I am so over all of the sites I want to use at school being blocked by the DET server. Anyone else go into a violent fit of rage when they see this page pop up?
The thing I most regularly want to access at school is YouTube – there are so many excellent clips that can be used in all aspects of the curriculum. The DET block on Blogger also means that all of my school blogs have to be made through WordPress or Edublogs (OK, no real complaint there!), but it also means that I can’t access OTHER blogs that are made with Blogger. Wikispaces is also blocked – I assumed that it wouldn’t be, because it is affiliated with Edublogs, and spent a whole weekend one time making a wiki on Wikispaces, only to find out on Monday that is was blocked… grmph.
Teachers who keep even a half decent eye on their kids should be able to see if they are up to no good. And kids know how to get around these blocks anyway by going through alternate sites! Please DET, UNBLOCK OUR INTERNET!
Kelli McGraw 
#1 by darcymoore on July 2, 2008 - 4:45 pm
Yep; I keep thinking about Gilmore’s Law, idiocy and paranoia in no particular order. ‘Powering-down’!
#2 by Forth on July 3, 2008 - 4:06 am
My own anger-post (When your school’s technology becomes sentient) seems to have been auto-generated at the bottom of your post. I’ve worked in schools that went across the spectrum on this.
My previous school was essentially wide-open. The idea being that it isn’t about banning the content, it is about teaching students what is and is not an appropriate use of time.
Of course, the school I presently work at would disagree with that completely. They are still stuck in the PROTECT THE CHILDREN FROM THE INTERNET phase. Yeah, Facebook is a waste of time but by telling them they can’t go on the site, it’s a forbidden fruit and they are unable to make the choice themselves of whether this is the best use of their time.
~Forth
#3 by kellimcgraw on July 9, 2008 - 9:56 pm
That is so true – students ALWAYS want to use whatever you have banned! The thing that really gets me angry is that so many sites are blocked to teachers, not just students. Such a lack of trust, and respect for our professionalism!