Mindy's Ed Tec 448 Blog: Policy Brief Access, Digital Divide, Special Populations

Policy Brief

Internet issues, part 1: Access, the Digital Divide, and Special Populations

Theoretically Prepared for Montour School District, October 16, 2010

By Mindy Sanjana

Executive Summary:

The Montour School District currently has computer labs in every school building and technology teachers in every building. All classrooms have teacher computers and most have at least one student computer as well. All computers in the District are connected to the Internet by high speed modem and a commitment has been made to make this network entirely wireless. The District, therefore, is well positioned to develop an Internet policy that will build upon this investment in hardware and infrastructure and ensure that all of the stakeholders in the District have full access, within a safe environment, to the information and increased communication ability that the Internet has to offer.

Overview of the Issues:

A comprehensive school Internet policy must address the issues of access to the Internet, the “Digital Divide,” and Special Populations.

Access: Both the federal and Pennsylvania state governments regulate student access to the Internet in public schools and libraries. The intent of these laws is to protect minors from gaining access to sexually explicit, obscene or harmful materials. Specifically, CIPA, the Federal Children’s Internet Protection ACT, requires that schools receiving federal aid adopt and implement an Internet safety policy addressing access by minors to inappropriate matter on the Internet. Moreover, the federal government requires that all school computers which are connected to Internet have technology installed that will protect against access to visual depictions described as obscene, child pornography, or harmful to minors. CIPA does not require the blocking or filtering of text. The District needs to adopt an “Acceptable Use” Internet policy that is compliant with CIPA requirements. Further, the District must hold a public meeting to review its policy. Students, teachers, and parents should be aware of the contents of this policy.

Digital Divide: As our school district moves towards full connectivity, communication between the school and the parents , the teachers and the students, and students and students will increasing take place over the Internet. However, not every family in the District has home computers and broadband Internet access. Exact numbers are difficult to estimate because the most thorough analysis of households with Internet connectivity, A Nation Online, was published in September, 2004 and was based on data no more recent than 2003. Even in that report however, it was clear that the percentage of Americans using the Internet and having Internet connectivity at home had increased amongst all demographic groups in the short period between 2001 and 2003. Since that time, WiFi and cellular platforms have become additional ways of connecting to the Internet. The digital divide has narrowed dramatically in the six years. In 2009, about two-thirds of American households reported using the Internet at home, according to an interim U.S. Census. Nevertheless, it is inevitable that some families in our district will not have home computers or high-speed Internet access. The district’s Internet use policy needs to take into consideration those families who are unable to access the Internet from home.

Special Populations: Closely related to the digital divide issue is the specific demographic descriptions of families within the district who do not have computers and Internet access at home. It is clear from A Nation Online that those students least likely to have computers and Internet access at home live in families with incomes less than $35,000. They are also more likely to be African-American or Hispanic (of any race) than to be white or Asian. The district needs to ensure that all students are able to benefit educationally from their school’s Internet connectivity. The investment in computers and access throughout the district must not create de facto discrimination against certain families.

Policy options—Access:

Option 1: The district must install some sort of filtering software as this is a CIPA requirement. CIPA specifies that students should not be able to access offensive images. The filtering software can be set in such a way that a long list of keywords triggers the filter, which would block all images associated with the key word.

Pros:	Cons:
The district will maintain maximum control by choosing the highest-setting of filtering software in order to be “better safe than sorry.”	The software cannot evaluate the age-appropriateness of websites which means that these filters will restrict appropriate access to quality websites such as materials on breast cancer, health care, and other issues that might include "objectionable" words.

In addition, policy must be developed for an “acceptable use” with regard to accessing “web 2.0” sites, sometimes called “social media” sites. If the district blocks usage of these sites within the school, students will continue to use them from home, without supervision or guidance. Educators in many districts use social media sites such as YouTube, personal blogs, Facebook or Twitter in creative, educational ways.

Pros:	Cons:
Blocking access to such sites would prevent school involvement in cyber-bullying and related personal safety concerns. Blocking access prevents allegations of liability from being leveled against the school in which these sites were accessed.	Simply blocking these sites and never teaching responsible use of social media is like “placing locks on a fence surrounding a pool but neglecting to teach kids how to swim.”
	Students in the district will not have access to educational uses that are “deep, relevant, and participatory.”

Option 2: CIPA required filtering software could be installed on all school computers that are connected to the Internet. However, the filter software can be set as either open or closed for specific web resources based upon the District’s policy. Teachers wanting to allow access to specific web resources for educational purposes could send their specific list of allowable resources to the Technology department, which would then open access to these sites within the building or within the specific classroom in which the request was made.

Pros:	Cons:
Allowing teachers to determine access to particular sites will allow age- appropriate access to quality websites such as materials on breast cancer, health care, and other issues.	If students are allowed to access social media sites in school, cyber-bullying and related personal safety problems could occur. A0llegations of liability could be leveled against the school in which these sites were accessed.
Open setting provides teacher with opportunity to use social media to educate students in both the content area and in the essential skills of Internet citizenship.

Policy Options to Address the Digital Divide:

Access to the Internet throughout the schools will lead to far greater reliance upon computers as a vehicle for communication and education. Students whose families who do not own computers have high-speed Internet access at home will be negatively impacted by not having enough hours of computer and Internet access at school to complete their assigned work. It is sometimes suggested that the students can complete their work at the public library.

Pros:	Cons:
The public library has many computers with Internet access.	Library computers are timed in order to allow fair access. If the library is crowded, students will only be able to work for one hour at the library.
	The library is not accessible by public transportation or within walking distance of students’ homes. Students whose parents are not available to drive them to the library have no way to get there.

The district could investigate the creation of extended time before or after school in which students would have access to school computers.

Pros:	Cons:
Extra time on school computers would help special populations within the school to bridge the digital divide.	Students would have to find a way to get to school early or to get home from school after the buses had left.
	The computer labs would have to be staffed before and after school.

The district could instruct teachers and staff to offer non-Internet-based alternative assignments and communication between school and home to families without internet access.

Pros:	Cons:
Special population students would be able to succeed in school without penalty for not having a home computer with Internet access.	Providing alternative assignments and duplicating electronic communication on paper creates extra work for teachers and staff.
	Alternative work may not be as educationally valuable as the assignments that require Internet access.