or downloading software on the School Network and Technology without prior written permission from the applicable School authorities;
  • creating, accessing or using malicious websites or chat rooms, “spam-ing” or sending malicious messages to others, or engaging in other wasteful or forbidden use of the School’s electronic resources;
  • downloading or installing any software or technology (even temporarily) on the School’s Network or Technology without prior written authorization from the applicable School IT administrators;
  • attempting to disable or compromise the security of information contained on the School Network and Technology, and applicable external networks; and
  • vandalizing or making deliberate attempts to damage the School Network and Technology. Vandalism also includes attempts to access or otherwise violate the integrity of private accounts, files or programs, the deliberate infecting of the network with a computer “virus,” and attempts at “hacking” into any of the computers using any method.

  Employees of Crescent School will ensure that all communication is in compliance with applicable privacy legislation and that all records in the custody and control of Crescent School that contain personal information which pertains to a Crescent student or employee will be maintained in strict confidence.

• Content

  Each member of the staff is responsible for the content of all text, audio or images that they access or send using the School Network and Technology, and for ensuring that the communications and messages conform in all respects to this policy, and to the School’s mission and values.

• Software Use and Installation on School Network and Technology

  The School Network and Technology must not be used for illegal access, download, storage or sharing of software, media, books or any other materials belonging to entities other than Crescent School. Employees are not permitted to copy, transfer, rename, add or delete information or programs belonging to others unless given express written permission to do so by the owner.
  
  

  Prior to having any media, including open source software, placed on the network, employees shall obtain the prior [written, paper or email] approval of the Manager of IT and provide them with evidence of purchase of the software by the employee, or evidence that the software is available legally and for free, a copy of the licence terms, and a description of the School purposes for which the media or software will be used.
  
  Employees shall, at all times, respect the rights of copyright owners, including software manufacturers, and abide by the terms of all license agreements relating to the technology. Copyright infringement occurs when an individual inappropriately reproduces all or part of a work that is protected by copyright.
  
  

  An employee who fails to comply with the terms of license agreements, or engages in other conduct that fails to respect the rights of copyright owners or violates this policy may be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including possible termination of employment.
  
  

  Examples of copyright violations could include but are not limited to, copying a picture, making illegal copies of software or music and/or reproducing part of a third-party text and claiming credit for authoring that work.

• Passwords and Information Security

  It is the responsibility of each employee to have a secure password that is not easily guessed. All passwords shall contain a minimum of two embedded random characters, an example being “ho7cke3y”. The use of passwords is intended to ensure that only authorized individuals have access to the School Network and Technology and the private and confidential information contained therein. Employees shall not disclose passwords or account information issued to them to any other person. Employees shall not disclose passwords or use passwords or account information provided to them to permit other persons to access the School Network and Technology. Each employee shall be responsible for all activities arising from the use of their School-issued passwords and accounts unless otherwise proven in exceptional circumstances.
  
  

  Each member of the School community shall take reasonable precautions to protect the integrity of the School Network and Technology to prevent unauthorized access by others. For example, employees and students, before leaving computers or mobile devices unattended, shall do one or more of the following as applicable: i) use a password-protected screen to lock the device or technology being used; ii) lock the room the device or technology is present in; and iii) not leave School Technology unsecured or unattended unless necessary.

• Third-Party Terms of Service

  By accessing certain third-party services the staff member is deemed to consent to the terms of service of the third-party. The School does not have any control over third-party terms of service.

• Privacy

  Each employee recognizes that employees have a limited expectation of privacy regarding access or use of the School Network and Technology, even when this access or use is restricted to School activities and the information is stored on School computers or devices.
  
  

  Crescent School has the right, but not the obligation, to inspect any computer or computer systems, and to monitor the use of any of the technology, including, without limitation, inspecting the contents of voice mail, social media and email communications. Employees will not necessarily be notified when such monitoring is to take place, or whether monitoring has occurred. In certain situations, Crescent School may be compelled to access, read, copy, reproduce, print, retain, move, store, destroy and/or disclose messages, files or documents stored in or sent over the School Network or using School Technology. These situations may include but are not limited to the following:

  • in the course of regular maintenance of School Network and Technology;
  • in the event of a request for documents as part of litigation or similar proceedings; or
  • where Crescent School has reason to believe that the School Network or Technology is being used in violation of this policy.

  Staff members who require a private means of accessing or communicating data should use personal devices that are not connected to the School Network.
  
  

  Unauthorized access by any employee of another individual’s electronic information is a violation of Crescent School policy. Access by an employee of another individual’s electronic information will only be permitted with written approval from either the Headmaster or Deputy Headmaster.

• Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Systems and Algorithmic Tools

  Since the release of ChatGPT, generative AI systems have received considerable attention in the media and among students.
  
  

  Generative AI systems are not a substitute for professional ethics and judgment, and AI-generated information is often no more reliable than the first result of a Google search. With that being said, there are ways that generative AI can be used responsibly and usefully.
  

  Non-Permitted Uses

  1. Employees must not use their School credentials to log in to non-licensed AI tools systems, to defend against security and reputational risks.
  2. Employees must not input any data, personal information, or images of a student, School staff, the School itself, or any entity related to or doing business with the School. Data that is submitted to an AI tool or service (using the tool’s prompt) is not kept confidential, and such data can become part of the AI’s public training data or data model. Failing to follow this policy amounts to a breach of employee confidentiality obligations.
  3. Employees must not use output generated by AI without first verifying the information and ensuring there is no copyright infringement. Generative AI has provided blatantly wrong and outdated information or plagiarized text. 
  4. Employees must actively discourage and prevent students from using generative AI to cheat, plagiarize, or otherwise complete assignments without doing the work themselves. Generative AI must also never be used as a vehicle for bullying, harassment, or other behaviour contrary to this Handbook or the School Code of Conduct.

  Permitted Uses

  Employees may use generative AI to generate ideas, brainstorm, prepare a skeleton outline, agenda, or list, or as a memory jogger or refresher, rather than as a content creator. Generative AI is best used to aid in a task rather than doing the task entirely. It is the starting point; not the final product.

  
  

  Licensed AI Systems and Tools

  • Diffit
  • Passed.AI
  • Canva
  • Grammarly Grammar and Spell Checker
  • Google Gemini Chatbot
  • Microsoft CoPilot
  • Adobe Image generation AI tool for Photoshop and Online

  Note that ChatGPT is not a licensed resource at Crescent School.
  
  

• Personal Safety

  Members of the School community must not disclose personal contact information about students, other staff members or other members of the School community. Personal contact information includes physical or electronic addresses, social media account information, identities, links or “handles”, pseudonyms, telephone numbers and other such personal information. Publication of pictures of individuals or a group requires the informed permission of all the individuals involved and, in the case of minors, of their parents or guardians.
  
  

  Staff members must not publish photographs of students other than on the School websites, on School social media websites, pages or accounts, or in School publications even with express informed consent of all those involved, unless prior written consent and approval has been obtained from the relevant School authorities.
  
  

  In the interests of safety and security, publication of information about field trips (dates, times, locations) is forbidden to be communicated to people who are not directly entitled to such information or on public forums where unknown persons might access the information. This does not apply to the publication of such information through private or access-controlled password-protected email, Intranet websites, or social media accounts or pages of the School...

• Violations

  Employees of Crescent School are expected to maintain the School’s values and the integrity of the School Network and Technology. For this reason, any employee found to be abusing the privilege of Crescent School regarding use or access to the School Network and Technology or contravening the terms of this policy and other School policies will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including possible termination of employment. Crescent School also reserves the right to inform appropriate law enforcement authorities or other officials of any offences or possible offences under the Criminal Code or other applicable statutes.
  
  

  If any employee needs clarification regarding the appropriate use of the School Network and Technology, they are encouraged to direct their questions or concerns to the Director of Information Technology, their direct Supervisor, or People and Culture.

• Release of Liability

  The School makes no warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, with respect to the use of the School Network and Technology. The School will not be responsible for any damages staff members suffer as a result of their use of the School Network and Technology or use thereof by any other person. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, delayed deliveries, service interruptions, the School’s negligence, the staff member’s errors or omissions, or the actions of any other user of the School Network and Technology.