Now That We've Got It, What's Left?

Now you've got your network, your school has gotten grants and fund-raised, the web-server is up and running and your technology classroom is fully functional. Is there anything else you need to think about? You bet there is: appropriate use. The Internet is a powerful tool, but must be used carefully. Here we list our best resources for helping you keep students away from inappropriate materials and staying up-to-date on other issues of student browsing and publishing.

• What about appropriate use and keeping children away from inappropriate materials?
• Vendors' products
• Net.policing
• Parents' Strategies
• What about other issues, such as student publishing?
• Has anyone else produced anything similar to this?
• Where does it all go from here?

What about appropriate use? How do I keep children from accessing inappropriate material on the Internet?

This is an issue of great concern for many schools and parents. While one recent study has shown that inappropriate material (i.e., pornography) is in fact a tiny fraction of the data commonly being transferrred across the 'net, the fact that it's there at all is cause for concern when exposing children to everything out there. Do you know that a study released in last November of 1995 reports that there are more Internet sites dedicated to religion than to erotica? While this is true, there is still a chance that our students might wander across something that would be deemed inappropriate (even for adults!).

Of course, the most effective way to prevent this or to handle such a situation will be if the parent/teacher is actively participating in the child's exploration of the Internet. Rather than using the Internet as a way to just to keep students "occupied", an adult should be available to sit down with them and take part in their exploration, discussing what they find when they surf together, making sure that the 'net is a learning experience overall. Sometimes, however, we know an adult won't be able to be right there the entire time; here are a couple of ways to find peace of mind when that is true.

Vendor's Products

• CyberPatrol
• Cybersitter from Solid Oak Inc.
• InterGO KinderGuard
• NetNanny
• NetShepherd
• Specs for Kids
• Surfwatch

Net.Policing

• Technical Mechanisms for Controlling Access in the On-Line Environment is a report by the Australian Broadcast Authority, Commonwealth of Australia.
• PICS is the Platform for Internet Content Selection, an infrastructure for associating labels with Internet content. It was originally designed to help parents and teachers control what children access on the Internet, but it also facilitates other uses for labels, including code signing, privacy, and intellectual property rights management.
• PICS Adds New Dimension to Web is an article on PICS, including links to a wealth of resources about the organization and a list of more vendors' products.

Parents' Strategies

• The Internet Parental Control FAQ offers workable solutions to controlling minors' access to the Internet from the perspective that only a mutually agreeable resolution, supported both by concerned parents and free speech advocates, will ever succeed.

What about other issues of appropriate use, such as student publishing?

Another topic of concern is that of how students express themselves via the Internet. Should they have their names on their web pages? Their pictures? What should they be allowed to say through a school-sponsored account? Should there be any control on what they can say in the first place? Issues of First Amendment rights come into play heavily in these matters. The following document is a good information resource on legal rights/responsibilities of schools, educators and students.

• First Amendment Rights and the Internet in K-12 Schools: Legal Precedent from Print Media, by Russell I. Rothstein.

Has anyone else produced anything similar to this?

• Connecting to the Future, "A Guide for Building a Network Infrastructure in Schools"
• K-12 on the Internet: How Wired is K-12? is a list of resources for helping schools find out what's available to them on the Internet, and educational resources they can find there.
• Setting Up a WebSite for Your School North Hagerstown High School shares the processes it went through to discover the web, how to use it, and how to start publishing on it--an extensive resource full of handy information!
• A School's Guide to Getting On-Line, sponsored by NASA, provides lots of useful information, including an economic model and reasons why you need a dedicated Internet connection.

Where does it all go from here?

• "Wired Village" is a description of a cooperative effort in Blacksburg, VA, USA, between state, corporate and local entities for the benefit of everyone.
• The Virtual High School Project is an attempt at, you got it, high school over the web. Who needs technology classrooms when there aren't classrooms to begin with?