ISA Learning Community Guidelines

International School of America is an online learning community with a goal of giving all learners a voice and a choice in their learning. ISA learners will connect, collaborate, and interact with learners at DIY.org, which is made up of learners from over 150 countries! We’ve got a huge library of hands-on projects and learning playlists, combined with an amazing community of other students from around the world. We need your help to make ISA a place where all families can feel safe, welcome, and inspired to be awesome!

When you enroll in in an ISA Global Google Classroom, you agree to honor the following Guidelines:

• BE CREATIVE: FOCUS ON BUILDING YOUR SKILLS AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT OR TRY SOMETHING NEW
  Share what you make. Your posts should be relevant to what you are learning and doing yourself!
  Seek achievement, not attention. Focus on your projects, not on popularity. It is great to ask for feedback from other learners, but asking for attention (like requests for features/followers/likes on DIY) is not cool. If your work is awesome, likes and follows will happen.

• BE ORIGINAL: SHARE YOUR OWN WORK
  Be yourself. Your ISA learning portfolio should be all about you and the unique things you’re making and learning.
  No copying. ISA is a place to show off the things you’ve made yourself. Don’t post or take credit for images you found online or in another learning portfolio, at ISA or on DIY. Screenshots are not allowed either. Always ask for permission before borrowing or referencing something that another learner has made, and be sure to give them credit. However, tracing or using reference images from copyright-free websites and making them better is okay. Posting coloring of images from coloring apps is okay. Posting original characters made in role-play apps is also allowed. Editing (copyright-free) images into memes or animations and applying your creativity is alright! Try to use copyright-free music. If you need to use copyrighted music, keep it under 30 seconds and make sure to credit the original artist.
  DIY is for kids only. When sharing on DIY, don’t share work by adults in your family, although you can share anything you worked on with the help of an adult. Accounts that are maintained by adults are not allowed.

• BE SAFE: KEEP YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION PRIVATE AND NEVER ASK OTHER LEARNERS FOR THEIRS
  
  Keep personal information private. Never post your full name, home address, phone number, email address, where you go to school, links to your other social media accounts, gamer tags, or any other identifying info online. Outside links are not allowed on DIY, and you won’t be able to post them. If you want to connect to a learners outside of ISA, please reach out to your learning counselor. Also, remember that your parents have access to everything you share on ISA!
  Respect others’ privacy. Everybody has unique preferences about their online safety. Avoid asking other learners for their personal info. Don't post pictures or screenshots featuring other kids, even if they are from a DIY LIVE challenge or your virtual classroom.
  Choose a unique nickname on DIY. Be sure to choose a nickname that doesn’t disclose any personal info. If you need to change your nickname to protect your privacy, let your learning counselor know!
  Avoid money transactions. ISA nor DIY are not a place to buy or sell things. To avoid scams and safety concerns, never ask for or give out info related to money exchanges (like credit card numbers).
  When in doubt, report. If someone on ISA of DIY asks you for your personal info, always say NO. If they persist, or if you ever feel unsafe on ISA or DIY, report the user to your learning counselor and tell your parents or a trusted adult.

• BE FRIENDLY: SHOW KINDNESS TO ALL LEARNERS
  Embrace others’ differences. ISA and DIY welcomes learners of all backgrounds, races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, body types, gender identities, sexual orientations, and education types. Unfriendly language, discrimination, or threats based on these or any other identities are never ok.
  Include everyone. ISA and DIY is a great place to meet other kids whose lives are different from your own. Be kind and inclusive when sharing your beliefs or responding to others sharing theirs. Posts that aim to criticize, convert, or otherwise devalue others’ beliefs or identities are not allowed.
  Don’t discipline each other. If you find something that should not be on DIY or in a Global Google Classroom, report the post, comment, or even user to your learning counselor who will look into it immediately. Calling out another learner on their post or getting into arguments is not ok at ISA or at DIY.

• BE HELPFUL: SHARE TIPS AND ENCOURAGEMENT WITH OTHER LEARNERS (AND BE PATIENT WITH THEM WHILE THEY LEARN)
  
  Support others’ growth. ISA and DIY are places to learn and grow. Constructive criticism is allowed and encouraged, but straight-up negativity is not. When commenting on others' projects, say something you like about it and offer suggestions! If you don’t have anything helpful to contribute to a project, you probably don’t need to comment on it.
  Help others learn. Whenever possible, include details about how you did something! This makes it easier for other learners to learn from you. Remember: other learners may be younger, have less experience posting online, learn differently, or speak a different language than you. Be polite and patient when helping others, even if they annoy you or ask questions that may seem obvious.
  Be patient during LIVE challenges on DIY. LIVE challenges involve following a tutorial with a mentor LIVE on DIY. Remember that different kids may have different paces at which they do something. If you are done with a step, please wait for others to catch up patiently. Drawing attention to yourself, asking others to hurry up, interrupting, or acting bored is not cool.
  Make ISA and DIY better. Report bugs, recommend new skills or challenges, and show new learners around to help make the community even better. When in doubt, or excited about a new idea, reach out to the moderators!

• BE RESPECTFUL: SHARE PROJECTS AND COMMENTS THAT ARE APPROPRIATE FOR EVERYONE, INCLUDING YOUNGER LEARNERS
  Keep the language clean. Profanity (AKA “swear” or “bad” or “cuss” words) is not allowed. Videos, photos, or comments that include profanity will be removed.
  Stay age-appropriate. To keep DIY suitable for kids of ages between 4 and 17, posts that include, refer to, or link to mature content (including written descriptions, images, audio, or videos) are not allowed. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Use of drugs, alcohol, or other age-restricted/illegal substances

  • Suggestive or explicit sexual content

  • Sensitive personal topics like self-harm or tragedies

  • Excessive gore, violent imagery, or violent weapons

  • Shocking events like natural/manmade disasters or tragedies

  • Anything else that is commonly seen as inappropriate for kids between 4 and 17

• Dress Appropriately. Wear appropriate clothing when documenting your projects (no shirtless photos, please!). Photos or videos that show you or other people partially clothed are not allowed.
  Look for friends, not crushes. ISA and DIY are safe places to learn and make creative projects, not a place to look for romantic partners ("flirt"). Avoid commenting on others’ appearances or asking for relationships on/through ISA or DIY. If some type of comments made by you are making someone uncomfortable, just stop making them and apologize.

• BE A ROLE MODEL: SHOW GOOD JUDGEMENT, STAY POSITIVE AND BE AN AWESOME DIGITAL CITIZEN
  
  Keep it positive. ISA is a great place to express yourself. However, some types of expression aren’t suitable for all ages and should be avoided on ISA or DIY. Please don’t put yourself down (e.g. “I hate this,” “I’m no good at this”) or encourage mean or non-constructive criticism from other learners..
  Take the high road. Don’t respond to negativity with more negativity. If you see something on ISA or DIY that goes against our community guidelines, report it your learning counselor or DIY mod so they can handle it. Don’t jump in, yourself. Don’t tag friends to take your side or participate in this discussion.

MOST VIOLATIONS OF THE GUIDELINES ARE JUDGED ON A CASE-BY-CASE BASIS, AND WE DO OUR BEST TO ENFORCE THEM CONSISTENTLY AND FAIRLY. VIOLATIONS MAY RESULT IN:

• Written warnings: Minor violations of the ISA or DIY Guidelines commonly result in a written warning to ISA learners and DIYers via a comment from a mod, or an email to parents.

• Post removal: If a post contains content that's not in alignment with the ISA or DIY Guidelines, mods may hide or permanently remove it.

• Temporary suspension: Repeated or serious violations may result in account suspensions, which remove all of a ISA Google Profile. DIYer's will lose their posting and commenting privileges. Suspensions are often temporary until the DIY mod team (if needed), the learner, learning counselor and their parents can resolve the issue privately via email or phone.

• Permanent suspension: ISA learning counselors and DIY Mods may permanently and immediately suspend accounts that repeatedly violate the ISA or DIY Guidelines or put the safety of the community at risk. In these cases, the learners posting and commenting privileges will be revoked, but they will retain access to their existing portfolio of projects.

• Banning: ISA Learning Counselors and DYI Mods reserve the right to permanently and immediately ban accounts that put the safety of the community at risk. Banning removes the learners account completely from the platform.

Additionally, mods can, at their discretion, suspend or ban accounts that are negative or destructive to the spirit of the ISA or DIY Community.

We appreciate learners who are active in following the guidelines and who inspire each other to learn and take risks. You are the ones building this awesome community! We 👀 you and ❤️ you!

CODE OF CONDUCT REMINDERS:

• Create a KIND impact on the ISA Learning Community.

• Encourage & motivate other learners.

• Welcome new ISA learners and help them get comfortable on ISA.

• Follow community guidelines, and report any inappropriate content & behavior to keep ISA safe without disciplining any learners myself.

• Promote original content, friendship, and collaboration in the ISA community.

• Do not participate in any arguments, name-calling, or unpleasant exchanges on ISA or DIY.