U.S. News
July 25, 2011 at 10:22 AM
NEW CANAAN, Conn., July 25 (UPI) -- School districts' Internet filters, intended to keep out violence and pornography, are blocking valuable educational sites, some U.S. teachers say.
Some schools and libraries across the country are planning a Banned Sites Day this fall to highlight the issue, organizer Michelle Luhtala, a librarian at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, tells USA today.
"Teaching with social media shows students how to responsibly use those platforms," she said. "Blocking access in schools denies kids the chance to practice sharing their knowledge with the real world in a supervised setting."
She compared the filters to banning books.
Karen Cator, the U.S. Department of Education's director of educational technology, said many districts use "brute force" that ends up blocking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Images, Flickr, Skype and National Geographic.
In June, the New York City system blocked Google Images for "objectionable content" but later gave individual schools the option to permit it.
"The Internet is not going away," Cator said.
July 25, 2011 at 10:22 AM
NEW CANAAN, Conn., July 25 (UPI) -- School districts' Internet filters, intended to keep out violence and pornography, are blocking valuable educational sites, some U.S. teachers say.
Some schools and libraries across the country are planning a Banned Sites Day this fall to highlight the issue, organizer Michelle Luhtala, a librarian at New Canaan High School in Connecticut, tells USA today.
"Teaching with social media shows students how to responsibly use those platforms," she said. "Blocking access in schools denies kids the chance to practice sharing their knowledge with the real world in a supervised setting."
She compared the filters to banning books.
Karen Cator, the U.S. Department of Education's director of educational technology, said many districts use "brute force" that ends up blocking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Images, Flickr, Skype and National Geographic.
In June, the New York City system blocked Google Images for "objectionable content" but later gave individual schools the option to permit it.
"The Internet is not going away," Cator said.
Nenhum comentário:
Postar um comentário