So here is the update from the heartland: blogs, wikis, Flickr…almost anything where kids can post content online is being blocked by schools. An elementary school teacher told me that the schools just don’t want the potential problems of students doing this. (Ironically, another teacher in the discussion then said that students have all sorts of hacks to get around this anyway.) And I have to say, that out of the 40 or so presentations I’ve given now on these technologies, yesterday’s was without question the most angst creating one yet in terms of teacher response. There was lots of disruption being voiced, from university professors concerned with intellectual property issues and the recklessness of the blogosphere, to middle school teachers wrestling with the facts that we need to teach students how to navigate these information rich waters but not having the time or the resources (or the support) to do so. It was an extremely interesting hour.
And then there’s this from Bionic Teacher:
The main point is computers and the internet are treated as strange dangerous animals that have to be carefully controlled or they will destroy students, schools and society.
How scary is that? And how good is this response?:
You get the idea. The choices the student makes are the problem not the tools that make it possible. You can do as many wrong things without a computer as you can with one but you can’t do as many good things. Stop treating problems relating to computers as different than other school related issues. Choices are choices. Educate and inform the child as to the right choices and hold them responsible if they make the wrong choices. Supervision and education are the keys not blocking. These are schools.
So from a tempature check standpoint, if feels like the kettle is really starting to boil. It’s becoming more and more obvious that a lot of schools are choosing the keep away approach to this, ignoring the fact that as soon as students leave the building, they’re accessing all of this stuff on their own anyway.
So, what’s our response?
It is amazing to me how administrators, teachers and parents do not understand the inherent value in using technology (blogs, internet, etc.) in the classroom. While I understand the concern that students might come across material that is either unreliable or inappropriate, supervision solves most of this problem. Currently, all of my students are on wireless laptops each day in my English classroom and we have not had a problem. Have students tried to access things that they should not, sure! But, I use software that allows us to observe and even take over a students screen if needed.
What I can not understand is the blocking systems being used in the school. My students can not get on certain newspaper sites or anything with sports, even if they have a paper due on the topic. Yet, I have seen students come across porn sites accidentally as a result of a misguided search.
Teachers and administrators should take the time to learn about the technology and develop policies that support new technologies, not eliminate them. Students are going to use these tools at home; therefore, why shouldn’t we find ways to embrace these tools in order to better reach our students.
It is amazing to me how administrators, teachers and parents do not understand the inherent value in using technology (blogs, internet, etc.) in the classroom. While I understand the concern that students might come across material that is either unreliable or inappropriate, supervision solves most of this problem. Currently, all of my students are on wireless laptops each day in my English classroom and we have not had a problem. Have students tried to access things that they should not, sure! But, I use software that allows us to observe and even take over a students screen if needed.
What I can not understand is the blocking systems being used in the school. My students can not get on certain newspaper sites or anything with sports, even if they have a paper due on the topic. Yet, I have seen students come across porn sites accidentally as a result of a misguided search.
Teachers and administrators should take the time to learn about the technology and develop policies that support new technologies, not eliminate them. Students are going to use these tools at home; therefore, why shouldn’t we find ways to embrace these tools in order to better reach our students.
In all too many places, the reason behind the filtering of information is a lack of trust. The problem is that everyone is presumed guilty before having a chance to show responsibility. For all the talk of accountability in education, it is amazing that this great opportunity to allow students to be accountable for their actions is ripped away by filtering.
As I sit here listing to David Warlick speak at a library development day I am holding, It is funny to read here exactly what David is saying. This is something I am very afraid of as seen in a recent blog post at my blog Infomancy.
What people are forgetting is that filters are mandated under the regulations for obtaining e-rate monies; many schools are reliant on that for internet access and will gladly filter rather than deny their students any on-line resources.
Sometimes it is the administration that doesn’t “get it” but often it’s beyond their control.
In the tech-rapture who will be left behind? I think that anybody who tries to hold tight to this intellectual crack-the-whip will get well and truly thrashed. The problem is that it might be our whole society that suffers. I know exactly how the South Koreans were able to vault over us in the area of stem cell research–open, free flow of information. Schools risk becoming hollowed out husks that the first good storm will tip right over. And I can’t help but feel that the hierarchy uber alles is the big problem, not the technology. The technology simply exposes the cracks in the cold, dispiriting places many high schools have become. As the great Nor’easter Robert Frost once said,
“We dance around in a ring and suppose
But the Secret sits in the center and knows.”
We ain’t gonna tweak our way out of this one.