Sharon+and+Daneille

=Sharon and Danielle= Sharon Blue Danielle Green

How should the districts handle decisions about the blocking/filtering of websites; specifically those in the social media category, blogs, wikis, resource sharing? If schools districts are going to use various internet tools in the classroom, administration has an obligation to provide safety and protection for the students. Blogs, wikis and resource sharing are wonderful tools that ideally would be made available to all students in all districts. If districts are going to commit to using the internet in the classroom, administrators will need to make funding a priority. Once the commitment is made to use these tools then all parties involved need to come together and have input as to what degree of filtering /blocking will be put in place. This will mean bringing together administrators, parents, teachers and students to review options and offer recommendations for the final decision. The link below is only one of many software companies out there that provide blocking and filtering software to schools.

I guess this would depend upon what kind of policy that school district has. Also how flexible and cost effective it is to monitor various websites. It could get frustrating as well, if the blockers are placed on all computers in the district. Who decides what to block and not to block. I believe these resources are great tools and should be allowed to be shared. Everyone in education can benefit from such resources as long as everyone has some input. I believe all too often teachers are left out when making decisions that effect learning. Teachers and maybe even parents need to be consulted because they have a vested interest in education. Yes, administrators do too, but how many actually step back into the classroom every now and then to see what a typical classroom might look like?

media type="youtube" key="l13MtWH4oa4" height="156" width="256" If schools look around there are many tools to help with blocking and filtering web content.

Check out this information from the FCC about the Children's Internet Protection Act:

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A funny picture from Flickr. The accomplishment of social media in the classroom. "I finally figured it out. Yes!"