Taking Sides:
Is it more unethical to allow threats to students/schools, or to deny students/teachers access to instructionally-relevant Web-based tools and content?
This question is being raised for educators throughout America, and many teachers are taking sides as to which they believe is more important and ethical. I've been asked to think about this question, and have done some research as well as used personal experience to take a position.
I believe that it is important to make sure teachers and students are not faced with internet threats while discovering the web, but in my opinion there is way too much blocking by the school districts. With anything on the internet these days, if there's a will there's a way and hackers, viruses, and objectionable content is going to happen in some sense. But keeping students and teachers from using valuable resources on the web by blocking such content is hindering the educational field. I find that if we are choosing to use the internet in the classroom, we should allow students to explore with a teacher's eye observing and guiding the students to the content of the topic. Many students do not have access at home to a computer still these days, and the ones that do mostly use it for computer games and social networking, and do not always use the computer for educational purpose to explore. Blogs and some websites have so much useful information for students to learn and take in that they may not get from anywhere else. I myself have run into this problem when working with students in the classroom. I have wanted to show videos that refer to the topic we were working on such as videos from youtube or speeches that important people have made, and I was unable to show them due to the school's blocked features.
In an article I found, author Chuck Kinzer states, "I would be remiss if I did not mention that the use of filtering software and restricted sites that prescreen content is under debate. Advocates of free speech point out the potential threats of censorship they pose. Others note that many appropriate and beneficial sites can be mistakenly filtered out. Teachers should be aware of the options available to address issues of Internet safety so they can make informed, professional, and educationally sound judgments for their own situations". I love what Kinzer had to say in his journal article because he discussed both sides of the topic and gave insight into each view of the argument. I believe what he says here is very true.
All in all, I have found this discussion to be a very interesting subject of debate and I am looking forward to reading more about this and how to make sure I can do my best to be an advocate for the allowance of students/teachers to access the "blocked" material in the classroom.
Resources:
Gunter, G. A., Gunter, R. E., & Shelly, G.B. (2010). Integrating technology and digital media in the classroom (6th ed.). United States
Kinzer, C. (2000/2001, December/January). Addressing issues of Internet safety [an Electronic Classroom Web watch]. Reading Online, 4(6).
Available:\http://www.readingonline.org/electronic/elec_index.asp?HREF=/electronic/webwatch/safety/index.html
I too think that the internet and technology is something that needs to be available for students. I was thinking about your comments on students using blogs and websites for information. I used to think that blogs were all bad, but after searching I found that I use blogs for lots of information! I even have a few favorites that I use when I teach art! That totally changed my mind.
ReplyDeleteAnd you talk about using videos in the classroom, which I find so beneficial to my students. I mentioned in my article that we were learning about trees, and I can tell it to them as many times as I want, but to see the connections they make when a video actually shows them what roots look like, and what the leaves do, they get to connect on a whole different level. I think losing access would be unfair to our students.
I think that students and teachers should be protected from the many threats that arise when searching the internet. But I agree that teachers and students shouldn't be limited in the aspect of which educational websites they can access. With the big push to integrate technology into the curriculum, how can we as educators be expected to provide adequate instruction without access to certain sites. I feel that as long as the websites are for educational use then we as educators should be able to access the site.
ReplyDeleteYou also talked about not being able to access videos or speeches that were of importance to the lesson. I have had the same exact problem. I feel that many times speeches and videos help to provide the students with more information on the topic. It is frustrating when we as educator go to access a website and are blocked.
Student and teacher access to the Internet is blocked to a ridiculous extent. I can identify with your encountering blocked sites at school. With firewalls, and numerous other sites blocked, it makes out jobs as educators harder when we are trying to find online educational materials. I believe that students should have limited access, especially in the younger grades, but that it should be limited to a lesser degree as students reach the upper grades. There is no way students will learn how to properly and effectively use technology when their access is many times sporadic and limited.
ReplyDelete"We should allow students to explore with a teacher's eye observing and guiding the students to the content of the topic." In the classroom this can be very difficult if students are in small groups, and the teacher is monitoring all of the various activities taking place. But, I do not think that this should hinder the use of technology. The important thing is to be tech savvy enough to access the computer's history as a way to check up on your students who are using the computers in a "supervised" environment. I say this because in my exploration on this topic I ran across a few different websites (out of the many) that give tutorials and advice on how to get around the blocks and firewalls that school have in place.
Maggie I can sense your frustration with schools blocking material that can be valuable to education. I agree completely with your argument. My concern with your statement "allow students to explore with a teacher's eye observing and guiding the students to the content of the topic" is a hard task to accomplish. I can not imagine how often children slip in a video or picture that would otherwise be called objectionable or watch a video from Solja boy instead of doing research. We are Kinder teachers and luckily do not have to worry too much about poor search etiquite. NOr do we have to worry too much about our students gaining access to bad sites. However, to be the devil's advocate, we must realize that not a childrne are created equal and not all children have what's in their own best interest at heart. The county block of material on the web is not intended for our students (they are too young to really look for inappropriate material) but to protect them and other s lie them from the students and adults who are either malicious in intent or not supervising their children. I worked for a charter school and due to no firewall or blocking software, our computers were all damaged beyond repair due to virus attacks and all the children were exposed to pornographic material and adds. I guess what I am trying to say is, we have to consider both sides of the argument and decide for the better of the kids which side to stand on. As valuable as youtube CAN be, it also has some very unsavory videos on it that with the mistyping of one word can forever change a child. Tread lightly and be aware.
ReplyDeleteEmilie Zayas
Maggie, I also found this to be a very interesting and controversial topic for discussion. As teachers, we do have a responsibility to keep our students safe from online hackers who can steal access to their information as well as protecting them from accessing inapporpirate sites. At the same time, it is true that there are many educational sites that have educational value that we can not access in the classroom. This can be very frustrating when we are trying to integrate such activities into the classroom. However, one suggestion I came across in my research for this module is presenting the site you would like temporary access to to the administration or whoever places the filters.
ReplyDelete