Comments on: DOPA might not kill all DSN education in schools http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/07/27/dopa-might-not-kill-all-dsn-education-in-schools/ Sun, 23 Nov 2008 12:59:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Wesley Fryer http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/07/27/dopa-might-not-kill-all-dsn-education-in-schools/#comment-8116 Wesley Fryer Sun, 30 Jul 2006 00:52:17 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=1202#comment-8116 The eRate connection to DOPA is certainly something I should be on top of, since I'll be involved in attending and giving at least 10 different workshops across the state of Oklahoma on eRate in August and September. I'll be following this closely. I agree that this will have a chilling effect, and the move is in the wrong direction, but I also agree that schools have other options like running Moodle. And that may be a GREAT outcome of this conversation, if we can get more teachers and students extending their traditional school day conversations into the rest of the day and night via <a href="http://www.moodle.org" rel="nofollow">Moodle</a>. The eRate connection to DOPA is certainly something I should be on top of, since I’ll be involved in attending and giving at least 10 different workshops across the state of Oklahoma on eRate in August and September. I’ll be following this closely. I agree that this will have a chilling effect, and the move is in the wrong direction, but I also agree that schools have other options like running Moodle. And that may be a GREAT outcome of this conversation, if we can get more teachers and students extending their traditional school day conversations into the rest of the day and night via Moodle.

]]> By: Christopher Harris http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/07/27/dopa-might-not-kill-all-dsn-education-in-schools/#comment-8061 Christopher Harris Fri, 28 Jul 2006 12:55:14 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=1202#comment-8061 Hi again, Mark! Wow, I can't agree more. I was at a school earlier this week where the tech person is already saying that all blogs are illegal and would result in the loss of e-rate. And that was before DOPA passed! It didn't matter to him if the blog was password protected either, as he said students would just give the passwords away (insert an unspoken "to child predators" here). So here are the options we came up with. 1) The School Library System I head up had already been working on a blog service - this is now a top priority. We already rolled out Moodle and are in the finishing stages of setting up school library portals with book reviews, comments, wikis, and other fun interactions. 2) We are also trying to work with commercial sites to see if we can develop a partnership wherein we as a School Library System can host a school version of the software that we provide for our member school districts. For example, JotSpot now has a locally hosted option. Granted, this is possible because I came to the School Library System from a background in instructional technology and have the vision and skills to implement these ideas. I have also hired librarians who have not only a strong background in traditional library science, but also a high level of technical and web expertise. We are making the Digital Re-Shift happen as we continue to work on our implementation of School Library 2.0. This is also made possible by a great program in NY State, the School Library Systems. We are a state funded part of the regional educational service agencies here (called BOCES - boards of cooperative educational services). This lets us be a bit of a sandbox where new programs and services can be R&Ded and piloted within libraries before being launched as a subscription service for our districts. We piloted Moodle for use in libraries, and now the BOCES is offering a subscription service for Moodle servers and support as part of the e-learning program. Hi again, Mark! Wow, I can’t agree more. I was at a school earlier this week where the tech person is already saying that all blogs are illegal and would result in the loss of e-rate. And that was before DOPA passed! It didn’t matter to him if the blog was password protected either, as he said students would just give the passwords away (insert an unspoken “to child predators” here).

So here are the options we came up with.

1) The School Library System I head up had already been working on a blog service - this is now a top priority. We already rolled out Moodle and are in the finishing stages of setting up school library portals with book reviews, comments, wikis, and other fun interactions.

2) We are also trying to work with commercial sites to see if we can develop a partnership wherein we as a School Library System can host a school version of the software that we provide for our member school districts. For example, JotSpot now has a locally hosted option.

Granted, this is possible because I came to the School Library System from a background in instructional technology and have the vision and skills to implement these ideas. I have also hired librarians who have not only a strong background in traditional library science, but also a high level of technical and web expertise. We are making the Digital Re-Shift happen as we continue to work on our implementation of School Library 2.0. This is also made possible by a great program in NY State, the School Library Systems. We are a state funded part of the regional educational service agencies here (called BOCES - boards of cooperative educational services). This lets us be a bit of a sandbox where new programs and services can be R&Ded and piloted within libraries before being launched as a subscription service for our districts. We piloted Moodle for use in libraries, and now the BOCES is offering a subscription service for Moodle servers and support as part of the e-learning program.

]]> By: Tim Lauer http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/07/27/dopa-might-not-kill-all-dsn-education-in-schools/#comment-8055 Tim Lauer Fri, 28 Jul 2006 10:12:38 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=1202#comment-8055 Hi Wes, I tend to agree with Marks comments. Also since sites such as Yahoo, Google and just about everyone else on the net give users the option to personalize their experience at their sites, I wonder if they would fall under this. I also wonder when the folks that operate social software sites are gonna wake up and start to lobby Congress. Of course they might not be worried since most students don't access these sites at school anyway... Hi Wes,
I tend to agree with Marks comments. Also since sites such as Yahoo, Google and just about everyone else on the net give users the option to personalize their experience at their sites, I wonder if they would fall under this. I also wonder when the folks that operate social software sites are gonna wake up and start to lobby Congress. Of course they might not be worried since most students don’t access these sites at school anyway…

]]> By: Mark Ahlness http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/07/27/dopa-might-not-kill-all-dsn-education-in-schools/#comment-8043 Mark Ahlness Thu, 27 Jul 2006 22:09:29 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=1202#comment-8043 I disagree, Wesley. The folks in the IT departments of school districts in the US are not going to read the fine print. They are already doing global blocks on anything that ends with: blogspot.com, typepad.com, wordpress.com, edublogs.org, learnerblogs.org, flickr.com, yahoo groups, anything with "chat", all the obvious myspace type places, and anything that HINTS of being a blog. David Warlick is currently blocked in my district. With DOPA the lid will come crashing down on web 2.0 with a resounding thud that will put the future of our kids REALLY at risk. The idea that think.com and a few other noncommercial sites are going to prepare our kids to meet the tomorrow that the rest of the world is getting ready for is, well... I don't think it will work. Will kids buy into it at school? Will kids get any meaningful lessons on Internet safety when they know they have a limited audience and they laugh at the "safe" tools their teachers show them? Last, the idea that schools should set up their own blogs is pinning hopes on a phantom level of tech support that simply does not exist outside of a few isolated spots in this country. Sorry to sound so negative. Reality, in this case, is very a bitter pill, and I'll not wash it down with soda pop. - Mark I disagree, Wesley. The folks in the IT departments of school districts in the US are not going to read the fine print. They are already doing global blocks on anything that ends with: blogspot.com, typepad.com, wordpress.com, edublogs.org, learnerblogs.org, flickr.com, yahoo groups, anything with “chat”, all the obvious myspace type places, and anything that HINTS of being a blog. David Warlick is currently blocked in my district. With DOPA the lid will come crashing down on web 2.0 with a resounding thud that will put the future of our kids REALLY at risk.

The idea that think.com and a few other noncommercial sites are going to prepare our kids to meet the tomorrow that the rest of the world is getting ready for is, well… I don’t think it will work. Will kids buy into it at school? Will kids get any meaningful lessons on Internet safety when they know they have a limited audience and they laugh at the “safe” tools their teachers show them?

Last, the idea that schools should set up their own blogs is pinning hopes on a phantom level of tech support that simply does not exist outside of a few isolated spots in this country.

Sorry to sound so negative. Reality, in this case, is very a bitter pill, and I’ll not wash it down with soda pop. - Mark

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