The integration of Web 2.0 technologies into the classroom is coming whether we like it or not. With this integration comes great respnsibiltiy. Who in you building is going to take on that responsibility? One of the answers to that question is you. You will have to monitor what sites the children are surfing and if those sites are appropriate not only for what you may be teaching but also appropriate for school in general. In the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) district we have a filter/firewall purchased through Deepnines technologies. This filter does a good job of blocking social network sites such as facebook and video sites like You Tube; however, it also blocks sites that involve blogging and wikis that could be very useful for education.
There are proper channels to go through to gain access to certain sites if the IT administrator and the school principal agree that the content of said site is OK. All policies are listed in on the district website under the IT Practices and Policies section. I find that many students circumvent the filter by using a proxy. Proxies are difficult to police because new one appear everyday and they are easily accessed by a search on any search engine.
I am sure that most of us have been blocked by a filter when searching for something educational. We were probably shocked or stunned. "How can that be blocked?" we aske ourselves. When I first started thinking about filters and access to web 2.0 technologies I thought it seemed a little like big brother looking our shoulders, but we are here to teach not just our subjects but life. We have to help the students determine what is right, what is wrong and what is in the huge fuzzy gray area. If the students want to access a certain website, great; teach them how to go through the steps to gain access to that site the right way. Yes, it may take time, but there are too many unknowns on the internet to let the students run free with school equipment. Besides, if they want immediate access, they can just use their smartphone.
I am forever frustrated by all that is blocked by the district. I wish that there was some way to block only student computers. Perhaps I just need to become more savy and learn how to use a proxy. Proxies were new to me. I did not know they existed. I do agree that students should not be able to run free on the internet. It would be impossible to control where they all were at any given time.
ReplyDeleteI do know that we have the ability to monitor all student computers in a lab from the teacher's computer. We can block access or all together lock down any one student's computer. It is a great tool for monitoring what students are doing. However, after doing more research, I have found the filter is in place more becasue of band with and not content.
ReplyDeleteDo you think teachers will be responsible for what students are accessing on their smartphones/laptops in class as well? I wonder if one student is accessing inappropriate material and showing it to other students would you be able to confiscate the smartphone?
ReplyDeleteCurrently cellphones, smartphones, laptops and all other electronic devices are not allowed in school. We are supposed to treat them as bad things. So under current rules we could confiscate that phone and hold it until a parent comes in to get it. It would be labeled as a disruption to the learning environment. The weird thing is that they cannot access anything on our server with their smartphone or laptop; they would be using wi-fi via their cellphone company.
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