District Administration - June 2006 - (Page 88)

SAFETY & SECURITY pr iate poster hanging in their room. v i r uses and spyware, which is a royal Fischer adds. It's better to answer Fischer can track the Web sites headache for the IT department. their questions about blogs, such as, via each computer, via a username, And curious high school boys may does anyone really see my picture on but several million entries are logged go to sites that are inappropriate or chat forums? Can anyone get more every few days. It's usually another non-educational, Fischer says, but information on me if I post on these issue that draws attention to a specific that is discussed. We talk about it social networking sites? Fischer warns student surfing the Web inappropri- regularly and if an issue comes up we them Just don't put stuff out there. ately, such as a student not getting deal with it like any other discipline A nd Scrivano agrees, saying that his work done. I'm not going to win issue, Fischer explains. We look at it if districts get too restrictive on what that fight of securing Web sites, kind of the same way as an inappro- students can see on the Internet, it will only turn off tech-savvy students. Your best security is a good teacher and a good lesson plan, so students will be too busy and too involved to start looking for trouble sites, he says. Better Sophistication But such blocking software is more sophisticated now as well, Heinrichs adds, in that it can be as restrictive or open as districts want. And if a teacher or student or staff person wants a certain Web site to be acces- sible, and it's blocked, the IT admin- istrator can override the block and open it for a few hours or a few weeks, or it can open the site to just teachers or students in science lab or library. Scriva no says blocked sites on his end can be opened within 10 minutes. Cope says requests to open sites are followed by the team members looking at them and considering the request. For example, a math site might be totally kosher, but because it includes a message board and forum, it is closed under the category of e-mail and message boards. That site would be opened for the educa- t iona l purpose, Cope says. But Cope adds that some students might have an issue with a blocked site and whether it's harmful or not, it's not educational. What is instructional and a diversion, he asks. One thing to understand is that you can have the best filtering system in the world and be accurate 99.9 percent of the time but it has to balance with the policy and instruction that goes with that. DA Angela Pascopella is senior features editor. 88 June 2006 District Administration security.w.indd 88 5/15/06 4:16:46 PM http://www.vantagelearning.com http://www.vantagelearning.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - June 2006

Contents
Editor's Letter
Update
Inside the Law
Curriculum Update
Administrator Profile
District Profile
Graduation Woes
The Hidden Downside of Wireless Networking
Cover Story: John Q. Porter: Leader/Pioneer/Secret Shopper
8th Grade Algebra: Finding a Formula for Success
Building a Strong Community Partnership
Join the A/V Club
Big Brother Gets Bolder
Security Trends
The Online Edge
Speaking Out
Problem/Solution
Research Corner
Research Corner
Computer Literature
New Products
By the Numbers

District Administration - June 2006