School Internet and technology policies are outdated and limiting

on December 30, 2009 at 5:58 AM

The classroom as most adults know it no longer exists. Blackboards have been replaced with SMART Boards, which allow the teacher to open a portal to the Internet and allow the students to participate in interactive practices.

Books, paper assignments and other simple staples of classroom life also are rapidly being traded in for new tools of the trade for an increasingly tech-savvy generation.

While this great technological shift is occurring, there is still “cultural lag” about these changes. Parents and teachers remain cautious about trusting students with these new tools.

online learn.JPGA first grade teacher at Commonwealth Connections Academy, a cyber charter school in Lower Paxton Twp., makes use of interactive devices during her morning online lessons.

Cultural lag is a concept defined by Encarta as “a slower rate of change in one part of a culture or one society compared with another.” It is most easily observable today in the realm of technology.

We need to address the cultural lag of trust between students and teachers. Much as notes were passed in days past, current administrations are having difficulty regulating text messaging and e-mail use in schools.

Texting is not the only issue, however, as the broader problem is to figure out how technology can be used in a scholarly setting.

How can we create a more open and less regulated yet safe environment for students?

On a daily basis, trust issues arise in schools concerning acceptable Internet use. Most schools employ a filter such as Websense to allow students to access the Internet without risking accidental or deliberate exposure to inappropriate content.

Much debate has arisen between students and staff concerning how much filtering is too much.

Because Websense is not a person, it can only search and block sites that fall under the set definition of “inappropriate” in its code. This leaves freely hosted Web sites, political blogs and technical forums (say those on computer coding or debates on particle physics) tossed into the same category as computer games, viruses and Internet pornography.

While this broad blanket is created to prevent unregulated contact with persons outside the school, a side effect is that many opportunities for learning are smothered in the process.

I believe the solution is to alter the current knee-jerk decision of the “no-tolerance policy” by creating a teacher-powered override to allow students to use technology in a more dynamic and freely expanding way.

If a teacher, as opposed to a computer, is allowed to decide whether a Web site is “appropriate,” then students can access up-to-date information in forms not usually available in an institutional setting.

For instance, if a student can ask permission to send a text after class to a sick student to let them know about missed assignments, not only can learning occur, but trust can be built between students as well as between the teacher and the class.

Technology could be described cynically as a double-edged sword, but to do so is unfair.

A better evaluation would be to view technology as a tool in the educational system. While it requires maturity to use and a deft hand to manage properly, its place in the high school setting, which is rapidly becoming a place of higher learning, is entirely necessary in the 21st century.

nlacroce.JPGNick Lacroce

In an age where human rights are so important and prominent, is it acceptable to let a computer program, with values of true and false, be charged with the guidance of our next generation of thinkers throughout their school careers?

Is there any reason that a teacher, who learns the ins and outs of modern communication, would be unable to perform this task in a more efficient manner?

As we approach a new decade, school administrators, teachers and parents need to move beyond the cultural lag and mistrust issues.

There is a middle ground between “zero tolerance” policies and unlimited access. Successful schools will find it.

Nick Lacroce is a Patriot-News Davenport fellow and a student at Susquenita High School.