As we work through our 23 Things, I've heard lots of complaints about our district's use of software to block our access to certain websites. Doug Johnson, author of The Blue Skunk Blog has a great article on the issue.
What I've learned about our program is this, WE (as teachers, librarian, etc.) are not blocked from the sites, but must use our "override" passwords to get to the sites we want. Only very few sites are actually BLOCKED from anyone's use (and for good reason -- you don't need to look at nudity while you're at work). The problem comes from the fear and frustration of overriding a site.
Some fear they will "get in trouble" if they override a site they need; while others are so frustrated by the steps to override that they just don't do it. I'm not sure there is an easy answer. I understand the need to "protect" our students, but at the same time, we should be teaching them how to protect themselves.
1 comment:
great article - thanks for the link!
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