The Role of Filters in a Web 2.0 Environment
October 2, 2008
Will Richardson recently wrote a post titled Filter Fun where he argues that “I truly believe that filters make our kids less safe.”
As a member of the digital native generation, and a large proponent and practitioner of the integration of Web 2.0 technologies into education, I think Will’s post represents a strong, unjustified stereotype of the role of IT in education. He seems to be sparking an “us against them” attitude of IT versus the rest of the school. This is the wrong approach to solving an important school policy issue.
As Web 2.0 tools become more ubiquitous, school IT departments need to continuously revise their policies to move with the times.
In my experience, the best functioning school IT departments partner with administrators, curriculum directors, and teachers to create sensible policies that work for the entire district. In the case of security and content filtering, we worked with one district to create a Wiki for decision-makers to collaborate and design their own sensible policies on the matter. This was a creative way of building a partnership between IT and the school.
It is also important for Will and others to recognize why content filtering exists. For starters, it is the law! The Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) mandates that “Internet safety policy must include technology protection measures to block or filter Internet access to pictures that: (a) are obscene, (b) are child pornography, or (c) are harmful to minors (for computers that are accessed by minors).”
Obviously, pornography, obscene language, hate group web pages, etc. have no place in a school environment. School is supposed to be a safe place where parents are led to believe that schools are taking every opportunity to protect their kids.
Policies vary by school district and in some cases, any request made by a teacher to unblock a web site made is immediately acted upon after one phone call to our help desk. In other cases, there must be approval by some district-level administrator. Also, in nearly all of our school districts, group policies are set up for teachers, administrators, and students to have different levels of access.
In Will’s case, if he would have called one day ahead of time to ensure that the sites he needed were unblocked, and then tested his presentation with an IT person on site, then he would not have run into any problems. As the IT partner for a number of school districts, we are constantly doing this type of pro-active support to help speakers at our school districts.
In no cases do I think it makes sense for schools to provide unfettered access to the entire internet.
E-rate: More Important Than Ever
September 30, 2008
This is a guest post written by our Director of K-12 Operations and E-rate Expert, Paul Karlin
The country is facing serious financial challenges. Our nation’s school districts will experience the fallout through declining tax revenues and budget cuts. Will schools have to cut technology? How will our schools pay for their everyday technology costs, or keep up with technology changes that occur so often?
As 21st century educators, we recognize that technology is not a luxury or frill, it is a necessity. Thankfully, the E-rate program recognizes this fact, and helps schools cover their ongoing technology costs and infrastructure improvements in cases of financial need. The Federal E-rate (“Education rate”) program was started in 1998. It provides discounts of 20% to 90% to schools for typical tech costs such as Internet service and telephone service, as well as for the purchase and maintenance of network equipment. Eligibility for different types of products depends upon a school or district’s financial need. While it is common for all schools to receive discounts on, for instance, long distance service, only a small percentage of schools receive funds for hardware. Because E-rate funds come not from taxes but from the “Universal Service” fee on phone bills, it is a program that will not be cut – very important in today’s economic environment!
If your school or district is going through tough financial times, it is worth taking a close look at E-rate to see if there are ways to get more E-rate dollars, reduce local spending, and maintain or even improve their technology programs. Some entities are able to redistribute savings to areas of need. Many schools and districts maximize budgets in other creative ways that we would be happy to talk to you about.
Important questions to consider are:
Is your entity applying for all of the eligible products and services that it can? Surprisingly, many applicants do not realize that services for which they pay thousands of dollars are actually eligible for discounts.
Is your entity correctly filling out all required paperwork? As a federal program, E-rate is considered a pain to school administrators. But missing a date or filling in a form incorrectly can be very costly.
Has your free and reduced rate increased? Eligibility for free and reduced lunch is the measure used to determine program discounts. If your eligibility rate has increased, this means your entity is eligible for more money –- perhaps very significant dollars.
When the program first started, the $2.3 billion a year in funding for the entire nation seemed huge! Compared to the size of federal assistance to banks and other institutions, $2.3 billion seems paltry today, yet this program has effectively enabled our nation’s schools to connect to the Internet, join the 21st century, and to help address our current technology challenges.
Paul KarlinDirector, K-12 Operations
Smart Solutions
216-765-1122 ext. 8371
cell: 216-926-5997
pkarlin@smartsolutionsonline.com