Chance to share your ideas for Banned Websites Awareness Day!

Wednesday October 3rd is the American Association of School Librarians' (AASL) Banned Websites Awareness Day (#BWAD on Twitter), which provides policy makers, educators, parents, and students with an opportunity to talk about the impact of arbitrary filtering and overly restrictive policy in K-12 learning environments.  

The librarian community is championing the initiative, and they're engaged in a conversation about it with authors, policy-makers, bloggers, educators and students and they want to hear from you! 

There's a call for all innovative educators, parents, and students to be a part of the bigger conversation by contributing to the Banned Websites Awareness Day collaborative presentation. 

Participating is easy!

Share your testimonials and pictures that respond to this question:
"How does filtering constrain your learning, and your personal and professional growth?" 

Here's how to contribute:

Check out what's in the presentation below then go add your voice to the conversation. Just click this link to visit the instruction page where you will learn how easy it is to add your testimonial and picture.  Can't wait to see what you write!

You have read this article #BWAD / banned sites / filtering / thinking outside the ban with the title banned sites. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/09/chance-to-share-your-ideas-for-banned.html. Thanks!

Not Everyone is Jumping on the Banned Wagon

There's been quite a bit of reaction in opposition to the Chancellor's proposed social media policy that could ban teacher / student interaction using social media spaces like Facebook and Twitter.  Soon after the announcement, The Wall Street Journal picked up the story here: NYC Schools Considering Social Media Policy. 


More and more, citizens are coming out against those who are trying to stifle educator and student freedom of speech. The comments from parents, students, educators, and librarians in response to my reaction  (School big rips teacher Facebook ‘ban’) are well worth the read and your own comment.
In reaction to the article I was sent a comic that the article inspired as well as an article and guide:



Article
Student Safety in the Age of Facebook 
THE Journal. My thoughts on this article are here.


Guide
Facebook Guide for Educators
I like the idea behind this guide. Education, not banning, is the answer to addressing use of technology by teachers and students. Unfortunately, policymakers often haven't taken the time to acquire the knowledge necessary to make smart decisions and just ban and block because that is a more simple solution. This guide provides helpful information that those that make policy should be aware of including the fact that hosting a group or page does not require teachers to friend all the students, privacy settings that help keep those under 18 safe, reasons that having educators in the online worlds of young people helps reduce cyberbullying, and a bunch of great ideas to harness the use of Facebook for real-world learning. 


Speaking out for what is right
Not only must educators not be afraid to exist in the worlds of their students, they also must empower their students to know how to use the very tools they'll need if they want to run for office, run a business, or change how things are run in their schools. Kudos to those parents, teachers, and students brave enough to speak on behalf of what is right for our children.

You have read this article banned sites / break the ban / Facebook in education with the title banned sites. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/04/not-everyone-is-jumping-on-banned-wagon.html. Thanks!

When we block social media we block learning

At New Canaan High School students have the freedom to learn using tools they love and the websites they need to be most successful. One of the two freedoms were taken away from them in honor of “Banned Websites Awareness Day.” On that day students were blocked from using the sites they commonly use for learning and collaborating such as YouTube and Facebook. Not having the ability to use the tools necessary for success in the real world for learning at school deeply interfered with their ability to get the education they deserved. It really drove home the fact that the young men and women at this school were fortunate to go to school in a place that trusts and respects young people.  

Watch this video created by librarian Michelle Luhtala to see how these young people felt when this freedom was taken from them.

You have read this article BANdates / banned sites / break the ban / thinking outside the ban with the title banned sites. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/03/when-we-block-social-media-we-block.html. Thanks!

Free-Range Media = Free-Range Learning Innovation

At this year's Educon I had the opportunity to collaborate with some wonderful librarians (Michelle Luhtala, Joyce Valenza, and Shannon Miller) and a fantastic student (Michael DeMattia) to share our experiences and have a conversation about teaching and learning in a no ban and no filter zone. The conversation is important because around the nation there are schools that are making the choice to do what is most convenient rather than what is right for kids. Rather than thinking outside the ban and empowering children to use the devices they own and access the internet they encounter outside of school, students are being banned and blocked. 


During the conversation we shared ideas, experiences, and looked at questions such as the following: 
What is the difference between students in schools that filter aggressively and ban and schools that dont? What evidence do we have to demonstrate that there is a difference at all? If there is, is that difference relevant? Meaningful? Important? What do students have to say about it? Do they care?


Below is a presentation outlining what we shared.

You have read this article banned sites / break the ban / filtering / thinking outside the ban with the title banned sites. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/01/free-range-media-free-range-learning.html. Thanks!

7 Filter Myths to Keep In Mind for Banned Sites Awareness Day and Always

As part of the American Association of School Librarian's "thinking outside the ban" blog series for banned websites awareness day, Doug Johnson dispels the following seven filtering myths. 

1. The Childhood Protection Act (CIPA) is specific and  broad in what must be filtered in schools. 
2. It’s the filtering company that determines what is blocked. 
3. Some sites must be blocked due to bandwidth limitations. 
4. The processes for re-consideration of print materials don’t apply to online resources.
5. The technology department must determine what is blocked. 
6. Internet filters are so good that supervision of students while online and instruction in online safety and appropriate use is not necessary. 
7. Internet filters and intellectual freedom are mutually exclusive.

To read the truth behind each of these myths, check out the original article here.



For more information about Banned Websites Awareness Day resources and support materials, please visit AASL Essential Links.

You have read this article banned sites / thinking outside the ban with the title banned sites. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2011/09/7-filter-myths-to-keep-in-mind-for.html. Thanks!

AASL Thinks Outside the Ban with Banned Websites Awareness Day - September 28th

Editor's Note:  This article was also posted on the American Association of School Librarian's site.  If you'd rather read it there, go here.  


More than a decade into the 21st century and the very tools and sites we need to ensure student success in the world are banned and blocked in many school and learning centers. Though banning and blocking is more convenient, it  is not what is right when it comes to preparing children, who will need to use and navigate these waters, for success in the 21st century. The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  is bringing awareness to this problem by naming September 28th “Banned Websites Awareness Day.” This serves as an extension of the American Library Association’s long-standing censorship awareness campaign, Banned Books Week, beginning September 24. This new campaign directs national attention to the important conversation of the impact filtering has on our students.

In many schools today, our children are living in a digital world, but being prepared in bubbletest schools that whittle kids down to easily measurable, but often irrelevant and outdated, data points.  In fact, using the tools necessary for success in the world is considered cheating when completing these outdated assessments. Most educators, parents, and business leaders understand that these high-stakes, artificial situations do little to meaningfully prepare children for success in the 21st century. Sadly, outside of today’s test prep-dominated curriculum, there are virtually no opportunities to share resources and collaborate with the real world.  This is understandable when we recognize that doing so is not measured or valued in our schools. This is in part what makes banning and blocking so desirable.  Since schools are not evaluated on providing equity and access to real-world skills or tools, not providing access to the world outside of schools becomes most desirable.  However,  when life inside of schools looks so different than life in the world of work, civics, and personal relationships, one must consider what what the real purpose of schools has become.  Unfortunately, many students today feel the disconnected life in schools much more resembles that of a prison than one which will prepare them for successful careers and relationships.


For students to successfully engage in the world outside of school, the world inside of school needs to match it.  This can’t happen unless school leaders begin to think outside the ban and make children’s success a priority.  Common sense dictates that blocking and banning students from the sites they need to succeed does not keep them safe. While no one would argue that doing so is easier, it clearly leaves our children unprepared.  The Banned Websites Awareness Day campaign brings attention to the fact that this must change in order to keep our 21st century learners competitive and ready for life outside school walls.  Teachers and leaders must become educated on how to use the web responsibly and enable their students to do the same.


To do so, here are some shifts that need to happen.


We need to move...

From	To	with sites such as…
restricting use of sites	responsible use and support in enabling safety filters	Google Images, YouTube
standardized textbook learning	personal network learning	Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Blogs
disconnected classrooms	rich, global communication centers	Skype, Google Hangout
teacher as the only source of information and lessons	on-demand learning from others around the world	YouTube, Twitter, Open Ed Resources
students doing work for an audience of one (the teacher) or some (the class)	students doing work worthy of the world for real audiences	Blogs, YouTube, authentic publishing sites

Banning, filtering, and blocking keeps students locked up in an artificial world that does well at ensuring compliance but little when it comes to enabling students to expand their wings and have the freedom to learn what is important in the world today.  To that end I’d like to commend Michelle Luhtala for conceiving of Banned Websites Awareness Day and the American Association of School Librarians for bringing to life an essential ingredient necessary for learning in the 21st century.



For more information about Banned Websites Awareness Day resources and support materials, please visit AASL Essential Links and Banned Websites blog posts.

You have read this article BANdates / banned sites / break the ban / web filtering with the title banned sites. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2011/09/aasl-thinks-outside-ban-with-banned.html. Thanks!