To block or not to block?

Talking about blocking again?  Yes, this is one of the dilemmas facing educational institutions.  How should we juggle between educational, social and safeguarding needs?  Today I’d like to extract some discussion from a mailing group on YouTube in this regard.

A colleague on the Curriculum Champions mailing list invited others to share their colleges’ practice of YouTube usage.  While we might expect YouTube being banned in many institutions, it doesn’t necessary be the case.  Some colleagues did point out the rich media resources one can get from streaming videos such as YouTube and TeacherTV.  Quite a number of colleagus saying their colleges have unblocked these sites for a while and it worked out fine.  Some colleges also adopt flexible AUP to cater the educational needs, which can be a good reference for us:

• Youtube is available in the classroom and open learning areas; access monitored by the teaching staff and open learning staff.
• Student can access these websites by using their own devices, connecting to the open wireless internet connection in most non-teaching areas of the college (e.g. reception areas and refectories), and via college PCs in learning centres before 9.00am, between 12.00-14.00 and after 17.00 (i.e. before teaching starts, lunch time, and at the end of the core teaching day).

Technical issue might still be a concern for some colleges, e.g. bandwidth to support multi-media files.  However, it shouldn’t be a problem which can’t be tackled.  In last week FutureLab Conference, a staff member from a local authoriy mentioned that the stipulated network policy allowed some flexibilities, so individual institutions could enable access to streaming videos site if necessary.  I assume the same should apply to JANET, who support the network for colleges and universities.

To block or not to block – the choice is yours!

Note: Curriculum Champions mailing list is a mailing list managed by Becta and supported by JISC.  It gives a platform for e-learning professionals to discuss emerging technology and various issues on ICT in education.

Engage learners in ICT Policy Development

“Why do students from another college can access to YouTube on campus, but we can’t?”
“Have college staff members ever used Facebook?  Have they tried to understand what it is about?  They shouldn’t ban it when they don’t know what it really is.”

I’m sure you’ve heard that from your students.  ICT policy, especially the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), is a hot potato for many.  As John Sewell from JISC TechDis explained:
“It is apparent that a lot of colleges are finding it difficult to implement an effective policy in this area; in some colleges filtering is so aggressive as to prevent staff from doing their job, whilst some college managements are unfamiliar with the issues and seek to play safe by relying on the default ‘lockdown’ state of network filtering.” (Quoted from: Excellence Gateway)

We had a good conversation about that with students attending the Becta and NUS training and consultation events a while ago.   From the discussion, it is apparent that students are well aware of the complex association of college ICT polocy with safety, security and college network capacity.  However, they would like to see a fairer, more flexible and transparent policy which enables the best use of college IT facilities.  Now the question is – how can our sector achieve that, at the same time to ensure students are properly safeguarded?

One essential step is to engage students in the ICT policy development, so as to ensure the policy in place truly meet their needs.  As suggested by the “Becta PIES model” for limiting e-safety risks, “policies and practices” is the backbone of effective safeguarding strategy:

Students, being on the cutting edge of technological development, can contribute to a more transparent and flexible policy.  However, many students said that their colleges had not consulted them during the process.  This clearly has room for improvement.

Does your College/Organisation engage your learners in your ICT policy development, let it be AUP, new equipment purchase or new physical space usage?  If yes, do let us know.  If not, please also let us know why not. Your experience will help us form the best practices of engaging learners!

Some useful references on e-safety:
Ofcom- Get Safe Online
Excellence Gateway – E-safety

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

Have you ever encountered restrictions using computers at your college to access some websites or online resources? Are you aware of the “Acceptable Use Policy” (AUP)? AUP usually refers to a set of rules adopted by colleges to regulate how you use your computer and internet facilities.

We are now looking at its development in the Further Education and Skills sector, and would like hear your view about it. Please click here for an AUP sample and tell us what you think. Your views will be used to make the policy more user friendly.