Internet Filtering: Sometimes too Harsh
As a teacher who uses best practices, as well as a parent, I believe that some internet filtering should continue at school. However, my stance is that it should only continue until the more proactive approach of actually teaching digital citizenship to our students.
From what I experience in my district there is this broad approach to filtering. There is this huge crackdown on what the students need to be protected from. Educators are told to be professionals. Use your professional judgement they say. Yet no one is queried or surveyed on what should or should not be blocked. In my district teachers do have the ability to ask for certain sites to be unblocked, but I that process is long and arduous and most are shot down by the IT department. I have read parts of CIPA and other internet safety policies. I understand why CIPA was important, however Kristen Batch, in “Fencing Out Knowledge”, makes a valid point that the internet has changed quite drastically since CIPA’s inception (ALA 2014). The problem with internet filtering is that it appears sometimes the people in charge would rather use this broad-spectrum filter that simply blocks everything and anything. They do this instead of spending the time to look at and change the parameters to a more user-friendly filter.
Years ago when the internet was “new and shiny” it was a place to go for some very limited research, mostly non-reactive, for the most part, on the searcher. In those early years it was more like using an encyclopedia or reading a newspaper. Now we have dubbed the internet “2.0”. It is more about creativity, collaboration, and being global.
I have read quite a few debates on filtering, even had a few with my district’s IT department, and one thing I see is the fact that the students still go and participate where they want to. It may not be at school, but nonetheless they still find the social sites and even times might stumble upon those “dark corners” of the internet. The problem isn’t keeping them from it, because for most children and adolescents telling them they “can’t” just makes them want to seek it out more.
We need to be ready and better equipped to teach the students about where and what they should be doing, instead of telling them they can’t do it. Every district needs to institute some form of training for internet use. Whether that training being a Moodle that the students can go through independently and then discussions with the teacher afterwards, or straight directed lessons on digital citizenship from an educator. Common Sense Media is a great place to start when wanting to implement a DigCit class. Even students of an early age can start being informed of what it is through programs like BrainPop. Teachers don’t just hand out tests at the beginning of a class and expect the students to automatically know how to solve the work. Time and energy is put into lessons. Time and energy is put into students as they learn. By the time the unit is complete we have a majority who are successful. Those that might have lagged behind, we take the time to re-teach and direct. What we don’t do is just say they really won’t need that material and not allow them access to it anymore. Teachers teach and students learn! We need better reforms on educating our students on safe practices of the internet not better filters.
Although I believe some internet filtering should continue, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Eventually students should be able to filter themselves and be able to be true global learners, however educators need to make sure they have the tools for success.
Batch, K. (2014, June 1). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.ala.org/offices/sites/ala.org.offices/files/content/oitp/publications/issuebriefs/cipa_report.pdf.
Digital Literacy & Citizenship Classroom Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum.
Digital Citizenship Spotlight Lesson Plans | BrainPOP Educators. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.brainpop.com/educators/community/digital-citizenship-spotlight-lesson-plans.
As a teacher who uses best practices, as well as a parent, I believe that some internet filtering should continue at school. However, my stance is that it should only continue until the more proactive approach of actually teaching digital citizenship to our students.
From what I experience in my district there is this broad approach to filtering. There is this huge crackdown on what the students need to be protected from. Educators are told to be professionals. Use your professional judgement they say. Yet no one is queried or surveyed on what should or should not be blocked. In my district teachers do have the ability to ask for certain sites to be unblocked, but I that process is long and arduous and most are shot down by the IT department. I have read parts of CIPA and other internet safety policies. I understand why CIPA was important, however Kristen Batch, in “Fencing Out Knowledge”, makes a valid point that the internet has changed quite drastically since CIPA’s inception (ALA 2014). The problem with internet filtering is that it appears sometimes the people in charge would rather use this broad-spectrum filter that simply blocks everything and anything. They do this instead of spending the time to look at and change the parameters to a more user-friendly filter.
Years ago when the internet was “new and shiny” it was a place to go for some very limited research, mostly non-reactive, for the most part, on the searcher. In those early years it was more like using an encyclopedia or reading a newspaper. Now we have dubbed the internet “2.0”. It is more about creativity, collaboration, and being global.
I have read quite a few debates on filtering, even had a few with my district’s IT department, and one thing I see is the fact that the students still go and participate where they want to. It may not be at school, but nonetheless they still find the social sites and even times might stumble upon those “dark corners” of the internet. The problem isn’t keeping them from it, because for most children and adolescents telling them they “can’t” just makes them want to seek it out more.
We need to be ready and better equipped to teach the students about where and what they should be doing, instead of telling them they can’t do it. Every district needs to institute some form of training for internet use. Whether that training being a Moodle that the students can go through independently and then discussions with the teacher afterwards, or straight directed lessons on digital citizenship from an educator. Common Sense Media is a great place to start when wanting to implement a DigCit class. Even students of an early age can start being informed of what it is through programs like BrainPop. Teachers don’t just hand out tests at the beginning of a class and expect the students to automatically know how to solve the work. Time and energy is put into lessons. Time and energy is put into students as they learn. By the time the unit is complete we have a majority who are successful. Those that might have lagged behind, we take the time to re-teach and direct. What we don’t do is just say they really won’t need that material and not allow them access to it anymore. Teachers teach and students learn! We need better reforms on educating our students on safe practices of the internet not better filters.
Although I believe some internet filtering should continue, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Eventually students should be able to filter themselves and be able to be true global learners, however educators need to make sure they have the tools for success.
Batch, K. (2014, June 1). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.ala.org/offices/sites/ala.org.offices/files/content/oitp/publications/issuebriefs/cipa_report.pdf.
Digital Literacy & Citizenship Classroom Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/curriculum.
Digital Citizenship Spotlight Lesson Plans | BrainPOP Educators. (n.d.). Retrieved September 27, 2015, from http://www.brainpop.com/educators/community/digital-citizenship-spotlight-lesson-plans.
Cloud Computing and Web 2.0
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