RR#3-I come into school early excited about a lesson that I am about to teach. I log onto the computer and enter the website that I was going to use to enhance the lesson. I receive the notice that the web site has been blocked. I am sure this has happened to everyone at some point. This is just part of our job. I feel that it is more unethical to allow students access to objectable content, security threats or my classroom “hogging” the network.
Consequently, they are minors; most of them have an innocence still surrounding them. I do not wish to explain why my students were viewing inappropriate material on my watch. I do try hard to keep up with every student while in the computer lab. I do understand that they are in a hurry to grow up, but there are still some things I do not want to spend my precious class time explaining to them. If there is a web site that I would like to use then I just send an e-mail with my justification as to why I would like to use it. I have had a few web sites unblocked for me. I am lucky to not have to ask multiple times like the schools I read about in Balance Filtering. Then in about a week the web site is up for me to use, again I have to plan ahead.
Obviously, the security threats to our network is also a serious threat. All over our school have signs about not being able to bring in flash drives or CD’s to protect our network.
Admittedly, I am one of the teachers “hogging” the bandwidth. I am always trying to incorporate video into my lectures. I have stayed away from Youtube.com since it is blocked. I like the idea from eschool news written by Dennis Pierce as I am not just interested in showing videos during my lectures but having the students use it for appropriate lessons. I have tried to have my students compete in the C-Span Student Cam contest, which a lot of students look up C-Span footage. A few times we were unable to use it because it was a high volume day. I have to plan ahead to make sure it is not one of our busy days (I have to be sure it does not interfere with a grade due date as everyone is on at the same time). I also check with the technology coordinator to make sure the video is not to long for that day.
Therefore, if I am teaching my students to plan better then I suppose I need to as well. I need to check to make sure I can have access to a web site, if not I can request it to be unblocked. I need to plan according to make sure the students are not using my class time to hack into the computers or spread viruses. Finally, I need to ensure that a day I take them to the computer lab is not a day where all teachers in the whole county are attempting to input grades on our on-line grade book.
"If there is a web site that I would like to use then I just send an e-mail with my justification as to why I would like to use it. I have had a few web sites unblocked for me."
ReplyDeleteTo whom do you send an email if you don't mind me asking (e.g., someone at the your school, the school district office, etc.)? If you've had "a few" sites unblocked does that mean that you've been turned down at other times?
I admire your perseverance and flexible willingness to change plans based upon the whims of someone not in your classroom!
I appreciate your forgiving attitude when you plan this great lesson and then find out when you log in that the site has been blocked. What site could you possibly have chosen to incorporate in your lesson that should have been blocked? It's time it should no longer be part of your job. I don't know that much about filtering, except what I have recently read, but it sounds like "over-filtering" to me. And that is a question I have. Are we over-filtering...and who is making these decisions?
ReplyDeleteYou should't have to explain why a student wandered off task during your Internet class time. It is going to happen, so what! That is just part of life. The only reason you perhaps should have to explain a student's lack of following Internet policy is if it continually occurs. Frankly, if you have a student that continually abuses, you would probably not allow them access anyway.
One last thing, I hope those days of you having to plan when you should attempt to use the Internet because you have to be concerned with everyone on Progress Book (or some similar online grade book program) will be over in the not too distant future. That is the last thing that a teacher should have to consider when they plan their lessons.
I can’t believe you have such a hard time with being able to show your students a website. I understand the school trying to make sure the network doesn’t slow down, but I feel the school should try to expand it so it doesn’t slow down. I mean its not 1990 and we only have dial up. I know it all comes down to money, but still you find yourself constantly having to change your lesson plan around being able to show a video that’s crazy! I admire that you don’t give up and you find ways to still give the best education you can to your students. I love how you have them do C-Span contests and encourage them to interact with other students around the country. I know it’s hard to monitor students every move while doing research on the internet, and it’s hard to prevent them from hacking or going around the fire walls. Many students know more about computers than we do.
ReplyDeleteMy feeling is that you should not have to constantly monitor kids to make sure they are on appropriate sites. I think that by blocking websites we are missing out on teachable moments about what is and is not appropriate to view at school. Students need to learn that there is a time and a place to access different websites. Just like work, school is neither the time nor the place. This would be a great moment to show students that even going on websites such as Facebook during work hours could lead to termination if the employee is off-task. Students need to learn to deal with these things before we send them off into the real world unprepared.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I thought it was interesting that you are able to e-mail and have websites unblocked. What was the process? Was it long and complicated or short and simple? How often are sites unblocked for you? How often do they say no? I just cannot imagine that my school district would be so flexible and willing to work with me! :)
I tend to agree with you on your post. I think inappropriate websites should be blocked. I think it is GREAT, though, that you can email someone to request a site or link to be unblocked, so that you can share appropriate sites. I think that sounds like the best of both worlds. Your students are protected, and if you are truly showing appropriate material, you will get the site approved, unblocked, and everyone is safe and happy. Having you explain the educational value of the site also ensures that the teachers who attempt to get a site unblocked have a legitimate reason for use of the site AND it is worth the time and effort to request and justify it, then it is worth the time and effort to allow access.
ReplyDeletePlanning ahead of time was always encouraged at my school - sometimes we had to turn in our lesson plans a week ahead - which was always a challenge for me - but it looks like at your school, with technology usage, you'd have to be that early.
It sounds like you have a good attitude about the whole thing. Good for you! The bottom line, of course, is keeping the kids safe, the school's computer's clean, and everyone learning.
Thanks for sharing!
~ Christi S
It sounds from your post that you have a similar situation as I do in my district when it comes to being able to have blocked websites unblocked. This wasn’t always the case, but our district’s Instructional Division now has a more collaborative relationship with our IT Department. YouTube is not blocked for the teachers in my district, but it is for students. The severity of the punishment can be out of school suspension if students are caught purposely trying to access the site.
ReplyDeleteAs far as “hogging” the bandwidth as you say, we are not supposed to stream video during the school hours and teachers have learned to save videos instead of streaming them. Teachers also utilize Discovery Education streaming for many of their instructional videos and these they can download without having to stream. You made a great point about planning ahead “to make sure it is not one of our busy days.” I’m sure the increased usage of online testing for FAIR and EOC are factors that will also need to be taken into consideration as well.
You apparently have considered how to deal with all of the factors that can threaten your students and/or your computers when they are surfing the Internet. I believe you have come up with a very effective plan for ethically utilizing online technology resources without taking any unnecessary risks.
I enjoyed reading your post, and I look forward to reading more from you in the future.
:) Ruth