Internet Safety, Web Filter, and Partnerships

As technology use at BVSD grows, so do the questions and concerns about internet safety. BVSD is committed to continual improvement in this area which remains a priority as the internet grows and tools to help mitigate safety concerns evolve.

Let me share some information on what BVSD does to help ensure our students are safe, starting with our web filter. BVSD’s Palo Alto firewall/web filter was purchased 3 years ago after a competitive search process. This top-rated technology is used by many school districts in Colorado and across the nation.

At the elementary level, we block 26 categories and over 300 additional websites that have been brought to our attention by teachers and parents. Some of the blocked categories include abused drugs, adult, alcohol, tobacco, copyright infringement, dating, games, gambling, hacking, malware, nudity, phishing, sex education, social media, swimsuits, intimate apparel, and weapons.

To allow for age-appropriate access and an increase in the student’s level of responsibility, the additional categories of gaming, sex education, and select social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Skype, Pinterest) are opened at the MS/HS level.

Our web filter, although powerful, is not perfect. This is true with all web filters, either at home or at school. In some cases, filtering, regardless of settings, can under-block bad sites and over-block good sites at the same time.

Current practices are in alignment with other districts and strive to strike a balance between a protected, yet real-world environment. An additional challenge is that students can and do use their phones to create “hotspots” in order to access restricted sites when the content they are looking for is blocked by our filter. We do not want our students on hotspots, as this prevents us from intervening when something unsafe is happening.

For these reasons internet safety is not viewed as just a technology issue, but something that requires a partnership between everyone involved. Teachers use engaging instructional practices and actively manage their classrooms. Students need to understand their responsibilities and practice good digital citizenship to prepare them for life. Parents can help by setting appropriate boundaries and having ongoing conversations with their students about technology use. All of us have a responsibility to continue educating ourselves and each other about the latest technology trends and research.

On Tuesday, May 15, 2018, the Board of Education will be facilitating a study session where we will share details about what we currently do to help keep our students safe and what additional steps could be taken with appropriate investments. 

Areas we will cover include classroom management software, proactive self-harm/bullying detection software, and policy updates, such as recommending a ban on the usage of hotspots and a requirement for staff and students to report harmful sites that get through our filters.

The meeting will be in the Boardroom at the Education Center from 5-7pm.  Please join us if this topic is of interest to you.

And please feel free to chime in below with your thoughts on this important topic.

Andrew

iBoss - New Web Filter this Summer

A modern, reliable web filter is a necessity for all school districts, especially as more learning is done online. As technology changes, we continue to enhance our tools to ensure a safe computing environment for our students. To that end, over the summer we are installing a new web filter called iBoss that will replace and improve upon our existing web filter. iBoss is widely used in school districts across our state.

When you return in August, you will notice a few differences in your web filter experience:

• You will see a different block page, similar to the example below.

• There will be a simpler way for staff to override the filter. Instead of entering a district-wide username and password, you will enter your BVSD username and password.
• Students will never have the option to override a blocked page.
• Staff will not have the ability to override certain categories, like Pornography and Malware.
• Web sites categorization is a vendor-specific process, which means that sites may be placed in a different category in the iBoss filter than they were in the previous solution. This may result in some pages being blocked that currently aren’t, and vice-versa. Through our testing this summer we hope to identify and resolve many of those issues before you return.

The process for requesting that a site be blocked or unblocked will remain the same. Submit an IT Service Request and include the URL (web address) and the reason why you want the site blocked or unblocked. The Ed Tech team will review your request and notify you of a resolution. Remember that during the first few months the iBoss web filter is in place, you may notice a difference in which sites are blocked/unblocked. Please submit an IT Service Request when you notice these discrepancies.

It’s important to remember that any web filter, no matter how sophisticated, is only one part of keeping kids safe online. Digital citizenship skills are more effective than any web filter, but they require education, evaluation, and effort. I encourage everyone—teachers, students, staff, and parents—to learn how to be good digital citizens. You can learn more by visiting Ed Tech’s Digital Citizenship website, as well as the Digital Citizenship resources from Common Sense Media.

Please chime in below with your thoughts on web filters and digital citizenship.

Andrew