This chapter covered a topic that is near and dear to the hearts of school librarians. In a perfect world we would have no filters on computer systems so students would have access to all the wonderful tools and toys and information available on the net. However, in the perfect world none of these online tools would be abused either--not by the students or the segment of the world preying on the students.
Until I read this chapter, I was not aware that districts receiving various federal funding were subject to the CIPA requirements. I think I will be a bit more patient with the filtering of the net now that I am aware of that. I have always understood the reasoning for filters but when helping students do research on some topics it is really frustrating to see official sites that would have the best information for them blocked. My tendency has been to blame the shortsightedness of the District administration, but now I know that the impetus comes from higher up than the District.
I hope we can come up with some method of letting students do some of the social networking on school computers. There are a lot of projects that this would enhance. I also realize that their are a lot of bad people out there that we like to protect our students from. However, most of these kids are on these sites at home and many on their cell phones, so they view us as so antiquated at school when they can't use any of the sites and tools there. Surely there has to be a happy medium. I think districts are going to have to do something, because it is getting harder and harder to justify the inability for students to use something like Flickr or Twitter in school.
The copyright issue is huge and one I deal with on a daily basis. Kids really do think that because "it" is on the net that it is available for downloading or copying. They also view information as true because it is on the net. What copyright means and what things are legal to use or download and what are not are tough topics to get students to believe and comply with when they research. Equally important is the ability to evaluate websites for pertinence and expertise of opinion. These topics need to be dealt with as regulary as reading and math, beginning in the elementary grades.
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Marit, you make valid points about copyright issues and the need to help students evaluate information, especially as found online. I believe that a media literacy course needs to be included, as you say, "like reading and math".
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the chapter as it validates what I've been telling kids, that we must follow CIPA, like it or not. There are in-school social networking that can happen through web-based programs like Moodle, where educators can help guide students and have a measure of control over where kids go. Thanks, Laurie