Learning & Leading Through Technology

It’s our job to step in to help, guide, and even protect our students. So let’s spend some time thinking about, planning for, and teaching them how to use the internet effectively. Let’s be educational institutions and teachers who teach. Let’s help our students make good choices. Let’s put the tools in their hands and send them out into the hallway to practice using them the right way so they are prepared when they go out into the world.

—Jason Bretzmann teaches at Muskego High School in Wisconsin. He also presents and consults nationally, created the Bretzmann Group, and co-authored Flipping 2.0—Practical Strategies for Flipping Your Class. Connect with him on Twitter @jbretzmann or at www.bretzmanngroup.com.

site that teachers feel is appropriate and useful in the classroom.

Internet filters protect minors from inappropriate content, allow schools to become or remain eligible for much-needed E-Rate funding, and provide a sense of security to parents and community stakeholders. Schools that comply with CIPA as part of their E-Rate eligibility should already be teaching digital citizenship and allowing their students to access social media and gaming sites that have viable educational uses.

—Michele Garabedian Stork, EdD, is an assistant professor of educational technology in the College of Education at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida. She previously spent 10 years as a K– 12 administrator focusing on technology.

Here’s what other ISTE members had to say about this topic.

Participate in our reader poll at iste.org/LL.

Protect Them from Themselves

Responsibility for children too young to foresee the repercussions of their actions lies with us. Teachers, principals, parents, and school friends should not be powerless, threatened, or demoralised by the inability to retract, prevent, or curtail inappropriate behaviour that enters the world via classroom technology.

Rosemary Sutherland Computing/Mathematics Teacher West Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia

Narrow Pipes

One reason for filtering is bandwidth control due to the lack of unlimited funding for large pipes to internet resources that can overwhelm a district.

Until we have unlimited funds, we probably won’t have unlimited access.

Joy Rousseau Technology Integration Specialist/IT Director Arp, Texas

Look at the Research

I have been anti-filtering for most of my 10-year career. However, a 2012 article by Wood et al. ( goo.gl/OnwqkN) changed my mind on this topic, as their research showed that even under research conditions, students were unable to exercise social media self-control.

Lindsey Own Upper Division Science and Health Teacher Shoreline, Washington

End the Prohibition

It’s like the prohibition era. They still found a way to drink. For some students, the only place they can get access to the internet is at school, and we are doing them an injustice by blocking everything that would be helpful to their education.

Jerry Pittman Technology Facilitator/Basketball Coach Salisbury, North Carolina

Don’t Hand Over the Keys Just Yet

Technological entities as powerful and as dangerous as the internet must be regulated. Think about the automobile.

You wouldn’t hand a 13-year-old the keys to your car because they might hurt someone. Yet many students use social media sites in ways that hurt themselves and others academically or emotionally.

Mimi Garcia Eighth Grade English and History Teacher New York, New York

Don’t Block What You Don’t Have To

Schools are not required to block sites for social networking, literature and arts, or controversial issues like genocide, gun laws, or lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgen-der (LGBT) advocacy. But many worthwhile resources are blocked without any clear or compelling rationale.

Michael Mills Assistant Professor Little Rock, Arkansas

Give Up Control

This is a great example of the potential tragedy when we fear the unknown and fruitlessly worry about being in absolute control. We are sacrificing access to the most powerful teaching and learning tools of all time because we’re worried about students being distracted or seeing inappropriate content.

David Hochheiser Curriculum and Operations Supervision Newburyport, Massachusetts

False Sense of Security

When filters are in place, teachers and parents are less likely to teach internet safety because they rely too heavily on the filters.

Lisa Champion Third Grade Teacher Huntsville, Alabama

To participate in the next Point/Counterpoint discussion, look for the Manager’s Choice discussion question on ISTE’s LinkedIn group at iste.org/counterpoint.