Teachers: Please Monitor Your Students When They Are Online at School!

Three different schools and two different districts; same oblivious attitude toward the supervision of the students.  I’m talking about teachers who allow students on Internet connected computers with little or no monitoring.  I’m not talking about one or two incidents a year.  Instead, I’m referring to habitual offenders who repeat this violation, even after the “friendly reminder” email.

The infractions range from the clueless teacher in a lab who has no idea what the students are doing to the more egregious violation of allowing students in a room with an online computer and absolutely no adult is present!

This is not just some pet peeve that your friendly Tech Facilitator has manufactured.  Instead, it is a violation of CIPA (Children’s Internet Protection Act).  This is a federal law to which schools and libraries must adhere in order to receive E-Rate discounts that most schools systems depend on to offset their Internet costs.  In a nutshell, schools and libraries must have a web filter as well as an enforced Internet policy.

Here are some suggestions for correcting this problem.

Teachers should:

• Circulate when their students are in the computer lab.  If you are “nailed” to one spot, students will realize that they can surf at will.
• Never leave the room/lab unattended when students are on computers.  Really, should they ever be left unattended under any circumstances?
• If your lab is poorly designed to allow proper supervision, contact an administrator and let him/her know about your concerns.

Administrators should:

• Require teachers to sign an AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) each year that emphasizes teacher supervision responsibilities and liability consequences.
• Provide computer monitoring software such as NetControl 2 to allow teachers to monitor students in labs.

Educators, please protect your students, your career, and your reputation.