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Web 2.0
By definition, Web 2.0 technologies are collaborative and social. They encourage discussion and sharing. All of these things make them well-suited to an active, rather than passive, learning environment. But while the use of Web 2.0 technologies in schools can enhance learning and help students develop essential 21st-century skills, concerns about safety, security, bandwidth, and more prevent many schools from utilizing these resources.
Lightspeed is committed to helping schools balance learning and safety in a Web 2.0 environment. Peruse the following resources and leave your comments. Or add your Web 2.0 issue or idea to the right.
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Comments (9)
Apr 20, 2009
Anonymous says:
However, even though Lightspped Systems claims to find balance and safety they i...However, even though Lightspped Systems claims to find balance and safety they instead shut off almost all outside connection to the web. Instead of an internet it creates an intranet. In my experience the school no longer contains any hint of outside resources and far from anything reaching Web 2.0, despite how dated it is becoming.
Multiple sites are blocked for ludicrous reasons, such as forums on Wikipedia. By that logic alone your own wiki should be blocked. If you truly were balanced you would carefully consider sites, instead of branding them based on simple <META> tags alone. The majority of my research content is now null because of blocking software.
Apr 20, 2009
Joel Heinrichs says:
Indeed, Lightspeed Systems Internet filtering tools allow local school boards an...Indeed, Lightspeed Systems Internet filtering tools allow local school boards and administrators to set policies for student and staff web access that is in compliance with both CIPA (federal Child Internet Protection Act) and local standards. Legal regulations and local policies determine what is made accessible and what is inaccessible.
In addition to blocking various categories of content, our Total Traffic Control software can be configured to allow individuals or groups to over-ride any inappropiate "over-blocking". However, it is a local administrative decision as to whether it is proper to enable this functionality.
Legitimate concerns centered around the safety and privacy of students often drive policymakers to block the dynamic content surrounding Web 2.0 technology (e.g., blogs, wikis, podcasts, video, etc.). Along with those policymakers, though, Lightspeed Systems understands the value of Web 2.0 for teaching and learning.
Which is why Lightspeed developed a way to make safely accessible teacher-submitted YouTube videos --the most commonly asked for Web 2.0 tool--through our Educational Video Library. Further, Lightspeed is working with IT directors throughout the country to find more ways we can balance learning and safety. We hope you'll stay tuned.
Joel Heinrichs
CEO - Lightspeed
Sep 16, 2009
Jared Hainline says:
Joel, very very true. It is up to the local organizations how they use Lightspe...Joel, very very true. It is up to the local organizations how they use Lightspeed because they do have ultimate control. We have taken a different approach to filter. As an IT admin, I do not filter content. I maintain the technology that is used to filter content to protect people and the network. It is the educational administrators that makes the decision to block or unblock content and decide what and what is not appropriate... including web 2.0.
I simply just wait for their decisions to be made. There are several web 2.0 technologies that have been opened for faculty but remain closed for students, by the decision of the educational administrators. Some debates have gone all the way up to the school board, like youtube and social networking.
EVL is just a tool to deliver content. I have looked at it and see that is has great promise, but until decisions are made on the education side, there is little that I as an IT admin can do. Once their decision is made, I can present the differnet technological options that are available to meet their decided needs.
Apr 29, 2009
Anonymous says:
We have implemented the Educational Video Library and it is working very well. T...We have implemented the Educational Video Library and it is working very well.
Teachers can submit videos from home. We opened up the port to allow home access.
An email is generated to me so I can check and unblock almost immediately.
I also am proactive and add videos that I know will be of use such as presidential speeches, training videos, etc.
If interested in our directions here is a link:
Paula Yohe Dillon Two
Apr 29, 2009
Toby Bradley says:
We have a state-wide debate (Mississippi) happening right now ... tech vs teache...We have a state-wide debate (Mississippi) happening right now ... tech vs teachers.
Of course, WEB2.0 is the focus, and the "spark" that started it all was a keynote speech at
our state computing conference by Will (Mr. Facebook) Richardson, and this "expert" got all
the teachers running down the wrong path .. that Technology Types are blocking the TECHNOLOGY
and TOOLS that teachers should be using.
The key to winning the "argument" is to get everyone to understand that Web 2.0 is a technology,
and content filters ... Lightspeed, Checkpoint, Clark Connect, and others ... do NOT by default
block technology/technologies. Nor do we block "tools". We block content.
The code and programs that run Myspace is the technology. The individual pages on Myspace are CONTENT...
Photoshop, Gimp, etc are tools ... the products of these programs is CONTENT ...
One thing that might help Lightspeed in this ongoing battle, is for them to access the collective mind,
and work on a "safe web2.0" category that by default allows sites that work under the constraints of a
K-12 setting. Edublog, Diigo, etc. Present it to the user base in the same manner that the EVL is presented.
Apr 30, 2009
Anonymous says:
We have implemented the Educational Video Library, and it's working great. We ha...We have implemented the Educational Video Library, and it's working great. We have a few requests for improvement.
Can you add more categories?
Can we make changes to the Category, Tags, and Notes after the video has been added to our library?
Can we get a list of all the videos in our library so we can see what we have?
Thanks!
Apr 30, 2009
Anonymous says:
More categories for sure. Music, Sports, Government, and current events come to ...More categories for sure. Music, Sports, Government, and current events come to mind. Editing after
submission would be very helpful.
May 05, 2009
Carson McMillan says:
The current implementation of the Educational Video Library, was made with the s...The current implementation of the Educational Video Library, was made with the small set of categories with the intention of further defining the videos with tags. We found that most people have requested the ability to add custom categories, but for future products and backward compatibility, we are pushing users to use tags. However, in a soon to be released Educational Video Library v2, users will have the ability to edit submitted videos and change and add tags.
Hopefully this will alleviate current problems now, as we further develop the next generation of content sharing for schools. Stay tuned for good things to come!
Jul 15, 2009
Anonymous says:
I am a student at a high school that uses Lightspeed for the district network. A...I am a student at a high school that uses Lightspeed for the district network. About halfway through this last year, my school decided to block Wikipedia, a website that almost every research project done in the school used as a source, but then we later found that Wikipedia was blocked not because some consider it unreliable or because of the built-in communications, but because of the "restricted images." Is there any way that Lightspeed can filter out just the "restricted images" and the articles that are sexually explicit, without blocking the entire site?
With every student at my high school having a school issued laptop (about 400 people), I know there will be major bandwidth strains if students can freely access the internet, but in my eyes my district has gone too far. Basically, with the exception of google.com and my school's home page, if more than 15-20 people even know of a website's existance, it is blocked. This leaves me and my peers to have to spend long periods of time going through google results to find information we need from websites we've never heard of and then having to hope the information is valid.