Internet security and privacy issues in schools have become significant concerns for teachers and administrators in recent years. With mobile learning becoming a new reality in education, many school districts have had to develop comprehensive policies on how to address issues of security and privacy. In my local school district (Miami-Dade County, Florida), school officials have created and updated network-use policies to address specific modern-day activities such as blogging, instant messaging, and video/audio/photo downloads (see pg. 5).
Yet, despite the wide-ranging potential of the internet and mobile technologies for education, security and privacy concerns can often become roadblocks for educators and learners. There is such a fine line between facilitating access to the myriad of resources the internet and mobile devices have to offer, and school district's liability and concerns for student and teacher safety and privacy. Because of this, it is imperative that school districts not only develop, but update, comprehensive internet technology policies on a regular basis to effectively govern and regulate the use of mobile technology in the classroom. As an example, the Miami-Dade Public Schools district recently updated their policy on Network Security Standards earlier this year to emphasize, among other things, “that the standards apply to all equipment, including personally-owned equipment connected to the District’s network” (such as personal laptops and PDAs). [Specifically, pg. 9 speaks to personally-owned devices, pg. 10 to downloads and use of the internet, and the bottom of pg. 14 to portable devices.]
A common roadblock experienced by teachers and students utilizing school computers is often the issue of blocked websites. These often times include teacher blog sites and other webpages in line with academic instruction. In a subsequent post, I will provide an example of one such case and how the district administration responded to complaints about their practice of blocking access to certain sites.
A common roadblock experienced by teachers and students utilizing school computers is often the issue of blocked websites. These often times include teacher blog sites and other webpages in line with academic instruction. In a subsequent post, I will provide an example of one such case and how the district administration responded to complaints about their practice of blocking access to certain sites.
Despite these issues, mobile learning is present in my local school district through a number of targeted and varied initiatives; one of them being our Anytime, Anywhere Learning Project podcast site, which contains instructional lectures and materials on a number of subjects and for students at different grade levels. We also have teacher professional development content which is delivered via iTouch devices to teachers in select schools. There is also a new high-tech school model unveiled last year called iPrep, where students are assigned Mac laptop computers to take home and the curriculum includes virtual learning components. Another major mobile learning initiative is the Get Connected, Go Global Broadband USA initiative, which is increasing access to broadband internet service and training to students and parents in some of the county's most impoverished areas.
At the end of the day, the main barriers to mobile learning in my community and local school district are related mainly to issues of security and access. Programs like Broadband USA have helped us to address the issue of access, providing mobile learning services to a larger population, but issues of security remain a work in progress, as district staff continuously monitors adherence to federal standards for internet access in schools. From an administrative perspective, some of the things that could help promote and encourage more mobile learning include: increased funding for broadband technology and mobile devices as well as increased teacher training.
At the end of the day, the main barriers to mobile learning in my community and local school district are related mainly to issues of security and access. Programs like Broadband USA have helped us to address the issue of access, providing mobile learning services to a larger population, but issues of security remain a work in progress, as district staff continuously monitors adherence to federal standards for internet access in schools. From an administrative perspective, some of the things that could help promote and encourage more mobile learning include: increased funding for broadband technology and mobile devices as well as increased teacher training.
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