To Block or Not to Block

 To Block or Not to Block- Internet Safety

A conversation between two teachers

Jenny: Hey girl!

Sarah: Hey, Jenny. How was your weekend?

Jenny: It was awesome. I spent most of my weekend planning for my students. We are actually doing the Animal Unit in Science and I did some research and serious preparation for them. I also found some really interesting videos on YouTube to help me.

Sarah: Wow! Good for you girl but I am so sorry to burst your bubble. We are unable to access You Tube in our building. If you type in the address you will see the message ACCESS DENIED

Jenny: OMG Sarah! Please don’t tell that. What am I going to do??? I have to run to my class now and change my plans for today. See you later!

To Block or Not to Block

As we are all aware, we are living in a technological era. Even babies have access to computers and internets. School Districts and schools have also caught the vision and are becoming more involved with technology. They are working diligently to improve technology in schools.

School districts are also encouraging teachers to participate in online courses to become more acquainted with web2.0, web tools and to upgrade their technology skills.

One might ask, “How far do schools limit usages of the internet to both teachers and students?” After reading the article “Blocking the Future”

http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=5390  I found it to be very debatable. There were aspects that I agreed with and aspects I did not agree with. In my opinion I have found Wikipedia very useful and if used effectively, a learning tool for students to enjoy. I am curious to know why the librarian posted “SAY NO TO WIKIPEDIA”.  I read the article (at least three times) searching for the reason(s) for her signs. I hope that her reason was a valid one which caused her to make such as drastic decision.

            I personally agree that students should have   access to their social network accounts at school (especially middle and high school students) once it is being used as a learning tool and not for pleasure. Of course social network can cause distractions during instructional time and even on school grounds. Also it is very uncouth to have students accessing their personal emails, having sociable online conversations in chat rooms when learning should be operative. Therefore, teachers should make sure  their lessons are  very interesting, capturing the minds and the attention of the students,discourging students to be easily distracted or bored.

I believe teachers should be mindful and only check their social network accounts for their personal use if necessary during non-instructional time. If I am not careful, I will spend hours on my social network sites. It can become addictive.

 I read where some school districts have blocked access to social networks for both teachers and students. I also read an article by Jason entitled The Case for Social Networking in Schools which I found very interesting. He did a ‘test’ on social networking in schools and gave some advantages and disadvantages in his article based on his findings. He also outlined some pros and cons on social networking.

Pros

Networking and contacts – Students network and make contacts on their own whether we allow them to or not. Almost all of my students have both a Facebook and a MySpace account. Some even have Twitter and Google Wave accounts. Even without this, they exchange phone calls, text messages, and emails almost without thinking. It is a part of human nature to be in relationship. We can either encourage this or be a constructive part of their relationship building, which can help them in this process, or we can be a hindrance to it. Not allowing social networks, restricting student conversations, forcing the students to interact only on our terms when we see fit, all show that we as educators are far more concerned with our own agenda than with what students want and need.

International acculturation – Social networks are ideal methods to connect with others across the globe.  Social networks make it easy for teachers to meet other teachers around the world and for those teachers to help their respective students connect. This experience is really beneficial to students and helps to broaden their world view.

Increased productivity – When students are working together on a common goal (not just an assignment they were forced to cooperate for, but something they buy into and want to do), they will work harder to accomplish that goal. None of the students participating will want to let down the other students. Social networks allow them to communicate, collaborate, and keep each other up to date. A student was seen sharing notes (not cheating) and communicating a homework assignment on Facebook. The social network, instead of distracting, actually helped a student to get his work done properly and on time.

Increased openness and interdependence – Our school Moodle forums attest to the fact that boundaries that exist in person do not always exist online. Students feel more comfortable to be honest. When social networks are properly leveraged, the students’ honesty is rewarded with trust and cooperation. Students learn to value each other and to help each other.

Authentic, timely feedback – Unfortunately, many teachers still wait anywhere from 1 to several weeks to return work. Any waiting more than 2 or 3 days, and the feedback is no longer useful or relevant to the student. Social networks allow students to give each other feedback, sometimes even instantly. That feedback becomes a lifeline for students; it helps them learn and grow. Teachers who understand the value of good feedback can learn from this and participate by giving authentic, timely feedback via social networks as well.

Current information – Students often seem to live in the now, even if it sometimes makes it difficult for history teachers (past) and guidance counselors (future). Social networks tap into this. Twitter is a real-time search engine; Facebook has a “Live Feed.” Social networks help students to learn about the most current information on whatever topic they are interested in. Whether there interests lie in Aristotelian philosophy or their friend’s taste in clothing, we should still be giving them the skills to find the most recent information in the best way we can. To eliminate social networks entirely is to limit the students.

Teach students responsible Internet use – This has always been an important issue.  Educators are not meant to be the morality police.  I it very essential to block pornography and sites that promote illegal activity; however, the goal of education is to help students learn not to shield students from experiences. We need to teach the students how to use the Internet responsibly and how to react when they come across something undesirable. Social networks can help in this regard because each community of users set its own norms and keeps its members accountable to them. Students learn how to interact responsibly in a community and contribute back to it thoughtfully.

Cons

Distraction – Most administrators experience with social network involves students going to proxy servers to bypass the school’s firewall to message about topics unrelated to the content that they are supposed to be studying. There is a large risk of distraction when students are given free rein on social networks or poor assignments. This can be avoided by careful planning. When students want to do the work, they are much less likely to be distracted. Furthermore, when the teacher designs how the lesson around how the students will properly interact with the social network and make clear the expectations and the consequences for not meeting the expectations.

Inappropriate Content – There are two basic types of social networks: those that you run and those that you don’t. If you or your school installs Status Net, a Twitter clone, they can monitor and moderate it. It is installed on the school’s (or teacher’s) servers, so they ultimately have control over all aspects. Social networks like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace are much larger and beyond the control of a school district. Facebook has more users than most countries have people. The school or teacher has to teach the students about what is and is not appropriate online. There is the risk that a student may find something inappropriate. In fact, someone probably will over the course of a year, but that is not a great concern if the students are equipped with how to handle those situations.

Danger – There have been cases of young people meeting someone online and then meeting them in person only to be hurt, kidnapped, etc…, it is a real danger. It can be minimized by teaching students how to interact with others online and teaching them about safety. When students are properly informed, social networks in school are, in my opinion, much less dangerous than having a student walk to the bus stop alone in the dark. http://jasontbedell.com/the-case-for-social-networking-in-schools.

                                The Children Internet Protection Act (a federal law) http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/cipa.html has caused many school districts protected under this law to be very cautious about how they expose their schools and students to the internet. They are responsible for creating policies that encourage internet safety, making sure that students’ access are appropriate and suitable for the teaching / learning environment.

How does my school district/school handle internet access?

My school district is very serious when it comes on to the use of the internet in schools. They do have a well-equipped technology plan that caters for administrators, teachers, and students. The plan is strictly designed for the safety of the students and educators. The school district has also invested in a social network accessible to all students and teachers called Gaggle. This is one way teachers communicate effectively with students such as informing them about missing assignments. If a student missed school they will also receive a notification of the lessons taught and the work that they need to have completed when they return.

 Like Jenny and Sarah, educators and students do not have access to You Tube and some social network sites, such as Facebook and My Space. Recently since the beginning of this school year they have blocked websites that are mostly used for shopping purposes, such as EBay. The technology facilitator in my school conducted a workshop outlining the safety policies that the school must follow, and how important it is to monitor the use of the internet in our classrooms and the computer labs used by the students.

My concerns away from school/ Should I also monitor students’ access at home?

“Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty.” I really believe in this saying. I do not think educators should monitor what students do at home. However as an educator, if you see signs that cause you to be concerned about student’s internet access at home, the professional approach is to report it to the administrator or schedule a conference with the parents. It is solely the parent’s responsible on how much internet access the child has.

My Role as a teacher

As I thought about this, I was very intrigued by the article Advocating Differentiated Content Filtering https://blackboard.vcu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_77574_1%26url%3D

The question that really caught my attention was: Does your school district trust you as an educator on the Internet more than they trust kindergarten students? I will continue to monitor my students closely as they use the internet. I will make sure that during computer lab hours, I will engage my students in accessible, appropriate learning websites. All the teachers at my school are responsible for teaching technology to their students; therefore it is my job to ensure that my students are safe while using the internet.

            Conclusion

            I will end with a video presentation that I found on You Tube- Internet Safety by David Henderson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qswceMRKSE .  Let us endeavor to practice internet safety in this WEB 2.0 global connection.