LISTSERV mailing list manager LISTSERV 16.0

Help for AMFELLOWS Archives


AMFELLOWS Archives

AMFELLOWS Archives


[email protected]


View:

Message:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Topic:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

By Author:

[

First

|

Previous

|

Next

|

Last

]

Font:

Proportional Font

LISTSERV Archives

LISTSERV Archives

AMFELLOWS Home

AMFELLOWS Home

AMFELLOWS  February 1999

AMFELLOWS February 1999

Subject:

Best practices

From:

"Frances F. Jacobson" <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

American Memory Fellows <[log in to unmask]>

Date:

Tue, 2 Feb 1999 13:02:56 -0600

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (76 lines)

It was fascinating to come back from ALA to this discussion.   The
filtering/censorship is an issue near and dear to my heart.  Here's the way
we are trying to deal with this issue.  We have created a two-semester
required computer literacy course, with one semester taken during the 8th
grade year and one in the 9th grade year (we're 8th-12th grade).  It's a
team taught course (FOUR of us in and out to teach everything from office
applications to information literacy skills -- including Usenet -- to
html).  During the first year, we hit them hard with an ethics curriculum,
then reinforce it in the second year.  You can read about it in an article
we wrote for the March 1998 issue of School Library Journal, currently on
their web site at:  http://www.bookwire.com/SLJ/articles.article$7867.  We
are firm believers in Teach 'em, Don't Block 'em (or
filtering-software-over-Frances's-dead-body).  Our experience?  Ethics
lessons (and I think we have a unique, scenario-based approach) certainly
doesn't turn kids into angels.  But by dealing with the issues head on, we
have fabulous cover-all-bases discussions in class.  It's not superficial
and it goes a lot farther than the acceptable use policy they all sign and
immediately forget about.  We definitely still have problems, though hardly
ever of the pornography variety.  Instead, ours tend to be behavior
problems -- people doing icky things to eachother on e-mail, hacking, etc.

In terms of the control issue, I like to think that informed students need
fewer "mechanical" controls.  No one can pretend ignorance.

Cheers, Frances

Arnold wrote:
>>
>His second point is a tougher issue for me.  He discusses censorship and
>site-filtering software.  In
>the Worcester schools where I teach we have CyberPatrol installed on the
>network,
>and it does
>indeed block many sites, often at random times -- usually just when you
>need them
>most, of course,
>or so it seems.  I've talked to the people downtown many times, and I
>still don't
>understand how this
>thing works, whether it's by keyword, or administrator input, or whatever.
>But
>sometimes it'll block
>www.usatoday, or www.cnn, or other good, clean, valuable sites.  A month
>or two ago
>I spent a big
>chunk of time developing a lesson plan on Alexander the Great for one of my
>classes; I did it in the
>computer lab, creating a nice lesson plan using three good sites on the
>subject,
>including one from
>PBS.  A week later I brought the class in to run the lesson plan, and
>boom! two of
>the three sites I
>had designated were blocked by Mr. CyberPatrol.  I was not too happy, and
>brought
>the class out
>of the computer room back to the classroom.
>
>But that's the exception, fortunately, and not the rule.  Usually the
>software just
>does its job nicely,
>blocking playboy.com and all else of that variety.  Normally it's the
>teacher's
>friend.  To call this
>software a form of censorship, as McKenzie does in the current column,
>seems to me
>like
>exaggerating.  I'd be interested to hear some reactions from other
>teachers, both
>to the article and
>also regarding the situation on your own school: do you have blocking
>software?  Is
>it overzealous?
>Have you had problems with it?  Could you/would you rather not have it?
>

Top of Message | Previous Page | Permalink

Advanced Options


Options

Log In

Log In

Get Password

Get Password


Search Archives

Search Archives


Subscribe or Unsubscribe

Subscribe or Unsubscribe


Archives

November 2011
May 2011
April 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
August 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
August 2009
April 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
July 2007
June 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003
July 2003
June 2003
May 2003
April 2003
March 2003
February 2003
January 2003
December 2002
November 2002
October 2002
September 2002
August 2002
July 2002
June 2002
May 2002
April 2002
March 2002
February 2002
January 2002
December 2001
November 2001
October 2001
September 2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February 2001
January 2001
December 2000
November 2000
October 2000
September 2000
August 2000
July 2000
June 2000
May 2000
April 2000
March 2000
February 2000
January 2000
December 1999
November 1999
October 1999
September 1999
August 1999
July 1999
June 1999
May 1999
April 1999
March 1999
February 1999
January 1999
December 1998
November 1998
October 1998
September 1998
August 1998
July 1998
June 1998
May 1998
April 1998
March 1998
February 1998
January 1998
December 1997
November 1997
October 1997
September 1997

ATOM RSS1 RSS2



LISTSERV.LOC.GOV

CataList Email List Search Powered by the LISTSERV Email List Manager