Re: [LM_NET] Website that lets kids access myspace, etc

[Paula Yohe <paula_yohe@YAHOO.COM>]

LOL Nancy I can't wait for someone to tell you myspace
is an educational activity.
And then I can't wait for the next posting where
someone is bound to say -- I have academic freedom.

And I want those folks who seem to think that anything
goes -- need to start looking at the bandwidth

My next biggest complaint is the Internet is so slow.
Well when have the place is trying to watch American
Idol -- download music - etc. it takes up bandwidth
and heaven forbid when you try to block it or limit
the bandwidth.
I actually have adults complaining to me about how
slow some of the things they are trying to do are
and by gosh -- I just didn't know that watching TV
shows in an office was work related -- but hey - let's
remeber free and unfettered Internet access.

I would love to - but with 4000 users and a 10mg
circuit -- hey you just can't do everything --
It;s kind of like getting your paycheck -- you have so
much money and you have to prioritze what is more
important... 
Is that a radical concept? --

SInce I am a librarian I block as little as possible
and have a different filters for different age groups/

I have traffic monitoring software in place -- and
when the traffic starts hitting 50% or more - I look
to see what sites are taking up bandwidth

And for just once - I would like to see it be
instructional -- instead - I find -- radio stations,
TV shows, on-line college classes that teachers are
taking, etc.

I also allow teachers and students to request to have
websites unblocked and they are normally unblocked in
a matter of a few minutes unless there is an emergency
and everyone in my office is away from their desks.

SOmetimes legitimate sites have been blocked - but
inthe majority of cases -- the website was spelled
wrong -- or they tried to guess at what the website
should be --
and I go and find the correct website and copy and
paste the URL into the email.

Legitimate sites that I have found blocked -- have
been very few.

Now I know that is not the case in alot of places -- 
it takes alot of time and effort to provide this much
flexibilty...
And I think because I am a librarian -- I take the
time to do it --
but alot of folks aren't librarians and one size fits
all for them.

I disagree but before you start crtiticizing the IT
staff - you need to find out how many staff members
they have - how many computers are in the district,
what type of access to the Internet does your district
have, how many servers, how many software
applpications --
SOmetimes you have to choose --
If you have a very small staff --and alot of servers
and software applications -- you are going to spend
your time there -- the most people you can keep
functioning.

Try to remember those things when you start
criticizing yout IT dept.

--- Nancy Willard <nwillard@CSRIU.ORG> wrote:

> The reason students should not be accessing MySpace
> and the like from
> schools is that is not an educational activity.
> Internet use in school
> should be for educational purposes. Further there
> are some liability risks -
> like cyberbullying. But schools really ought to have
> monitored social
> networking environments for educational activities.
> 
> I have had a librarian tell me that she used to have
> teachers come to her to
> bypass the filter to get to sites that were
> inappropriately blocked. But
> they are not doing this any more. She thinks this is
> not because the
> filtering has improved, but that the teachers also
> have figured out how to
> bypass the filter. Hmm. I had someone else tell me
> that his son has set up a
> proxy on their home computer that the *teachers* and
> students use to bypass
> the filter to get to sites needed for educational
> activities (probably not
> the only reason).
> 
> So here is the issue for you to consider: A teacher
> has worked on a lesson
> the night before and comes to school early in the
> morning, checks her
> lesson, finds she can't access a site or two, it is
> now 7:45 and her class
> comes in at 8:00. Do you have procedures set up so
> that by 8:00 this teacher
> can access the site she needs for her lesson?
> 
> If this would not be possible, then changes need to
> be made. And do not tell
> me - or let your tech director tell you - that this
> would be a violation of
> CIPA. The only reason CIPA was upheld as
> constitutional was the finding that
> filters could be rapidly and easily overridden to
> provide access to
> inappropriately blocked sites.
> 
> I am making this point really clear in the PPT for
> schools I am working on
> addressing effective Internet use management in a
> Web 2.0 world.
> 
> Nancy
> -- 
> Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
> Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
> http://csriu.org
> http://cyberbully.org
> http://cyber-safe-kids.com
> nwillard@csriu.org
> 
> Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the
> Challenge of Online Social
> Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press)
> 
> Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young
> People Learn to Use the
> Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass)
> 
>
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Paula Yohe
Director Of Technology/Library Media Center
Dillon School District Two
405 West Washington Street
Dillon, SC 29536
Phone: 843-841-3604 Fax:843-774-1214
paula_yohe@yahoo.com


      
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