Facebook is blocked in our schools. Today kids showed me how to access it using a proxy-server, and explained to me what a proxy-server is. This sort of forced me to do a double take in my consideration of technology in the schools....
As it stands now, the average student is much more knowledgeable about how to use technology and the internet to get what they want. They use applications from imovie, to powerpoint, to instant messenger with more efficiency than the average teacher could ever hope for. They know how to find information on the web with ease. What's the point of blocking websites if students can just find ways around the internet filter?
Perhaps rather then just trying to block them from what is available on the internet, we teach them how to think critically about it. In the presentation on internet filtering last week, the student interviews clearly indicated that filtering is pointless. The kids know what's out there. Instead of pretending that it's not there, why don't we give the tools with which to consider it?
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5 comments:
Hi Jon
It sounds like you are working on the "technology in my placement survey." While I am not surprised that Facebook is blocked, I am interested in the reasoning for blocking the site. Does it mention "why" in the Acceptable Use Policy? Additionally, does the Acceptable Use Policy mention why certain Internet sites or activities are restricted? I know in the past many AUP's only mention what students cannot do, but often leave out "why" they cannot participate in certain Internet activities.
Jon,
Since I did my Point/Counter Point recently on Internet filtering, I'm full of orotund nonsense on this very topic.
Building on what Liz said, I think it's interesting to ponder why schools block what they block. Is it because it's dangerous or because it's annoying? Sure, a school should police dangerous content (if that's even really possible), but annoying/distracting material? Can you really justify blocking stuff like this when you also lose tons of important and relevant information at the same time?
Call me when the thought police go home.
(I apologize for the unnecessarily antagonistic tone of this comment.)
-Will-
Jon,
I have noticed the same thing. As a substitute teacher, kids would constantly be on myspace or facebook at school through proxy serves. I like the approach you mention about teaching them to think critically and I do believe that is one of our many rolls. It also seems ridiculous to me that we block them, when most kids have online access at home. The same parallel you drew about kids knowing more than teachers in the tech arena, is probably true for kids and parents. I know that while I was growing up with access to the internet my parents had no idea what it was or how to use it. In fact my parents are just starting to struggle with email this year.
I think this question still runs deeper though. I almost feel it is a part of the technology for technology sake. Not only do I want to teach kids how to think critically about this technology and other aspects of their life, I want a component of that critical thought to be spent on the trade offs for technology. What is needed to sustain the use, how often we cycle through "out-dated" tech, where old technology ends up, what the dangers are of some of the components of technology and the manufacturing process. We obviously do not need computers as a species to survive, they are a relatively new invention when put next to the known history of the human species...but try convincing students of that...
Peace man,
daver
Jon,
Your posting made me laugh because it's the truth--kids know exactly what methods work to get what they want. Even if the setting is a school with firewall settings and filters, students will work to have access to Facebook or any website they choose. Maybe we should have included a section in our Point/Counterpoint presentation that touched on, "what happens when students bypass filters in schools to reach social networking sites...?" Just a thought.
I like your perspective on teaching students to think critically. We are sort of foolish to think that students should be sheltered from using the internet. While I certainly don't think that students will ever use social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace for educational purposes, I do not thinking that blocking such a plethora of websites is particularly effective either. If students are able to work around these firewalls, they are essentially making the adults in charge look pretty stupid.
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