Blocking of Great Resources

[Stu]

Hi all, just trying to get a feel where everyone else is at. Our district blocks any site that has forums, blogs, and basically any Web 2.0 site. What kind of access do others have in your districts? The funny thing is, I brought in my broadband card today so that I could access this HORRIBLE site that would have otherwise been blocked in our district....(Sarcasism noted?)

[Ellen Dobson]

This is the great dilemma of Web 2.0. I work in higher education now, and don't have to be concerned with filters, but I work with future teachers who will be working in schools with those filters. I feel that I must limit the educational technologies I can use in my instruction. Stu, did you have any hesitation about going "unblocked" at school? I think I would. In this society, I would be terrified some parent would sue me for exposing his/her child to unfiltered material. There has got to be a better way.

[Steve Hargadon]

There's a very interesting conversation on this topic that I seem to drift in and out of at conferences and in phone calls... and that is the role of parents both as perceived and real influencers on the filtering policies at schools. And soundbites aside ("parents live in a Web 1.0 world"), some of the most innovative ideas I've heard have revolved around having students create and then hold workshops for their parents and the community on the use of the new Internet tools. Great experience for the students to teach, and for the parents to support their kids and also learn about why Web 2.0 is so amazing.

[Stu]

Ellen,

I wouldn't want to totally unblocked at school, but there has to be a happy medium. ANY website with a blog or discussion board is blocked. ALL google images are blocked. I can request onesy-twoseys, but there has to be a better way, I've seen it in other districts...

Today, I had a student looking for Global Warming Pictures. He stumbled on a foreign news site that had an article posted about the problems of child prostitution in their country, along with it a pretty racey picture. The student pointed it out to me. We had a great discussion about the cultural differences between our country and the one in question. What is seen as lewd to one culture way not be to another. We talked about the context of the picture. At the end, he closed the page and kept searching. What a great learning moment! But there's the rub. That site popped through fine where a 100 other more appropriate sites were probably blocked. As I heard Gary Stager say at a conference..."What are we going to do, in-case the school in lead?" Students already have web access on phones and other devices that by-pass filters. With broad-band air cards coming down in price, I expect many more to have laptops with these devices at school. Of course, extreme sites of pornograghy and violence still need to be blocked, but when they go home, there will be less of a filter.

With proper supervision, less blocking is a good thing. Thanks for your input!

[Lisa Ward]

Our district blocks everything too. It's ridiculous with so much technology out there. And, so much of it is free - I just don't get it. Even the teachers and the department chairs are blocked and have to request to be unblocked from specific sites after explaining why we need to be unblocked - even then, it doesn't always work!