Ed Tech Weekly #10 - News from around the edutechosphere

EdTechWeekly#10
December 3, 2006
Internet messaging, edublog awards, northern voice and much more
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JenM	JL are you REALLY there?
dave	doug are you back?
DS	yes, back in Victoria
DS	sounds good on stream
JenM	Hello, doug!
DS	Hey Jen, and all
JenM	JL is really not here.
dave	https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk=...
dave	this is my skypecast
dave	any takers?
dave	http://www.jivesoftware.org/wildfire/
JenM	http://pedersondesigns.com/2006/11/30/delicious-guide-for-educators-part...
jschinker	yes! Thank you :-)
DS	http://2007.northernvoice.ca/
jschinker	The edtechtalk delicious tag list is getting long, so it's kind of hard to find the links after the fact now.
dave	http://incsub.org/awards/
JenM	http://www.online-educa.com/?a=0 http://tchlrn.ties.k12.mn.us/ties2006/main/details.asp
JenniferW	yes, I have voted
dave	yo jdub
JenniferW	lol -- yup
DS	http://www.darcynorman.net/2006/12/02/eduglu-reloaded
dave	http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Nov_06/article01.htm
JenniferW	International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning
Chris Craft	Wow - Trilingual
JenniferW	copy paste works great :)
dave	http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/index.php?p=342
JenM	http://del.icio.us/edtechtalk for:edtechtalk
JenM	http://www.masternewmedia.org/new_media/new_media_tools/best_new_media_t...
JenniferW	what is SMS??
JenniferW	disregard I googled it
dave	http://www.ectoprep.com/ecto2/Default.aspx
Chris Craft	but i don't think google talk has a mac version, although it does do jabber, so it can function in ichat, just fyi
JenniferW	skype 3 is pretty cool
Chris Craft	simple message service i think
JenM	http://www.lifehacker.com/software/google-spreadsheets/google-updates-go...
JenniferW	yes -- thanks to both
dave	http://www.click-a-teacher.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id...
JenniferW	wow -- click a teacher looks intriguing
JenniferW	firefox crashes one time per day at least
Chris Craft	Performancing - crucial plugin for Flock - much better than the built-in blogging function - search extensions for performancing
JenM	http://technosavvy.org/?p=451
dave	http://www.guardian.co.uk/aids/story/0,,1961008,00.html
Chris Craft	have you all spoken about edbloggercon 2007?
dave	anyone wanna talk
dave	nope
dave	you wanna?
Chris Craft	then i have a good one
Chris Craft	please
dave	lol
Chris Craft	http://edubloggercon.googlepages.com
Chris Craft	http://edubloggercon.wikispaces.com
JenniferW	wow chris -- they have been working hard on the look of the page in the last 3 days
JenniferW	yup
JenniferW	can I post a link too???
dave	of course
JenniferW	cool --
dave	you got audio?
JenniferW	I am listening stream -- should I join skype??
Chris Craft	http://www.google.com/support/bin/static.py?page=alpha_index.html
JenniferW	sorry -- forgot about the delay
JenniferW	coming
JenniferW	http://www.lps.k12.co.us/schools/arapahoe/warriorportal/2020vision.wmv
JenniferW	ther's the link - sorry I can't get into skype
Chris Craft	that's a great presentation
cathy e	Jen- I watched that...awesome
JenniferW	it is great
JenniferW	and LOL -- I am calling in
JenniferW	sighs -- skype 3 is being weird
Chris Craft	any discussion of psiphon?
JenniferW	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psiphon
jschinker	Where else did I hear about this?
jschinker	I was wondering how they handle NAT traversal.
jschinker	We're China in the schools
jschinker	With the COPA regs and stuff, we actually have to keep our students from doing this.
JenniferW	I like that Wiki pedia is current
JenniferW	instantaneous sometimes
JenniferW	truly????
jschinker	If kids could install it at home, and then use it at school, they could easily bypass the school Internet filters.
Chris Craft	that is absolutely true
jschinker	The need for port forwarding would make it much harder for them, though.
Chris Craft	and with dynamic ip addresses, it would be virtually impossible to block
JenniferW	I just got a site about bypassing myspace -- have you seen that one???
JenniferW	meaning using myspace at school
Chris Craft	well port forwarding is only requisite on the home router
JenniferW	though the school blocks it
jschinker	I haven't seen it.
Chris Craft	the school user only types in https://home.router.ip.add:443 and then logs in
JenniferW	http://schoolboredom.com/
jschinker	We filter 443, though.
Chris Craft	it is selectable
Chris Craft	so i can choose any port i like
Chris Craft	including port 80
JenniferW	wow -- Chris -- you are talking a whole different language for me right now!! :)
Chris Craft	that's ok, this is the language our kids speak
jschinker	I understand what he's talking about. I still think it would be difficult for the kids.
JenniferW	I need to learn that language
Chris Craft	and i feel so behind
Chris Craft	i don't think it would be tough
Chris Craft	www.portforward.com i thinkl
Chris Craft	gives you details of how to forward the ports on just about any router
jschinker	My recent approach to filtering has kind of changed this, though
Chris Craft	have you looked at dansguardian
Chris Craft	there is no stopping kids when they want around filters
jschinker	We're approaching filtering from the perspective that it's supposed to prevent students from accidentally accessing inappropriate filtering.
Chris Craft	have you heard of the translation hack to get around them?
jschinker	As Chris points out, we're not going to win the arms race
jschinker	Students who want to get around it will -- that's where personal responsibility and supervision come into play
jschinker	Great, Dave. Is your blog blocked in the schools now?
Chris Craft	absolutely, and if there is a quality relationship in the first place
JenniferW	NOOOOOOO
jschinker	I tell the kids that if they can't get around the filter, they're not really trying.
jschinker	It's only really good at blocking the adults.
Chris Craft	that is absolutely true
jschinker	No ed tech talk?
jschinker	I was going to actually listen this week :-)
jschinker	By the way, you were talking about safe driving two weeks ago.
jschinker	The best way to get someone to drive off the road while listening is to mention their name when they're not expecting it.
jschinker	:-)
jschinker	Teaching kids respsonsibility is important, but it's not always practical.
JenniferW	this is SOOOOOO cool
JenniferW	I have some filter stories :)
jschinker	Dave -- where's your blog url? I'll check to see if it's blocked.
jschinker	US law requires filtering in schools if the schools get federal e-rate funding.
dave	http://davecormier.com/edblog
cheryloakes	hi, filters are my bane
JenniferW	HI CHERYL
cheryloakes	Hi Jen
cheryloakes	Hello all
DS	Hey Cheryl, good to see you
jschinker	my name's John, btw
dave	hi john
JenniferW	JOhn -- I have a comment about that
JenniferW	you have to have filtering LOADED --
JenniferW	we never read that it had to be running
JenniferW	so I had the filter loaded on the systems
JenniferW	but I never turned it on
JenniferW	and let the student's be the filter
jschinker	We don't even do it in-house. but your point is taken
JenniferW	and only 1 time -- did I have it broken
JenniferW	and it was a day I was on vacation
jschinker	We hijack port 80, redirect it to the proxy, and it gets filtered.
cheryloakes	control can't lead to productivity, not in my house.
jschinker	Port 80 is blocked, so they can't go out without being filtered.
JenniferW	I also was in ONE School campus
jschinker	We're into an interesting debate in my district about overriding the filter.
jschinker	It's accepted that the filter is always there. But what if sites are "incorrectly" categorized?
jschinker	This year, we're just starting a process to have sites reviewed and reclassified locally, overriding the global settings.
cathy e	In my district a lot of the filtering comes down to bandwidth. They filter things like downloading music so others have enough bandwidth.
JenM	really? bandwidth is the reason?
Chris Craft	for some, yes, the bandwidth is the reason
jschinker	Makes sense -- Bittorrent can take down a network
cheryloakes	same at my schools, bandwidth
jschinker	Dave: in my district, your blog is blocked.
jschinker	But it's classified as a "personal page".
jschinker	That means it's probably blocked because your whole host is blocked, not necessarily because of the individual content of the page.
jschinker	In our override procedure, all staff members can request unblocks.
jschinker	But the committee that makes the decision is made up of the media specialists + a couple administrators
cathy e	My teacher can get around most blocks with their network login and password
jschinker	Filter changes apply to everyone though, and are more or less permanent
sbrokvam	In my school, the filtering software only allows for two admins, both of whom are technical staff, not educators. Although they will take their cue from the program leaders and principals, it kills the immediacy and puts teachers off.
Chris Craft	i agree with cathy, there should be a thawte-esque trusted access network
cheryloakes	you were messing withthem!
jschinker	Dave, you're right. We should deal with this when it comes up.
cathy e	I agree- but parents have a fit
jschinker	But doing it on purpose would upset a lot of people.
jschinker	Filtering solutions are never perfect -- those opportunities are still going to come up.
cheryloakes	a teacher at my school was confronted by a parent when the kids observed a slain deer on the Plymouth Plantation website. HM.
cathy e	Principals don't like angry parents -
JenniferW	yes, cathe e -- that is what I was thinking
jschinker	And we should probably teach the kids how to use the Internet outside of school too
JenM	where are the recent baby pictures? :)
cheryloakes	We, in schools, have the kiddos for 6 hours a day, parents have them the rest, but we need to have parent training.
JenniferW	jschninker -- that is EXACTLY what I taught my students -- that THEY will the filter
JenniferW	regardless where they are
jschinker	They have to be the filter. We have to teach personal responsibility
jschinker	I'm really uncomfortable with "protecting" people from information
jschinker	At the same time, we have to have filtering.
JenniferW	Grins -- sometimes I need filtering lessons too :)
jschinker	So I don't feel so bad that they can get around the filter when needed.
jschinker	But I'd prefer that that comment not be mentioned on the audio :-)
cheryloakes	Me too John, I think they are clever.
cathy e	I think cause of parents
jschinker	Yep -- we're liable for what we let kids access at school
Chris Craft	so then who is liable for what they access without our permission?
jschinker	And there's federal law that says we have to do it; I don't think it's even debated much anymore
cheryloakes	There is some law, COPA for under age 13, we have to comply with.
JenniferW	that the filter be loaded though
JenniferW	does it say it has to be running?? I never saw that
jschinker	I think we debated before it was a legal issue.
jschinker	We had a better chance of winning the argument then,
LeeAnn	The blocking in our case is to preveent chat and internet email
jschinker	but now it's a moot point.
dave	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_Online_Protection_Act
LeeAnn	cyberbullying
cheryloakes	thanks dave for copa
sbrokvam	From the principals point of view, in schools where kids have free periods and access to labs during free periods, there's more of a chance of them accidentally or otherwise accessing inappropriate content. With a multi-religion, multi-cultural parent/student body, our director just doesn't want to take any chanches.
LeeAnn	and physical fighting
sharonp	what is the skype address for the talk tonight??
LeeAnn	comes from it
JenniferW	sharon -- I found it through skypecasts through google
LeeAnn	little ability to track the conversations
sharonp	okdy doke
DS	https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk=...
LeeAnn	but ...then the bullying now takes place at home and the fights still exist from it
LeeAnn	in school
jschinker	Written in 1997 by polititians?
jschinker	We just move everything in-house
jschinker	We use Moodle -- kids can communicate with each other within the system
jschinker	But they can't get out.
dave	it has an rss feed
dave	:)
jschinker	It does diminish the ability to connect to other schools, but it does allow us to use the technology.
jschinker	The rss feeds are (mostly) disabled on our system.
sharonp	great accent - or attempt - Dave
sharonp	wanna hear your Maritime accent
jschinker	We did do a project with a school from England last year.
jschinker	We just created accounts for the other school.
jschinker	Wow -- I'm noticing the delay now.
sharonp	am dying here - what an accent! lol
sharonp	the true dirty south..?
sharonp	the filter seems particularly high (to me) in the southwest
jschinker	I'm in Ohio -- newly repainted blue (thank God)
sbrokvam	Do any of your schools allow access to only selected domains, e.g. edublogs but not MySpace, etc., academically related forums, but not gaming ones?
jschinker	But my community is very conservative
jschinker	sbrokvam: I don't know. It's possible that we could be
JenniferW	I am in California -- and though it is Blue -- I tend to be Red (conservative big time)
jschinker	We use Secure Computing's SmartFilter. But we can override sites based on local policy
JenniferW	sbrokvam -- blanket filters is what I see
JenniferW	but that is just me -- and my experience
sharonp	I work in a private school - which will unblock what I ask, but seems to block anything collaborative initially
JenniferW	and word filters -- and topics
sbrokvam	Ah, we've been thinking about switching filtering software - something with room for more filtering admins, so we can respond more quickly to requests to unblock
jschinker	sharon: well put, and consistent with my experience
jschinker	Why is the IT person the gatekeeper who decides what is and is not appropriate?
JenniferW	Sharon - can YOU unblock??
sharonp	we need a switch in filtering software too
JenniferW	or do they UNBLOCK?
sharonp	not personally
dave	ETT is going to fly solo for a few minutes... must go serve child
dave	keep talking!
sharonp	I have to sweettalk the techies in charge
sharonp	which I do so well
JenniferW	so -- what is the timeframe of gettig things unblocked
sharonp	5 min to half an hour
JenniferW	ahhh okay
sharonp	we had Town Hall meetings with the students this past week
jschinker	hacking ?= problem solving??
sharonp	number one issue - THE WEB FILTER
LeeAnn	they have helped me out by giving me an outside ip address to use for times I want to be unblocked
sharonp	(and my own son was the chief leader in that)
LeeAnn	i log in do whatever and log out and log back into our regular proxy
sharonp	my school blocked Firefox use for the first time this past week
Chris Craft	blocked the website to download the program?
jschinker	groan I can see that, b/c FF is harder to lock down
sharonp	I was initially quite frustrated - but then in a mere two hours, a colleague told me a workaround
sharonp	blocked ANY FF use
sbrokvam	Is anyone allowing translators, e.g. babelfish? I don't know if the kids know they can use it to bypass filters, but our network admin thought better safe than sorry. Not particularly good for beginning language students anyway
sharonp	not just the download
dave	the teachers aren't suing the admins
dave	the parents are
sbrokvam	sharonp: Could people use the portable FF? On the thumb drive?
sharonp	what?? no filters Dave while we were gone??
jschinker	I do think this is much less of a problem than we're making it. I really don't get many complaints from the teachers or the students.
sharonp	nope - no thumb drive for FF
sharonp	the workaround = changing the name of the FF exe file
Chris Craft	so the portable apps version doesn't work?
sbrokvam	our teachers often hesitate to plan web tasks as they expect stuff to be blocked
Chris Craft	or of course you can download the source and compile it as bonecho
sharonp	nope - they blocked anything initiated by the FF exe
jschinker	Our teachers do their planning at school for web projects, so they know what's blocked.
sbrokvam	we have different filter settings for teachers and students
sbrokvam	teachers can check out resources and then request to have them unblocked
jschinker	Are you filtering by user or by machine?
sharonp	so, my students were way ahead of me and had ALREADY changed all the FF exe files on the lab computers to - get this - internet explore.exe (I had such a GOOD laugh at that)
jschinker	That seems unweildy
jschinker	john
sbrokvam	by group - i think it uses active directory
sharonp	sbrokvam - isn't that just too time-consuming to have to anticipate the students' web site usage??
sbrokvam	yes it is - we're working within the confines of directives from above
jschinker	It's complicated. But I can see how it could be done.
jschinker	In the user profile, direct them to different proxies.
jschinker	Caching may be an issue, though.
sharonp	I changed my FF exe name to Firfox
sbrokvam	Do most schools allow access to YouTube?
jschinker	no
Chris Craft	we sure don't
JenniferW	most don't
Chris Craft	dansguardian
Chris Craft	www.dansguardian.org
jschinker	It needs to be the media specialists
JenniferW	cybersitter
sbrokvam	I read a lot about the potential educational value of YouTube
jschinker	They're our information professionals
Chris Craft	we don't use it in my district, but i have looked at it personally
JenniferW	I am muted BIG TIME
JenniferW	howling
Chris Craft	http://208.65.153.251
JenniferW	cybersitter worked well for us
cathy e	I'm glad my IT person is in charge of the blocks and unblocks- if I had to wait for requests to be processed it would be forever.
Chris Craft	that is www.youtube.com
Chris Craft	see if that works, just to see if it's blocked by url or actually via dns
jschinker	Here are our guidelines: http://www.bbhcsd.org/tech/filter/filter_criteria.php
cathy e	We use lightspeed
JenniferW	wowowow
jschinker	Ours are all blocked by URL -- if the kids to dns lookups, they can just use the IPs and get to just about anything
jschinker	Who are they? Scary, isn't it?
JenniferW	You have just opened my eyes
JenniferW	I didn't think of DNS/IPS
jschinker	We had a case where there was a site about a teacher that a student had on Angelfire
jschinker	Mine -- John
jschinker	Brecksville-Broadview Hts. City Schools in Ohio
jschinker	The case was made that there are situations where we might be teaching kids about things that are illegal.
jschinker	So something that is illegal isn't necessarily automatically blocked.
sharonp	Listen - for a while everything in "uncategorized" by web blocker was being blocked - just a minute - that means just about EVERYTHING!! And it was like that!
Chris Craft	sorry guys, have to run, my 6 month old baby is getting fussy!
sharonp	drove me nuts
Chris Craft	thanks for a GREAT discussion!!
jschinker	Look at the policy at the top
sharonp	I love to rant about this
jschinker	We have to live within the policy
DS	John, is my site blocked? http://samlab.com
sharonp	what I think is that it is incumbent upon we educators to teach our students how to be responsible users fo the Internet - how do we do that if EVERYTHING is blocked! My students are insulted by the lack of trust
sbrokvam	The policies are from web 1.0
sharonp	good point about web 1.0 - no opportunity for collaborative shared spaces - they would be filtered by this every time
jschinker	It's open, but there aren't any links to it -- or there weren't
JenniferW	jschniker -- do you have an AUP??
Matt_Cronin	What's the middle ground between strict filtering and a wide open web?
JenniferW	or was that the AUP??
jschinker	Yes hold on
JenniferW	and JOHN -- are you in the skypechat too??
sharonp	My students point out that they can go home at night and look at whatever they want
jschinker	I'm not in skype -- no microphone
sharonp	so there they are - in the classroom WANTING to use the Internet and they give up - and wait to go home and do the work - this has happened to me too often
dave	wrapping up soon...
jschinker	They can't interact with people, and that takes a lot away from the usefulness of the web. But it's not that they can't do anything....
sbrokvam	At the moment, it becomes a sport to bypass the filters, with some kids actually spending less time on what they're supposed to do than they would if they weren't restricted.
JenniferW	we must be getting close to our time limit at skypechat
jschinker	AUP: http://www.bbhcsd.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=46&Itemi...
jschinker	I have to say that this makes much more sense when I'm interacting live instead of listening in my car a week later
jschinker	I may have to blog about it again.
JenniferW	john -- thanks for being brave to show your links
jschinker	:-) But what have we resolved?
JenniferW	not much -- but we have created some great thoughts & ideas
jschinker	Have we broken any new ground? I know the discussion was great.
JenniferW	we should have a PART 2 of this
JenniferW	so far -- we are plowing over already plowed ground
sharonp	you know, I am embarrassed to share this (somewhat) but there was a time when my OWN son was charging money from his peers to get around tthe filter (I stopped this as soon as I found out)
JenniferW	but sometimes you have to do it again
jschinker	That was a victory -- the lawyers wanted us to get an opt-IN for each student every year
jschinker	So -- who has a positive AUP?
jschinker	Joyce! Good to see you're still around
joycevalenza	hi
cathy e	Is mike and educator
jschinker	And Cheryl, I like the work you've done with Bob. You've been a big help to me
joycevalenza	we are in a period of transition
dave	HI JOYCE!!!
joycevalenza	hey, dave!
sharonp	good point
sharonp	I think we need to revist this
jschinker	Joyce: I sent your future of libraries podcast on ed tech talk to all of my media people.
joycevalenza	thanks! maybe we need to create new models for 21st century
joycevalenza	a wiki project?
JenniferW	LOL
JenniferW	always a wiki possibility
jschinker	I don't think wikis will work w/teachers
jschinker	I know -- that's a whole other conversation
dave	there you go with the wikis
joycevalenza	:-)
dave	:)
jschinker	Thanks, Dave. This is really fun
jschinker	Was he selling unfiltered access to the adults, too?
jschinker	grin
sbrokvam	Did he [u]show[/u] them how to do it, or get them in without showing how, i.e. perserving his market?
jschinker	Thank you.
dave	cheers
cathy e	bye
cheryloakes	I was reading the paper John. thanks for your kind comments.
cheryloakes	bye
dave	bye all
DS	thanks all-that was a lot of fun
JenniferW	sharon and I are still skyping if you wish to join in -- let me know
sbrokvam	Sorry, has the show started yet, because I can't open any of the files...
jschinker	is there another show?
sroseman	wonders if there is a show
jschinker	ed tech weekly and ed tech talk are over
jschinker	is there another show?
sroseman	I guessed I missed it all
sbrokvam	Oh, it says EdTech Talk#73 is on now
sroseman	That it does
sbrokvam	whereas the weekly was on an hour ago - i thought they were back to back
sbrokvam	Oh, well - nothing for it then - back to work :)
jschinker	I had the times wrong initially.
sroseman	me too
jschinker	I was thinking 8 and 9 local (EST), but it was 7 and 8
sroseman	so
sroseman	that's it missed the great show
sbrokvam	So it was ETT, not ETW that was just on, with the discussion on filtering, etc?
jschinker	Right
jschinker	ETW was before that.
jschinker	It was pretty short
sbrokvam	Ah, well - the podcasts are good as well. Are they normally on at the same time?
jschinker	ETT wasn't supposed to happen, but there was a good discussion going, so Dave decided to do one
jschinker	This is the first time I've actually participated in real time
sroseman	and the topic was
sbrokvam	filtering
jschinker	Usually I just listen to the podcasts
sbrokvam	I can't really say I usually do anything - just discovered this last week
sroseman	back to work
sbrokvam	bye
jschinker	:-) I'm off, too.

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