Welcome to "Unmasking the Digital Truth!" *
Definitions
The English Wiktionary defines "obfuscate" as:
To make dark; overshadow, or To deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth.
Wiktionary defines "unmask" as:
To remove a mask from someone, or To expose, or reveal the true character of someone.
Project Goals
The goal of this collaborative wiki is to "unmask the digital truth" with respect to the reasons some leaders today are overfiltering and overblocking web 2.0 sites in schools and libraries, and provide reasonable alternatives which support broader student and teacher access to these sites. A basic level of content filtering is required in the United States for schools and libraries receiving federal E-Rate funding, and the purpose of this project is NOT to argue against all forms of content filtering in all situations. In some cases, however, educational leaders are obfuscating the issues relating to content filtering and access to web 2.0 websites in schools. This wiki seeks to unmask those reasons to provide facts, options and alternatives for community leaders interested in promoting broader access to web 2.0 tools in schools.
Reasons, Facts and Options
Think of this wiki as a decision tree. When a school leader tells a teacher, librarian, or student "that website is blocked" (or more typically, the individual attempts to visit a website and is not permitted to access it by the organization's content filter) there are always REASONS why the site is blocked. These reasons can be organized into the following categories. Select a category to view reasons, facts, and options relating to it. If we're missing a category, please add it! (Some of these categories are specific to the United States, but the reasons underlying the categories may be more broadly applicable to international contexts as well.)
- CIPA - The Child's Internet Protection Act (mandates basic content filtering)
- FERPA - The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (mandate email archiving)
- Bandwidth - Often a concern the school does not have enough to support a particular website/tool
- Control - Educational leaders sometimes want to limit potential user behavior
- Liability - Concern that website access will lead to lawsuits from and litigation with parents
- Fear - More generalized feelings that web 2.0 sites and technologies are bad / evil
Questions or Concerns?
This website / collaborative wiki was created by Wesley Fryer. Contact information for Wesley is available. Contributions are welcomed! Visitors can also add comments to individual pages to ask questions, make suggestions, or ask for clarifications.
* Disclaimer
The documents, links, and information contained on this wiki / website do not constitute legal advice. While some lawyers and legal scholars have influenced (and hopefully will directly contribute to) the information included here, individuals as well as organizations should consult with bar-certified lawyers in their local community to obtain legal advice relating to these and other issues.
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