Topic Proposal
Deciding a topic has been a lengthy process for me. I have finally decided on Use of technology and decentralization of network security in public schools. Considering I spend most of my time in a school, and I face these problems on a day to day basis, it seems logical to write about them. The major problems teachers face in public schools are: Lack of proper technology, lack of training on said technology, strict network security , centralization of technology that makes it impossible for teachers to access what they need. Teacher’s have always been at the back end of the emerging technologies. Depending on the school district, some classrooms have great technology, some have mediocre technology, and some have none at all. The problem lies after the classrooms receive technology. I teach a Multimedia Communications course, and we study all different types of media and how to create messages across platforms. I have 5 decent Macintosh computers in my classroom, as well as an LCD projector, video and photography cameras, and various microphones, and card readers. I cannot access anything of value, or anything that is different, from the web. The network security is so strict, Google Images is blocked. It’s ridiculous. I can see if school districts wanted to block YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, which they all do, but Google Images? It would be different if teacher’s were allowed access to certain sites so that we can find new and creative things to show our students, but the security is district wide. Nobody has access. We did a unit on network neutrality, which the students had never heard of before, and in order to find videos and web clips and information, I had to save all of it the night before on my laptop. Many teachers, and a lot of students, find proxies to get around the network security, mostly so they can check their various social networking sites. I, of course have no such program directly installed on my home laptop, which is what I use at school. Definitely not. Let’s go back to the technology. I am very lucky to have what I have in my classroom, and keep it guarded and under lock and key at all times. Many teachers still have overhead projectors, or have to share them with an entire dept. History lessons can benefit from technology too! We have several SmartBoards in our school, but ask how many teachers are trained on them? They hang on the wall as decorated white boards. If teachers were trained in how to use the limited amounts of technology in their rooms, then we would have more successful lessons. The bottom line is having, learning, and using the tools in order to give students differentiated and valuable real-life lessons.
I would appreciate any suggestions and comments to improve my topic! Thanks, Maria.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 13:23 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
June 11th, 2010 at 10:44
Maria,
I have many friends that are teachers and share the same frustrations as you. I remember when I was in elementary school and there was one computer (with Oregon Trail on it) for the whole class and overhead projectors! The sophisticated machinery back then was the one that laminated our projects . It sure has come a long way and with the internet expanding at a rapid pace, there are many security issues. I found this article online that might help you out:
http://www.fno.org/mar98/flotilla.html
I don’t know if you can tie in cyberbullying into this but I also did a final presentation on that for ICM 501 and gathered a lot of material for network security or young students.
You can also incorporate a short how to reference guide for teachers so that they are educated in using the equipment for students.
This sounds like a very interesting topic and can’t wait to see what you find!
June 12th, 2010 at 13:08
You made me think of something I never actually knew was a problem: the tight network security in schools. I can understand why schools do it–Google Images can be dangerous–but it sounds like something needs to change.
How do you plan to write about the decentralization of network security? Will you write about why you believe it should be decentralized? Is there a point where the educational benefit outweighs the safety risk? It sounds like it might be helpful to get quotes from other teachers and staff talking about technology and their inability to use it because of lack of skill or network restrictions.
I’m looking forward to your writings. It sounds like I’m about to learn a lot.