The implementation of Internet filters has pros and cons. Some of the pros include:
preventing students from accessing potentially harmful information while at school, decrease distractions (e.g., FaceBook, Twitter, online games), and preventing students from taking part in inappropriate behaviour during school hours (e.g., cyber bullying).
Some of the possible cons include: they may not work well and inappropriate content will still be available, they may work too well and block educational resources, they may create a sense of false security, they may violate civil liberties (Mackenzie, 1996).
My experiences with internet filters have not necessarily been good ones. I have found that they often block sites which are in fact educational. They also make it so teachers cannot plan student web use any where else other than at home because they do not know what sites will be blocked. I had this happen to my in my PSI. I created an awesome sky science Webquest over the weekend at my house, then went to school on Monday and my students got half way through and began running into trouble with the links. They could not access many of the educational links I had chosen because of strict Internet filter!
I believe that if school computer labs are set up in a way in that all students face the front and the teacher's desk is at the back (therefore can see all the computer screens) then we do not necessarily need Internet filters. Of course they will open pages they shouldn't and then hide them when they think you are looking but students do this anyways! Furthermore, when I was researching this topic,there were multiple websites that came up teaching individuals how to bypass school Internet filters.
This document discloses the categories the CBE blocks on all junior and senior high school computers. The categories are very broad and it is easy to see how this type of filter may block useful information.
As teachers I think it is important we teach ethical and digital citizenship. Along with this we must teach our students responsible use of school computers. It should be very clear what types of websites are appropriate to access at school and what are not. Furthermore, we should promote self and peer monitoring, encouraging students to self-check one another. This of course would be something that would need to be modelled and practiced; however, I believe that if we are patient and consistent with our expectations we could easily use school computers with not Internet filters with no issues!
Significant comments:
https://sites.google.com/site/davidmansbridges/vi-online-journal/journalentry8webawarenessii
http://jenseducationportfolio.weebly.com/3/post/2013/07/topic-8-web-awareness-i.html#comments
References:
Calgary Board of Education. (n.d.). Web awareness in the Calgary board if education. Retrieved from,
http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b275/pdf%20files/parents-letter-level-two.pdf
The Free Dictionary. (2013). Awareness. Retrieved from, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/awareness