[Yr7-10it] block it all

Sat Mar 3 19:51:53 EST 2007

Actually I was asked once if it was cheaper if we only published our school
web page onto the Intranet. I think they meant Internet but that brings up a
rather odd picture.

Our school has countless dozens of languages and I don't need another
dimension to filter. Guess what happens if somebody at your filtered school
enters the Arabic, Greek, Khmer words for "computer game" into Google. I
dont read a single word in these languages but I can tell at a glance when
somebody is off-task. I do understand the position of most schools that try
to control online movement but ultimately, even good filtering tools have
flaws. There comes a point where a good teacher provides the necessary
guidance and direction.

It is enough for us to set the standards, teach the desired behaviour and
inspire students to do something that makes the world a better place to live
in.

Regards Roland

On 01/03/07, Hutchison, Geoffrey G <hutchison.geoffrey.g at edumail.vic.gov.au>
wrote:
>
> Roslyn
>
> Time you stopped the tail wagging the dog. DEMAND to have access to
> whatever you want!.
>
> Also, the charging of staff per MB is absurd. Your school should not be
> paying anything more than 2 cents per MB download.
>
> Currently, I allow our students 35/45MB downloads per month as part of
> their school fees. The cost of staff downloads is trivial.
>
> Do we charge students if they borrow more than 2 books per month from the
> library?
>
> Good grief.
>
> Geoff Hutchison,
> IT Co-ordinator/Manager,
> McGuire College,
> Shepparton, Vic
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Meadows, Roslyn M
> Sent: Thu 3/1/2007 10:38 PM
> To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
> Subject: RE: [Yr7-10it] block it all
>
>
>
> Cameron - I agree with you that teachers should make the decision about
> which sites to block - and the way the pc's are configured!
>
> After a year away from bentleigh our computers are so 'locked down' it
> takes the kids about 8 clicks to get into their home directory. Right
> clicking has been disabled completely, and although we have the
> Macromedia suite installed, I discovered today that kids cannot save swf
> files - so about 6 of my students who had spent time doing a flash
> animation for their website could not actually use it! I am also yet to
> work out how they can zip up a folder (eg a website) so they can submit
> it electronically. Chances are they will not be able to save zip files
> or exe files either - goodbye gamemaker???? I will be pushing to have
> the rules bent a little and attempt to put the onus back on the
> classroom teachers to supervise what students are doing.
>
> There is nothing like diligence - my students know that if they are
> doing anything off task (even paint can be a distraction) I will just
> turn the computer off, they will risk losing their work, they are
> removed from the computer and have to work from a book with pen and
> paper. I find that once this has happened to a couple of kids the class
> settles down and stays on task. It's a bit similar to being in a Maths
> class and finding a kid reading a magazine - you confiscate the mag and
> keep an eye on him/her.
>
> Our students are limited to educache, staff can go further but are
> limited to $10 credit (at 10c per MB) Once a staff member has used this
> credit he must email the principal who will ask the library tech for a
> printout of websites visited. I am hoping that by going to the
> brightsparks unlimited plan (thanks Cameron) we will halve our IP costs
> and everyone will have free access to the whole web.
>
> After spending the last year at a notebook school where even MySpace,
> youtube and MSN Messenger were not blocked I feel like I have just
> landed behind the iron curtain - although I am enjoying being back here.
>
> Roslyn Meadows | Information Technology | Bentleigh Secondary College |
> meadows.roslyn.m at edumail.vic.gov.au | ph 03 9579 1044 | mobile 0412 614
> 062
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au
> [mailto:yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au] On Behalf Of victor rajewski
> Sent: Thursday, 1 March 2007 9:09 PM
> To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Yr7-10it] block it all
>
> Our school has just invested in NetSupport School - among other things
> it lets the teacher in the classroom at the time to whitelist and
> blacklist sites as they come up - and includes the ability to easily
> see which site each student is visiting. It is quite nice. But what
> would be more useful to schools that can't put the money into a system
> like this would be a teacher-friendly interface to the proxy server
> (such as edupass) where they can do a similar function. This wouldn't
> be too hard to write - just needs a bit of will from the powers that
> be.
>
> Even so, technical measures are not a replacement for engaging tasks
> and knowing what and how your students are doing. They just make it a
> bit easier sometimes.
>
> On 3/1/07, Cameron Bell <bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
> > I don't have the time to block every site that may come up as "not
> > wanted" by staff. I tell the staff that it is their job as a classroom
> > teacher to monitor what goes on in *their* classroom. If I see a kid
> at
> > a site that is clearly not relevant, I simply tell them to get on with
> > the work as required and follow it up by keeping an eye on them and go
> > through the usual steps I would with any kid who wasn't doing the
> > current activity.
> > The alternative is to ignore the rest of the class while I kick the
> kid
> > of the computer while I check the history, find the site, get the URL,
> > determine the category, logon to the proxy, submit the filter.....
> > It's so much easier to say "Get on with the work or I'll........."
> >
> > Cameron
> >
> > Geoff Hutchison wrote:
> > > You are being too subtle Rob.
> > >
> > > Reminds me of my days working at a regional TAFE - VIC.GOV.AU was
> suddenly blocked, classified as porn (sic). Didn't even bother ringing
> our techs, took them over a month to unblock it.
> > >
> > > This blocking is just another case of the tail wagging the dog.
> Schools should decide what to block, and by schools, I mean the teaching
> staff. School and dept tech support should deliver what schools want,
> not what they decide schools can have.
> > >
> > >  Which reminds me, Netspace is our ISP, and via an email a week ago,
> they informed us all that, due to many requests from schools, they were
> going to block many 'game' sites - they would decide what amounted to a
> 'game' site.
> > >
> > > SIGH.
> > >
> > > If schools just got off their own backsides, and instigated their
> own filters AS THEY ARE REQUIRED TO DO.
> > >
> > > I could go on ................
> > >
> > > cheers
> > > Geoff
> > >
> > > *********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********
> > >
> > > On 01-Mar-07 at 3:32 PM Costello, Rob R wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > >> Reading about more filtering -
> > >>
> > >>
> http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/youtube-ban-for-victorian-schools
> > >> /2007/03/01/1172338754827.html
> > >>
> > >> Personally, I think every student should be satisfied with 24/7
> access
> > >> to the official VELS site, and maybe the curriculum planning
> guidelines
> > >>
> > >> What more could they ask for?
> > >>
> > >> Google, blogs, email, flickr, and all such web 2 apps should be
> banned
> > >> by decree
> > >>
> > >> They might be used to communicate - and the risk of communicating
> is too
> > >> high
> > >>
> > >> I look forward to a world in which every interesting and
> interactive web
> > >> site is finally blocked, and we all have handheld devices, on which
> we
> > >> can access an approved list of 3 sites
> > >>
> > >> Paper and pen might also need banning, as there are reliable
> reports of
> > >> these media being used for obscene drawing and note passing in
> class
> > >>
> > >> Rob
> > >>
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-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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