Student Code of Conduct
Pamoja students are:
- Considered thinkers
- Good communicators
- Principled
- Open-minded
As you can appreciate, in an online environment, it is especially important for students to be principled in their use of information technology and in upholding the highest standards of academic integrity.
- I will fulfil my online student responsibilities by:
- Keeping pace with my online course of study according to the Pamoja academic calendar.
- Forecasting my weekly workload and organising my time accordingly at the start of each week.
- Accessing my online course regularly throughout each week.
- Using the time provided to me in my school timetable to access and participate in my online course.
- Completing assignments promptly.
- Contributing to discussions and participating in group activities to the best of my ability.
- Accessing and reflecting upon my online teacher's feedback.
- Communicating with my online teacher and SBC on a regular basis, especially when I need assistance.
- Upholding the standards of academic honesty as expected of any learner in a conventional school or online.
- Respecting the privacy and ownership of others' work.
- Only logging on to the Pamoja learning platform with my own username and password.
- Not revealing my passwords to anyone else and changing them regularly.
- Ensuring that all communication with my Pamoja Education classmates, teachers or others is relevant and respectful.
- Remaining responsible for my language behaviour when using the Internet.
- Reporting any abuse or inappropriate behaviour in the Pamoja online community directly to my online teacher.
- Upholding my school's Acceptable Use Policy for ICT and not deliberately browse, download, upload or forward material that could be considered offensive or illegal.
- Reporting any of the above material immediately to my Pamoja teacher.
- Not distributing any personal information such as my phone number or address, nor will I arrange to meet someone unless as part of a school project approved by my teacher.
- I understand that:
- Images of pupils and/or staff are only to be used for Pamoja Education purposes in line with Pamoja Education policy and will not be distributed outside the Pamoja platform without permission.
- All my use of internet technologies associated with the Pamoja platform can be monitored and logged and may be made available to my teachers and SBC.
- These rules are designed to promote safety and academic success for me and my classmates, and that sanctions will be applied, and my parent/guardian may be contacted if they are not followed.
- Written communication
It is harder to gauge tone and intention when communicating online. Make sure you have read and understand our suggestions for clear, respectful online conversation:
- Written text can be easily misinterpreted without the usual clues we have when speaking face-to-face. Strong or offensive language should be avoided entirely.
- Give others the benefit of the doubt. If you find something offensive it is possible that the writer did not intend this, and the point can be cleared up by polite debate. Involve a teacher if you are unsure.
- Read your message carefully before posting or sending it to make sure it will be interpreted as you intended. Try reading your message out loud to see if it flows smoothly.
- DO NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS. This is regarded as shouting and is therefore out of place in a classroom. Similarly, avoid slang abbreviations.
- Remember: if you wouldn't say it face-to-face then you shouldn't be saying it online.
- Communication tools
This section covers the use of the Pamoja discussion forums and video-based tools, and applies to all users either directly or indirectly.
I agree that:
Administrators may, for content management purposes, close a thread. This would usually be because the discussion in the thread is not moving along, users are not covering new points, or the discussion is going around in circles. We would also consider whether the discussion is relevant or motivates participation in the context of the forum subject matter. Off-topic posts may be removed at the discretion of Pamoja Education.
I will not:
- Provoke others or cause any sort of argument or confrontation that might compromise the professionalism of the forum.
- Make personal attacks on anyone during my use of the forum (e.g. abuse on grounds of race, sex, or religious beliefs).
- Reignite inflammatory threads if a previous thread on that topic has been closed.
- Use abusive or socially-unacceptable language.
- Attempt to take threads off-topic or make off-topic posts within threads.
- Reproduce messages sent in the course without permission from the sender, unless requested by your online teacher or Pamoja’s School Services team for site administration purposes.
- Defame or abuse staff or tutors. Abusive posts will not be tolerated under any circumstances.