Superpowers to jump over walls
Superman by Dunechaser Bill Kerr was splendid in his summary of the new tension between technology freedom and control when he discussed on a mailing list:
"This argument -- that the internet is a place we have to protect children from -- will become the main argument against the widespread distribution of netbooks and free software to children in educational settings. The technology increasingly moves us towards personal and individual empowerment; the moral argument that freedom is too dangerous to handle moves us in the opposite direction."
I also noticed some discussion on a WA list about the problems of censoring the Internet based on language.
Previously, a word based e-mail filter we used cut out posts from our sister school out because the Japanese principal had an expletive nicely positioned in his middle name. I have fallen for the trap with my native Dutch that calls sugar, Bastard suiker. It is pushing the boundary of this list and topic but if anybody else speaks Dutch, they will understand the hillarity of my Dutch grandmother calling out for a tradesman in Australia.
Students here have demonstrated that they can bypass our department endorsed filters using Chinese, Arabic, Russian and even Khmer and Sinhala. All it takes is a language translation tool, imagination and search engine to dig up dirt around any filter. We can easily stop this train.
I guess, nothing beats the super powers that teachers acquire from their practice in the classroom.
My sense of smell is now so finely tuned that I can sniff out a smoker from 100 meters on the school oval and even the chemical residue on their clothing. The keen eyes we grow on the back of our heads can spot an inappropriate website from 20 meters away when our front is turned to the whiteboard. We can even process the fine motor movements and body language from a student who is not paying attention in class when they are reading an inappropriate magazine or book under the desk. Our collective x-ray vision that can even eventually penetrate inappropriate posters displayed in lockers whilst we are on patrol. Our sensitive ears trigger an automatic synaptic frown and verbal response when the boundaries of inappropriate language are breached.
Of course, all the super work that we do for the greater good helps to set standards for appropriate behaviour at school and it doesn't even require a technological response.
We will need all the super powers we can muster to identify and battle the dark forces that are swirling around us. The battle is real and at stake is our freedom to work and practice as classroom educators.