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1. Technology "staff" are not the same as technology directors. Technology directors are educators, not technicians. Many of us wear both hats as well as several others. "Imposing" myself on the educational process is part of the job. To state otherwise indicates a misunderstanding of the role of technology directors. I suggest reading Frazier and Baily's (2004) Technology Coordinators Handbook as a place to start. http://www.amazon.com/Technology-Coordinators-Handbook-Max-Frazier/dp/1564842118/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270221265&sr=8-1 2. The arguement is not about students learning. The issue is teachers planning and knowing what it is they are introduce into class. 3. Time to unblock on my part is minimal. The process is to login in to the server, check the reason for the block, and do a cursory review of the site. That is it. I do not go beyond that, the assumption is that the teacher is doing his or her job. The request really is a check to give them pause as to whether or not they have reviewed site. ================ Miles Fidelman <mfidelman@meetinghouse.net> wrote... > From: Larry Sanger <sanger-lists@citizendium.org> > > Jim Beal <bealj@somonauk.net> wrote: >> 1. I am responsible, I will control it. Most won't like this answer, >> but that is the way it is. > When you say "it," I assume you mean "use of the Internet in classrooms by > teachers." > > How bewildering, yet refreshingly honest. (Finally, somebody who gives a > straightforward answer.) You're saying (I gather) that you must take > responsibility for any problems that arise as a result of lax filters. I find I have a different reaction. The more times I read this statement, the more times I'm struck with the incredible arrogance of it. Students are in school to learn. Teachers are there to teach (or perhaps, depending on one's educational philosophy, to facilitate learning). A few more people are there to make explicit decisions as to what gets taught/learned (e.g., curriculum developers). Everybody else - including technology directors, librarians, etc. are there to support students and teachers. For technology staff to impose themselves in the process is simply inappropriate. In libraries, censorship is not part of a librarian's job description. In the corporate world, IT staff have no business telling other staff how to do their work or what to put into their reports and presentations. The role of support staff is to provide resources, advice, training, and otherwise support others in doing their work. As Nancy Willard asked: "Exactly what is your job? ..... how is it that the younger teachers in your district do not have enough non-tech wisdom to use technology properly and that experienced teachers are insufficiently tech savvy to execute a simple log in and password?" I'll ask the follow-on question: if teachers aren't prepared to use the Internet appropriately, in support of their front-line teaching responsibilities, how is it that you have time available to handle requests to unblock access to resources on a case-by-case basis? The reality is that students have plenty of access to "objectionable" materials (for whatever your personal definition of objectionable might be) - this is a world of laptops and iPhones with unfettered Internet access. If kids can't access something in school, they'll access it somewhere else. If a teacher accesses porn in the classroom, the word will spread throughout the building within minutes - and it's likely the teacher will be fired (as has happened to at least one teacher who accessed porn purely by accident - unfortunately I can't remember the case reference offhand, but I'm sure others here do). About the only thing that filters, and cumbersome unblocking processes, can do is get in the way of legitimate use of the Internet during teachable moments. Like Larry wrote, a few messages back: "It all reminds me of Mordac, the Preventer of Information Services." (This may date me a bit, but in earlier days, I dealt with more than a few IT directors who felt it was their job to prevent engineers and managers from using PCs and spreadsheets. After all, it was just not safe for people to use anything but carefully controlled, centralized, mainframe computers. Who cared if it got in the way of people actually doing their jobs or delivering products/services to customers?) Now, like then, the terms "job security" and "Napolean Complex" also come to mind. Miles Fidelman -- In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In<fnord> practice, there is. .... Yogi Berra --- Edtech Archives, posting guidelines and other information are at: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb Please include your name, email address, and school or professional affiliation in each posting. To unsubscribe send the following command to: LISTSERV@H-NET.MSU.EDU SIGNOFF EDTECH
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