"Thank you Shawn for your insights. My EdD research (2018) around professional development of college teachers in rural locations (in Ontario, Canada) indicated that agency and institutional support were key factors in active professional…"
Straight from the DOE: Dispelling Myths About Blocked Sites
http://mindshift.kqed.org/2011/04/straight-from-the-doe-facts-about...
I am working toward "right to read"; the right for teachers and adults in our building to have unfettered access to all sites.
We need to be completely fluent with social media if want to guide students into 21st Century digital literacies.
Our school's heavy handed filtering software, Websense, is not configured in a sophisticated way which would allow more access to information.
If whole categories of information are blocked (we currently block weapons and violence) how can the students possibly use the web for historical research. They get blocked at every turn. I am totally dismayed that our IT department sets the filters without librarian input. We are working to improve that. The IT department is also looking into acquiring a better software program. It doesn't seem right that because of the Columbine incident 12 years ago, and the 9/11 terror attacks that our students are suddenly blocked from a whole array of information. I think that we as librarians need to have full in the filtering process.
We have a full process to deal with banned books. Why not have a full vetting process to deal with banned websites?
Judy Gressel
New Trier HIgh School librarian
