[offtopic] Using School Supplied laptos at home

Meadows, Roslyn M Meadows.Roslyn.M at edumail.vic.gov.au
Wed May 28 10:36:19 EST 2008


Andrew - thanks for the compliment :)

Perhaps staff who have "adult material" on their notebooks should have
the notebook removed from them for a period of time (eg a month) 
This will send a stronger message to all staff that it is unacceptable
behavior. As usual it is the one or two that ruin it for everyone else.

I do think it is a drastic measure (and educationally unsound) to forbid
all staff using the internet at home because one or two can't keep the
adult stuff off them (perhaps you could suggest they purchase a second
hand desktop for home which they can use for their porn nights!!!!)

I hope you can work the situation out so that most of the law abiding
staff can effectively use their notebooks at home as a teaching and
learning tool.

Cheers
Ros



Roslyn Meadows
Head of ICT Implementation
Head of Assessment and Reporting
Bentleigh Secondary College 
| 9579 1044 | 0412 614 062 |

Please consider the environment before printing this email 
In some cases, all it requires is that you rationally point out that
there is a problem. 
In others, all you can do is turn the other cheek. 
At the far end of the spectrum are those for whom the only appropriate
response is to carve out their still-beating heart and force them to eat
it. (Marc Carlson)


-----Original Message-----
From: offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of WEIR Andrew
Sent: Wednesday, 28 May 2008 8:02 AM
To: Information Technology Teachers' Offtopic Mailing List
Subject: RE: [offtopic] Using School Supplied laptos at home

Ros
I always love reading your emails.
However in this case even having with the knowledge that there history
will be seen, staff have done the wrong things. At the school staff "Do
Not Pay For There Laptops" they are provided by the school. The school
covers the lease on the laptop. So staff can't install tools. However as
for the world of open source, well personally myself and the head tech
do a good job encouraging staff to use it. Especially via the use of
Pocket APPS. However we still need to Monitor, Log or control (choose
the word you like the best) what staff are doing. It is the same in all
organisations.

As I also said this is issue One of a few, the training and education of
staff will be next on the agenda. But it's not the technicians I need to
answer to it's admin.

Also it's not every teacher that will do the wrong thing, it's the One
teacher that does, or what I tend to call "The Just-in Factor" 
 

Andrew
 

-----Original Message-----
From: offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Meadows, Roslyn M
Sent: Tuesday, 27 May 2008 1:52 PM
To: Information Technology Teachers' Offtopic Mailing List
Subject: RE: [offtopic] Using School Supplied laptos at home

DEECD provide (almost) all govt school teachers with a notebook
(although we have a small "payment" deducted from our salary each
fortnight - mine is $8).
There have never been any restrictions on the use of these notebooks at
home or anywhere else. I can use mine at conferences, in cafes and at
home to connect wirelessly to the internet. We also have total control
over what we install, and usually the first thing I do is reformat mine
to get rid of all the DEECD junk installed on it, and set it up the way
I want it.

I think education (of the teachers) here is an issue, perhaps if they
knew that their browsing history could be viewed by others who use their
computer maybe they would be more careful. Obviously there are still
people who don't realize that everything that is done in a browser stays
there until it is deleted. A brief demonstration at a staff meeting of
what can be revealed about staff surfing habits in the history of IE or
firefox would scare most into doing the right thing! Of course you would
have to set up a computer so that the results were "shocking" (but not
too "adult" for a staff meeting!)

Maybe some simple software which deletes browsing history, cookies,
searches etc such as Advanced Windows Care or CC Cleaner should be
installed? Staff should be shown how to use it, and told to use it after
each browsing session outside of the school. Even showing them how to
use the IE or Firefox "delete browsing history" or "clear private data"
would help.

Personally I don't see why staff cannot install software - surely staff
should be able to trial some of the amazing open source software or
other free software which is available which may help their teaching and
learning (eg FreeMind, OpenProj, Scratch etc)

Hope this helps
Cheers
Ros

Roslyn Meadows
Head of ICT Implementation
Head of Assessment and Reporting
Bentleigh Secondary College 
| 9579 1044 | 0412 614 062 |

Please consider the environment before printing this email 



-----Original Message-----
From: offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of WEIR Andrew
Sent: Tuesday, 27 May 2008 1:01 PM
To: Information Technology Teachers' Offtopic Mailing List
Subject: RE: [offtopic] Using School Supplied laptos at home

Alan,
Other then anti virus tools we have no other tools on the local
machine's.
There are some security policies set so that staff can't install
programs.
However it not the viruses that are the issue, it's the content, staff
downloading pictures (of an adult nature) and just generally
inappropriate content for a Work based machine.
Andrew

-----Original Message-----
From: offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of Alan Oh
Sent: Tuesday, 27 May 2008 12:48 PM
To: Information Technology Teachers' Offtopic Mailing List
Subject: RE: [offtopic] Using School Supplied laptos at home

What are the main concerns with home connection? Would the security
software already installed on the laptop be able to handle "nasties"
from the internet?


Regards
 
Alan Oh
Waverley Christian College
Tel: (613) 9871-8600 ext 605
www: www.wcc.vic.edu.au
email: oh.a at wcc.vic.edu.au

-----Original Message-----
From: offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au
[mailto:offtopic-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of WEIR Andrew
Sent: Tuesday, 27 May 2008 12:34 PM
To: Information Technology Teachers' Offtopic Mailing List
Subject: [offtopic] Using School Supplied laptos at home

Dear all,
I am after some recommendations or opinions on solving a few issues.
Currently the school provides all its staff with laptop computers for
use at school and limited use at home.
However staff are not meant to connect to there home ISP's or browse the
internet at home.

We are currently trying to solve the issues so that staff can use them
at home, but we need to be able to monitor/log what staff are
downloading onto these computers.

Does anyone know of or have an ideas for how this could be done. 

So far my thoughts run to installing some sort of "Net Nanny" style
program, and using the Sina Black list.

This is the first of three issues that we are facing preventing staff
using the computers at home. However this is kind of the most important
one.

Regards

Andrew





Andrew Weir

Information Technology Co-ordinator

 

Thomas Carr College

35 Thomas Carr Drive,

Tarneit, VIC 3029

(P) (03) 8734 2566

(F) (03) 9748 4388

(E) andrew.weir at thomascarr.vic.edu.au

 

IMPORTANT! This email and any attachments may be confidential. If
received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Thomas Carr
College does not represent or warrant that the attached files are free
from computer viruses or other defects. The attached files are provided,
and may only be used, on the basis that the user assumes all
responsibility for any loss, damage or consequence resulting directly or
indirectly from the use of the attached files, whether caused by the
negligence of the sender or not. Any representations or opinions
expressed in this email are those of the individual sender, and not
necessarily those of Thomas Carr College.

Please consider the environment before printing this email 

 


_______________________________________________
offtopic mailing list
offtopic at edulists.com.au
http://www.edulists.com.au/mailman/listinfo/offtopic

------------------------------------------

DISCLAIMER:  This email and any files transmitted with it are
confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity
to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error
please delete it immediately and notify the system administrator on
postmaster at wcc.vic.edu.au. 

WARNING: Although the college has taken reasonable precautions to ensure
no viruses are present in this email, the college cannot accept
responsibility for any loss or damage arising from the use of this email
or attachments.

------------------------------------------



_______________________________________________
offtopic mailing list
offtopic at edulists.com.au
http://www.edulists.com.au/mailman/listinfo/offtopic

_______________________________________________
offtopic mailing list
offtopic at edulists.com.au
http://www.edulists.com.au/mailman/listinfo/offtopic

Important - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If
received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before
opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects.
Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the
negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from
the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying
any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are
those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.

_______________________________________________
offtopic mailing list
offtopic at edulists.com.au
http://www.edulists.com.au/mailman/listinfo/offtopic

_______________________________________________
offtopic mailing list
offtopic at edulists.com.au
http://www.edulists.com.au/mailman/listinfo/offtopic

Important - This email and any attachments may be confidential. If received in error, please contact us and delete all copies. Before opening or using attachments check them for viruses and defects. Regardless of any loss, damage or consequence, whether caused by the negligence of the sender or not, resulting directly or indirectly from the use of any attached files our liability is limited to resupplying any affected attachments. Any representations or opinions expressed are those of the individual sender, and not necessarily those of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development.



More information about the offtopic mailing list