[LM_NET] HIT: Questions about Internet Access Beyond Filters

["Dr. Mary Ann Bell" <mbe11@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Recently I asked a number of questions about Internet access and was 
extremely grateful to receive wonderful responses. I am going to try to 
summarize them in a couple of HIT messages. I will have two articles 
coming out (I hope), one about additional barriers to access beyond 
filters, and the other about filtering and the fact that many schools 
seem to find filters becoming more and more restrictive. Here are some 
things I learned about barriers other than filters:
1. Quota Time--many filters go beyond content filtering and limit how 
long users can say on sites. Very common is putting this into place for 
shopping sites, though some people had trouble across the board. The 
shopping site issue causes problems with people trying to work online 
with vendors.
2. Denying use of search tools---In some schools, students are never 
allowed to use a search engine. Instead they must ALWAYS work from 
prescribed lists. One situation included the rule that only tech 
personnel could OK sites for the approved list. This is less common but 
concerning, because it means students are not learning how to conduct a 
smart search.
3. Interpreting "educational use" in a very narrow fashion. Most AUP's 
say that students should use the Internet only for educational 
use...this can be over-enforced in my opinion...
4. Outlawing certain types of  sites--games is a good example. Many 
districts cannot use any site that has games, even if they are 
educational, such as math games and even if bandwidth is not the 
problem. At least one school tried to ban all sites that had dot.com in 
the URL.
5. Outlawing Internet altogether. This is rare, admittedly, but it is 
happening in some situations. This fact causes me to believe people need 
to be aware, because trends sometimes have a way of spreading.

People provided me with specific examples of all of the above types of 
restrictions. My greatest concerns are that students will not learn to 
evaluate websites or conduct smart searches. Then when they go home they 
may be even more likely to think everything on the Internet is safe and 
accurate. After all, it is that way at school...

-- 
***************************
"Try curiosity!"  Dorothy Parker
***************************
Dr. Mary Ann Bell
Assistant Professor 
School of Library Science
Sam Houston State University
Huntsville, TX
mbe11@earthlink.net
lis_mah@shsu.edu 

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