Dawn Hogue has a great post on blocking access to Web sites.
When schools block web applications, especially the newer Web 2.0 tools, the opportunity to use and teach how to use these tools is blocked as well. What would be better than simply blocking everything would be to acknowledge that there are some risks associated with accessing information on the Internet and in creating an online presence and teach students how to be responsible Web content generators.
Amen!
I checked out her resources page and imagine it will take me some time to sift through all the great stuff.
It wouldn't be so bad if the administration would allow us to have an override password to bypass blocked web sites. Just today your site was blocked because it was listed under the category of "Education." ????
I'm blocked? Wow, I feel so… subversive.
At my school blogs are blanket blogged under the "Weblogs/Personal Pages" exception. Annoying. To their credit, though, they make exceptions to the exception and unblock on request.
I know from my days in junior and high school, I would get so frustrated when I would want to research or simply check my email, only to be blocked by the School Board. This makes no sense. I understand the purpose of trying to restrict age-inappropriate sites and other “scandalous” types of sites, but this idea of “why block?” when you can educate proper, mature, and useful website behavior makes so much more sense than to simply block a site and take no questions.
While in the classroom, teachers may have little say in what sites should or should not be blocked or unblocked, but if this subject continues to be raised, maybe school boards will see that proper internet behavior will far better their students than curious little minds.
Kelly A. Mezick
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama