Mobile+Devices+and+Ministry+-+The+Church+is+Moving+Ahead

Assignment #2
Expected time to complete reading and the written assignment: 15 - 30 minutes

As we move ahead, Digital Etiquette and Student Permission and Agreement Guidelines are very important!



Your assignment for this segment is consider how you will encourage your participants to use good digital etiquette. In addition, if you are using cell phones with your participants (especially children), what guidelines will you share with them?

** Digital Etiquette: **


 * Please add how you will encourage good digital etiquette:




 * Student Permission and Agreement Guidelines: **

Note from Bob Wurzelbacher... the book referenced below, //Toys to Tools//, can be accessed at [].

For those who have the book, review pages 17-21. Alternatively, see if your diocese already has guidelines or an "Acceptable Use Policy." How would you adapt this material to fit how you will communicate to your students about using this tool in your classroom? //Please add your comments below, and remember to add your name at the end. // The Archdiocese of Cincinnati does have a "Responsible Use of Technology" program. Each student, teacher, and employee is expected to agree to and sign a copy of this policy annually. I do not know if there would need to be a similar policy for adults using their own mobile devices in adult faith formation/RCIA sessions and plan to inquire about the potential need for this. We have recently completed a new Ministry Center and have future plans to install one or two computers in the library. Since those computers would have access to the parish internet system and would be of a permanent nature, there would probably have to be arrangements made for blank copies of the Archdiocesan Technology policy to be available at these stations for parishioners to sign prior to using those computers. While technology does seem to be a permanent part of the future of faith formation, this section of the DDBC does raise multiple issues regarding permissions/guidelines that need to be considered and resolved by individual parishes prior to implementation of these resources.

The Diocese of Fall River has an Acceptable Use Policy for Computer Systems and Internet use. Thhis is used primarily in the Catholic Schools and has not been promulgated for use in parish religious education programs. The Office of Faith Formation along with the Office for Child Safety has put together Technology Guidelines which are still under review. The use and misuse of technology changes so rapidly that there is constant need to update policy. The Acceptable Use policy has several points relating to behavior when using technology: Be polite, ethical and respectable Use appropriate language Do not post anonymous messages Do not access, create or distribute harassing, discriminatory, abusive, pornographic, fraudulent , obscene, racist, sexist or threatening material or imagery Etc Claire McManus Diocese of Fall River, MA

Angela Jackson Our diocese does not have a standard policy that I could find. However, these are a couple of points I feel would be a "Good Practices
 * Do not text, email, post, or say anything through this device you would not say in person.**
 * No bullying**


 * Tanya LeSane**
 * Our diocese does not currently have a policy or standard for social media. But a few individual churches have policies. It is usually the churches that have full-time youth ministers. In looking at a few of the local church policies I feel that the questions are important to be incorporated into a standard policy: Will anyone really care about this content besides me, Will I offend anyone with this content, did I spell check, will I be ok with absolutely anyone seeing this, am I using too many abbreviations and is this** **reactive communications or it is well thought out.**

Melissa Findley Our diocese does have a policy in place regarding Social Communication. At this time, Social Media avenues are heavily controlled by key personnel. Any ministry that wants to communicate through Social Media must go through our Pastoral Associate who reviews the guidelines with them before allowing the ministry to go further and their postings are monitored by the key personnel.

Lois Locey

We heavily implement the diocesan Social Communications policy. We have promogated this to our parishioners, and are constantly trying to be vigilent to enforce it. The official parish pages go through me to review (we have group pages for ministries & the parish on Facebook) and twitter.Sara

Rose Mary Saraiva We will be adopting our diocesan guidelines and procedures, educate parents and share information on keeping their children safe. For the young adults, teenagers and youth that will be using the technology, we currently remind them to be mindful of what they post, to think before reacting publicly to comments, and to remember that schools and employers look at someone's social media pages to make a judgement based on their postings; so therefore protect your reputation always. .