Compiled from responses on the Middle-L listserve by:
Jerry Taylor
Educational Technology Coordinator
Arcadia Middle School, Greece, NY
School page: www.greeceny.com/arm/
mailto:JerryTaylr@AOL.COM
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From: eskipper@I-55.COM (Elizabeth M. Skipper)
Our standing rule is Students must relinquish the computer if another student
needs the terminal for a school related assignment. Since the computers
are in high demand for academic assignments we rarely see students surfing
'frivolous' sites.
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From: audumont@wave.tcs.tulane.edu (Rona King)
Jerry, One thing that we have suggested in our school district is to have
teachers set up their own set of bookmarked sites for students from their
classes to access. Students will be allowed to go only to these sites unless
specifically given permission from their teachers. Another solution to your
problem may be to allow students open use of the Web only at certain hours.
For instance, Tuesday could become see whatever you want on the Web day.
A similar option would be to have access to the non-academically worthy
sites on alternate mornings prior to school or even as an afterschool activity.
If using dates/time limitations these can be put directly in the AUP. One
questions I have is how many of the students using the Web for surfing to
such pages as Beavis and Butthead have connectivity at home. I am about
to open a can of worms - perhaps these students should not be permitted
to see these sites at school since they already have access. I am aware
of the equality of use argument, but until there are enough hours in the
day with enough machines to allow educational (broad sense) research on
and use of the Web, we may have to be slighty unfair.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: nwillard@ordata.com (Nancy Willard)
IMHO it is very important for students to learn the difference between a
system that has a limited purpose, such as an educational system and a business
system, and a system that has a general purpose. The purpose of an educational
system is to support learning not to provide a playground for students.
The purpose of a business system is to be used for business reasons -- there
are many employers who would be delighted if they could get this message
across to their employees. We in the schools need to help by assisting students
in learning what behavior is appropriate for what places. This is not restricting
free speech and inquiry, it is teaching discernment and responsibility.
Some districts require that all use be for a specific educational purpose.
This goes to far to the other side, because we need to encourage students
to become lifelong learners and to follow their own interests.
I recommend a middle ground: Students are to use the school system for an
educational purpose, which is defined as for classroom activities, professional
or career development, and limited high quality self-discovery (alternatively,
personal research).
I think that students can clearly tell if they are just messing around or
if they are engaged in activities that are clearly related to education.
And if they can't tell, then this should give rise to the need for some
group discussion about how to tell the difference between activities that
are improving yourself and activities that are just messing around.
If you have started by giving kids too much freedom, you will likely have
difficulties pulling them back, but this should probably be done through
collaborative dialogue with the students. Better not to get to this point
and start with a more restrictive approach.
At least you did not describe the problem the way that one university director
of computer services did in an article that I read. He told the story of
what happened in a university lab where a woman student was working on a
research project and a guy came in and sat beside her and downlaoded some
offensive graphic porn. She objected, he got upset and accused her of trying
to censor her, she left and filed a complaint. The director stated, "What
we have hear is a conflict of rights. Her right to work in a nonharrassing
environment. His right to download whatever material he wants to."
One wonders!
------------------------------------------------------------
From: rssmith@tenet.edu (Russell Smith)
Jerry: research takes precedence over casual surfing. If a child has a legitimate
research request give the surfers 60 seconds to vacate the computer. No
arguments allowed. Period.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: MikeT81409
I think it should be approached as a matter of priorities. Our tech committee
is struggling with the same type of problem. We plan on establishing a "School
work" priority policy. Any student/teacher that has to do school work
will have a priority access to the technology. I think this gets away from
the censorship issue and re-establishes the library in teh minds of the
students as a real learning place.
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From: fschoute@MAIL.ISBE.STATE.IL.US (Fred Schouten)
We have not formalized these guidelines yet, but here is something to consider.
Library machines are, indeed, items to be shared. Any one person who monopolizes
the machines restricts the usefulness for others who may want to do research
for a subject.
How about considering a guideline that goes something like this:
If you want to do research for a class, display the assignment and your
topic to the Librarian. You will then be granted access to the browsing
machine. You must restrict your research to only that topic during your
use.
If you want to just "surf" to find the sites that match your hobby
or personal interest, join the Technology Club which meets after school
one (or more) times each week/month.
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From: dew@SOUND.NET (Deanna Weymuth)
My suggestion would be to use some type of stop watch and sign up sheet
for when the computers are busy. Possable with 2 sets of standards, one
for serious research adn the other for surfing. When there is a waiting
list surfers get 15 minutes and serious get 30 minutes. Or reserve the majority
of computers for serious research.
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From: SHESSLER_T@hccai.hcca.ohio.gov (Tom Shessler, Mariemont City Schools)
Our first Netscape access computers were added this year, too, and like
your experience, we find they are all used constantly. Prior to installation,
a district policy was adopted regarding the roles of teachers and librarians
in making assignments and the use of the resource. That policy requires
that teachers and the librarian meet prior to making a research assignment
to discuss prospective sites that might be of help to students, and/or how
searching techniques will be taught so that students can more effectively
use the vast resources on the Net. It was decided that the "scarce"
nature of the resource at this point could best be handled by treating it
as a resource which is on "reserve" for those who have a legitimate
assignment for a course (these are all turned in to the librarian, so she
has a list of what research is going on in what courses at any given time).
If a situation arises like the one you outlined, the students doing "reserve"
research are given priority on the machines. That way we are not actually
making a value judgement on the validity of any research, but we do establish
the policy that teachers can give "reserve" status to certain
forms of research directly related to class activities. So far this seems
to be working well and students have been supportive of this way of rationing
the resource. If the art teacher has students looking at cartoon sites to
study technique, etc, that's as legitimate a use as the government teacher
having students looking at election polling results. The key seems to be
the tie to the curriculum.
Our district does have a comprehensive 7-12 research scope and sequence
in place, which outlines specific assignments at each grade level which
build upon one another in developing student skills. We are presently starting
a process which will hopefully result in adding a "technology strand"
to this sequence so that teachers can work cooperatively to help build student
skills in using the resource for the educational goals outlined in the curriculum.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: lkirby@coredcs.com (Lynn Kirby)
I am not in a school library anymore (I left before computers were used
so much), but I do have an opinion anyway. It seems to me that there could
be a list of priorities that is followed. It could be part of a policy that
is made public.
#1 priority - research for a school assignment
#2 - learning to use the web (free searching, etc.)
#3 - recreational use
Another possibility would be to limit the amount of time a person could
use the computers for recreation--say, 10 minutes a day/week/whatever seems
sensible.
That way, kids who are doing recreational things would know that they could
be bumped by others who have "legitimate" uses of the computers,
even before they started. It would not be disallowing that sort of use,
but making it clear that the main purpose of the computers was for educational
purposes.
It would be interesting to me to hear what you decide in the long run. I
teach a course for teachers on using the Internet, and many of them will
have to wrestle with these types of questions, too.
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From: jkramer@SOLGATE.COM (Joe Kramer)
Jerry,
My school has the ussual acceptable use policy, however we also state that
anything that they view can be accessed. We also do not permit the use of
e-mail or newsgroups. Our Librarian uses netscape 1.? which keeps a log
of every page that is visited. By having our students checkout the internet
access, we have a built in method for monitoring. All of our students are
required to obtain a internet library card prior to access. This requires
a teacher sign-off, that states the student has obtained training regarding
appropriate use in addition to the parents release. The library maintains
a reservation list for teachers who wish to reserve a set nuber or all the
computers for a given hour for group reserach, otherwise a pass from the
teacher would be required for all times accept lunch and non-school hours.
We have not experienced the problems that you have described.
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From: dkarr@GENIE.ESU10.K12.NE.US (David Karr)
At our school we have your example covered in our computer lab policy. We
have set a series of priorities for use. A student with a "legitimate"
project would have priority over those "just surfing."
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From: sheadoj@nbed.nb.ca (Don Shea)
How about - so long as what is being researched is related to school, then
it's okay. Otherwise, looking up sites on D & D, Comics, etc., must
take second place to the real reason we urge children to surf the net.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: dmcgohan@OHS.CRSC.K12.AR.US (Don McGohan)
Jerry:
We definitely take steps to prohibit use of the type of sites you listed
in your posting (Beavis, etc.). We have a computer use policy which has
a general use statement prohibiting the accessing of sites that are not
educationally defensible. We also don't let students log on OR off without
the librarian's permission. In this way, the "history" function
(we use Netscape) can be used to see what areas the student has been utilizing.
This can and is done periodically and without notice to the students in
order to try to keep them honest.
The addition of Internet capability in our district was a sensitive issue
with some people in the community because of all the media attention to
the "smut" areas that can be accessed. We implemented these policies
to help prevent it. Now, I'm not saying that some illicit usage won't occur.
After all, creative students who try hard enough will probably find ways
to "beat the system". However, we have pretty stiff penalties
for those students who do get caught.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: Wabpro
1) I do believe the librarians have a responsibility to ensure a sense of
decency for materials in their library. Afterall, we don't pay our taxes
to see children be exposed to indecent materials in schools. The definition
of decency has been debated over and over. I do not believe that was the
focus of your e-mail.
2) If a child was looking through a book about whales for entertainment
in the library, would the librarian take it away because another child was
doing a report on whales? Or should the book be available on a first come
first served basis? Education comes in all forms - serious and not-so-serious.
Some great ideas come while playing! Some not so serious students may be
inspired while playing too!
Perhaps the library would consider a reservation schedule, so that both,
the serious researchers and the entertainment seekers, can both share the
resource. If no one has it scheduled, then it could be available on a first
come fist served basis.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: germannd@JUPITER.DSU.EDU (Dennis Germann)
Jerry,
It makes sense to prioritize the use of the Net just as one would prioritize
the usage of the library....if the library is full, decisions would be made
that would allow access first to those that needed to do research for classroom
assignments. Our staff discussed having a clearinghouse of assignments for
teachers in the library so the librarian could ask the student what the
research was for, then could check the list...teachers could use a building
email system to the librarian so it could be kept current quite easily.
One is not controlling by the content students are accessing but by the
priority of student need to accomplish teacher assignments.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: PShapiro
Jerry, I think it's fair to ask of students that if they're going to use
a web terminal at school that their use should be "school related."
I also think there's great benefit in allowing students with excellent attendance
records to earn the privilege of having web terminal time for "non
school related" browsing.
A good rule of thumb is that school based web terminals ought to be used
for school related research 80 percent of the time, or more.
Defining "school-related" is not quite so tough as it sounds.
The pages the students are viewing need to bear some relation to assignments
they're working on. If they're not working on an assignment related to Beavis
and Buthead, they need to surf on by to more content related pages. :-)
------------------------------------------------------------
From: Elizabeth_Moore@uow.edu.au (Elizabeth Moore)
Jerry,
Caught your posting on Kidsphere about computer terminal priorities in the
library. I subscribe to Kidsphere as a member of staff here at our hands-on
Science Centre in Wollongong so I do not have direct teaching experience.
However as a parent I would feel concern if I felt my son or daughter could
not gain computer access for legitimate research. Perhaps a compromise could
be reached if you designate one or two terminals as "fun bases"
and let the surfers cue up for a turn at cruising cyberspace.
The remaining terminals could be for the serious students with teachers
being able to strictly monitor what is being accessed without feeling they
are acting as unfair censors.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: nwillard@ordata.com (Nancy Willard)
IMHO it is very important for students to learn the difference between a
system that has a limited purpose, such as an educational system and a business
system, and a system that has a general purpose. The purpose of an educational
system is to support learning not to provide a playground for students.
The purpose of a business system is to be used for business reasons -- there
are many employers who would be delighted if they could get this message
across to their employees. We in the schools need to help by assisting students
in learning what behavior is appropriate for what places. This is not restricting
free speech and inquiry, it is teaching discernment and responsibility.
Some districts require that all use be for a specific educational purpose.
This goes to far to the other side, because we need to encourage students
to become lifelong learners and to follow their own interests.
I recommend a middle ground: Students are to use the school system for an
educational purpose, which is defined as for classroom activities, professional
or career development, and limited high quality self-discovery (alternatively,
personal research).
I think that students can clearly tell if they are just messing around or
if they are engaged in activities that are clearly related to education.
And if they can't tell, then this should give rise to the need for some
group discussion about how to tell the difference between activities that
are improving yourself and activities that are just messing around.
If you have started by giving kids too much freedom, you will likely have
difficulties pulling them back, but this should probably be done through
collaborative dialogue with the students. Better not to get to this point
and start with a more restrictive approach.
At least you did not describe the problem the way that one university director
of computer services did in an article that I read. He told the story of
what happened in a university lab where a woman student was working on a
research project and a guy came in and sat beside her and downlaoded some
offensive graphic porn. She objected, he got upset and accused her of trying
to censor her, she left and filed a complaint. The director stated, "What
we have hear is a conflict of rights. Her right to work in a nonharrassing
environment. His right to download whatever material he wants to."
One wonders!
------------------------------------------------------------
From: bwells@dexter.k12.mi.us (Bill Wells)
Just as media centers limit students' options on borrowing reference materials,
limits are appropropriate (even necessary) on setting a priority for web
use for research. Browsing, like reading comics or photo-mags, has its place
and is often the starting point for mastery of other skills, but it should
not be allowed to interfere with research, especially that which is related
to a specific class or assignment. A clear policy which specifies priorities
for access, allowing students to "bump" browsers for research
is helpful in reducing potential conflict.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: bwells@dexter.k12.mi.us (Bill Wells)
Just as media centers limit students' options on borrowing reference materials,
limits are appropropriate (even necessary) on setting a priority for web
use for research. Browsing, like reading comics or photo-mags, has its place
and is often the starting point for mastery of other skills, but it should
not be allowed to interfere with research, especially that which is related
to a specific class or assignment. A clear policy which specifies priorities
for access, allowing students to "bump" browsers for research
is helpful in reducing potential conflict.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: MMALCOLM@mtabe.k12.vt.us (MELISSA MALCOLM)
Jerry: Netscape is available in our lab (right off the library) and I must
admit that I do get involved in assessing what's okay and what's not based
on the fact that "educational" is part of the package. The obvious
"www.love.com" is easy; Beavis and Butthead ain't. So there are
certain times of the day for "surfin'" and at other times serious
work is the name of the game. Basically, fooling around is allowed before
school and for about 45 minutes right after school. During the school day
and for that other hour (3:30-4:30) only research is allowed. It saves some
of the aggravation of making those judgement calls that the kids think are
arbitrary and unfair. In reading some of your postings, I see that you have
the same problems with student "helpers" doing a number on your
machines. I sympathize, and wish I had a real solution. Let me know what
people have come up with to help you. melissa
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From: dkarr@genie.esu10.k12.ne.us (David Karr)
Jerry--
If it is in the media center, the director, or her assistant will take care
of the "kicking off." In the computer lab, it will be the teacher
supervising the lab that period. Very seldom is that necessary, however,
because all the students are aware of the rule and know that if they don't
give up their "frivolous" activity when asked by a "legitimate"
user, they could lose their computer privileges.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: fboyd@trms.k12.fulton.ga.net (Frances Boyd)
We don't allow our students to "surf" the Net. Perhaps we are
overly protective on this point but it just seems too easy for middle school
students to get themselves in trouble. We are in the process of drawing
up some new guidelines which will probably be posted on our Homepage, but
in short we ask teachers to ask our Systems Operator to link useful sites
to the TRMS homepage or teachers go in and make their own bookmarks to use
with a specifice lesson.
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From: GRANTN@TEN-NASH.TEN.K12.TN.US (Nancy S. Grant)
Jerry,
We too, have an AUP, but in addition to that, we require a log of the time,
reason, and exact web address of anyone using Netscape. So far this has
kept down almost all of the not so "wholesome" surfing. Hope this
helps.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: teachtec@calweb.com (J Herz)
Jerry -
Our site has an AUP that contains statements regarding the use of the web
for "Instructional Purposes" only. If the students were doing
a report on the certain social values and were using Bevis and Butthead
for research and were documenting what they found on that site, then that
would be acceptable. If they were not, the librarian or staff member would
have every right to kick them off of the web even if no one was waiting
to use it.
Curiousity and convenience are two items that do not work well together,
especially for middle school students. We as educators and as parents need
to set up guidelines for use of the web at school (home is another matter).
Its intent is to serve as a research tool. It is only an extension of the
computer itself. Most students do not have to do much surfing to find the
web sites they find entertaining. The addresses to these sites are pretty
well known. They are not using the search engines and learning how better
to narrow a search down when they have the URL given to them by a friend
or it is stuck in as a bookmark. I would also suggest a program like SurfWatch
that can be customized to block sites you choose.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: nwillard@ordata.com (Nancy Willard)
Hi Jerry. I am sending this to you not to the list. I have this little standard
that I follow: 3 messages on a heated subject, then I quit or I just end
up repeating myself. The folks who have heard what I was trying to say have
gotten the message. The other folks I will not convince.
I did have a suggestion. My ideas stem from some research that I have been
doing in character education. I am trying to set up a program to do research
on Internet ethics and how to assist students in gaining the self-discipline
and personal responsibility to behave in an appropriate manner on the Internet.
It seems to me that the situation you have described is one where not enough
control was applied at the beginning and, now having seen the results of
the current standards, you recognize the need for some kind of change. If
the kids in your school and anything like the kids that I know, they will
scream bloody murder if the adults in the situation just come in and change
the rules. My suggestion is to engage the students in the development of
some new standards for use of the limited resource in the library. Establish
a student task force to evaluate the problem (interview students, research
the issues) and propose a solution that will work. If the students create
the rules, they will be much more likely to accept the rules.
You might want to contact whoever in your district is working on issues
related to character education for some help in setting this up. There is
a group in California called the Character Development Project that has
a program that is based on student participation in the development of rules
for classes/schools. If you are interested, there is also a very low traffic
maillist where some of the foremost researchers in this area talk (sometimes).
We could possibly pose the issue to them for some input -- no guarantees
on the response.
Since I want to do more work in this area, I would be very interested in
following your issue.
On another topic, I have put together an outline for the development of
some booklets that would assist in explaining AUP rules to students (another
issue raised by studies on moral development -- you can't just tell kids
the rules, you have to explain "why"). Would you be willing to
review it? I would really appreciate your feedback.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: Wabpro@aol.com
One day I was speaking to our school librarian. I was wondering what educational
value was gained by Goosebumps. We have a lot of these books. So do many
public schools. The response: these books may encourage some of the kids
to learn to read better. Perhaps "Beavis-type" Internet sites
can encourage some students to learn more about computers and how to use
technology. Would we take a library book away from a child because we thought
they were not learning anything? How do we know?
Some students may learn to navigate the Web quicker by looking for Beavis.
Others by looking for whales. Others by trying to research cancer. The lesson
is the same. Both accomplished the learning objective of learning to navigate
the Web.
After-all, a boy named Albert didn't do well in school. He was bored with
the way teachers presented material and the way he was expected to learn.
Yet, he became known as a genius to the world. He once said that "imagination
is more important than knowledge." What we might learn from this is
that a well respected genius rightfully believed that being able to imagine
something can give you the power to learn and succeed.
If we believe ourselves to be educators, can we not channel the "Beavis-browsing"
into other learning lessons? Once we see the child go to the Beavis page
for the 9th time in a week, can we not ask the child what other cartoon
characters they like? Teach them how to find those sites too! Or, ask them
how do you think "they" made the Beavis cartoon? Ask them how
to figure it out using the net? Thereby turning the suspected playing into
a learning experience. Perhaps what is missing is a little attention to
the whole child.
I believe that the job of the educator is to teach how to learn; not to
teach values. "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach
him how to fish and you feed him for a life time." Values are the job
of parents, church and community. If our schools focus too much on values,
then what happens to the 3 R's? Should students be able to do what-ever
they want, without regard to values and morals? Certainly not!
Some reasonable middle ground needs to be reached. Everything the Net has
to offer should not be readily available by a "third grader."
There are several pieces of software that will restrict questionable web
site access. This software is a must for schools. But as such software is
implemented, we must take care to restrict sites (and other media) based
upon a sound criteria and not based upon an individual's personal likes
and dislikes. You may like Clinton, I may like Dole. Who should have access
to the computer? Have all of our schools established usage criteria? Is
the criteria documented? Is is applied equally to all school media?
If we do not have documented criteria, how can we expect to consistantly
enforce rules about the computer usage....If I can articulate my learning
objective better than another student, I win! Or, if the teacher/librarian
likes my use of the computer better than another child's, then I win again!
What that teaches is popularity with the teacher wins rather than learning.
Our criteria should not be subjective.
Just as portfolio assessment teaches, consistent criteria (rubrics) for
grading gives the teacher AND student a better idea of what is expected.
What rubric are we applying to Beavis? What rubric are we applying to use
of the library? Maybe the child is learning to navigate the Net. Is browsing
the library for an interesting or entertaining book against the rules? Is
browsing the Net for an interesting or entertaining site against the rules?
Before kicking a child off a computer because we think another child's activity
is more important, we should ask ourselves "has our school adopted
criteria regarding acceptable use - criteria that can be consistently applied
to books, the classroom and Net sites?" Perhaps the student looking
at the Beavis Web Site should not be the one to be disciplined. By telling
them "IF YOU CAN NOT USE THAT THING TO MY STANDARDS THEN GET OFF THE
COMPUTER AND LET A REAL STUDENT USE IT." That's a good lesson in self
esteem for the child.
By the way, I don't like Beavis or Goosebumps. When a child, struggling
to read, picks up a Goosebumps book and trys to read it, are they learning
to read better? When I see a child who is a poor learner, become excited
about learning how to use the computer by surfing to the latest Beavis page,
is some learning is taking place? Who knows what type of learning is taking
place? What criteria are we placing on the library, Net and Books?
Play to some is work for others. And work for some is play to others. Learning
can be fun. We learn faster if it is fun. Learning can take place during
play. Let's focus on developing our criteria/rubrics, then we might be ready
to talk about kicking kids off of the computer.
------------------------------------------------------------
From: jleong@muse.sfusd.k12.ca.us (joan leong)
I had similiar problems until I told the kids that only school related Internet
use is allowed. Since we only have 6 computers in the library, availability
is limited to 900 students. Otherwise they go to the computer lab which
is also very crowed with students doing school assignments. I also have
a CD Rom tower with encyclopedias, Where in the world is Carmen San Diego
and Oregon Trail. The latter two are edutainment for those who need to relax
a little. My main struggle is literacy, getting students to read! Hope my
suggestion is helpful. Joanie Leong
------------------------------------------------------------
From: welchb@merck.utulsa.edu (Wesley Welch)
i am a school librarian for three elementary schools in tulsa, oklahoma.
the internet connection in the library is for research or projects only.
the library is a place of study and research etc and beavis does not constitute
study or research. i would have no problem telling the students that their
recreational time is up and to move on.
however, our students are not allowed on the web without a teacher present.
the library is not opened before school. tulsa runs the library like a classroom.
the class may come one time a week for book check-out and only the third,
fourth and fifth can come on the one day a week that i am there in their
school for library skill lessons of thirty minutes each class.
only teachers have internet accounts. only two of my schools have internet
access. the third would but the principal order a computer without a modem.
i believe in my heart of hearts he did this on purpose. none of my schools
are automated.
------------------------------------------------------------
Similar to using a CD-ROM, the net will allow students to download and print
full text items such as reports. Students can then edit the documents and
turn them in as their own. In our district we have taken the printers out
of our media centers so that students need to take notes from CDs and from
internet resources. We feel we have to force them to use research and note-taking
skills in this way.
------------------------------------------------------------
>Please discuss why do you or do not allow printing from Netscape.
Two main reasons.
1) The first is that pages can be annoyingly long and graphics heavy pages
chew up cartridges at an apalling rate. You can turn graphics off in Netscape
if you wish but our students, at least, are clever enough to turn them back
on. Anyway, turning graphics off is (in my estimation) dumb. It's a called
a "graphic" web-browser for a reason. Our library was the first
place on campus to allow fairly unlimited access to Netscape (somewhat controlled
by At Ease screens and passwords) and they started going through several
reams of paper _a day_. NO matter how many rules they posted, nor how much
they attempted to turn their librarians into cops, students just went ahead
and turned graphics on and printed anyway. So, we need a better solution.
2) If you want to read printed material, get a book. Our printers are primarily
intended to produce student work. If a student wants to use Netscape generated
material, fine. We love them to save such text to a disk and then incorporate
it (proper citations, of course ;-)) into their work; and we train them
to do this. But we don't want to pay for what is, essentially, recreating
what is already there, but this time on our paper. Also, we don't want to
end up (and there is some question of the legality of) charging user fees
to protect our budgets.
So, we need to control Netscape printing...
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From: nwillard@ordata.com (Nancy Willard)
Which means that there is a group of girls that haven't even made it through
the front door. My friend, Tom Layton (Cyberschool), was the computer lab
coordinator at our district's largest high school before he began focusing
on Cyberschool. I discussed your concern with thim and his first reaction
was that unless you control the activities to those that have an educational
purpose (also including personal research, but not including playing around),
the effect was to create an environment that was a disincentive for female
students to feel comfortable enough to try the technology.
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From: "Lenore E. Walker" <lwalker@pen.k12.va.us>
In kindergarten, our math manipulatives have a 9-18 week period of "free
exploration" so that the kids can get the "playing" out of
their system and get on with the learning. Its also a time to independently
discover concepts.
I think this would would work with Netscape, also. I have found some very
interesting - and very educational - things just surfing without any purpose
in mind. I have also wasted a lot of time going to boring sites. I think
allowing surfing on afterschool hours is important. Teachers don't expect
kids to go to the library to do research when it hasn't been assigned. Students
will discover likes and dislikes just as they do when checking out library
books.
However, I do think that during instructional time surfing is off limits.
Assigning activities using the web is good way for them to learn how fully
realize its scope. If we think of the internet as a worldwide encyclopedia,
we would use it for teaching, of course, but we would also be thrilled if
kids just browsed (on their own time)! No one wants students exposed to
unacceptable material - whether the content is "adult" rated -
or they're checking out CNN for basketball scores when they should be checking
out historic Jamestown!
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