Classroom Computer Security

Online communication tools provide teachers with varied and exciting ways to present information to their students.  Educational software and online programs allow students to communicate with people whom they could never meet otherwise, reinforce prior learning with new ways to practice skills, and have more fun with the learning process by using tools they already enjoy using in their personal lives.  Online communication tools are becoming a larger part of day-to-day life and are vital to keeping pace in the business world, social circles, and other areas of personal life.   It is the responsibility of teachers to help their students become proficient in both the material in the curriculum and the online tools they will be expected to understand and use as adults.

It is obvious that online tools are extremely valuable in the classroom and their use should be encouraged as a means to aid teachers in effectively instructing their students.  However, online programs come with their own batch of risks that must be considered and minimized as much as possible.  These risks include various types of malware like viruses, worms, and trojan horses, as well as the dangers that can come with hackers who can steal personal information or alter school sites or online records.  My high school had installed various measures to prevent these types of issues in the computer lab.

First of all, every computer in the school is armed with McAfee Virus Protection Software.  This software is set to "auto update" so it will constantly have the most up-to-date virus definitions and the utmost protection.  The entire district has also set up a site blocking system, so social networking sites, personal email programs, and any other sites that have been deemed inappropriate cannot be accessed from school computers.  Each school in the district must also send out an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to be read and signed by both students and parents.  This lays down ground rules for how computers are to be used in the classroom and for what purposes; it aims to educate students about how to protect their privacy and keep from accidentally infecting school computers with malware.  The AUP instructs students to withhold personal information, not download information from "suspicious" sites, not open email attachments from unknown parties, etc.

Additionally, the computer lab puts "holds" on any blogs created for class.  This means that teachers are able to read and approve posts before they are displayed publicly.  Finally, my high school has synchronized software, which allows individual teachers to further limit their students' computer/internet access beyond the school-wide security measures.  This means that teachers can view each of their student's computer screens on a single monitor and can capture/control their screens, block certain sites on either all computers or one individual computer, and write notes to students which will pop up on their screen.  This gives teachers much more control over the lab and makes it more difficult for students to access unapproved sites without being caught.

Unfortunately, even with all of these protections in place, there are still areas of concern.  Mainly, students have discovered Proxy Server sites, which can circumvent the system and route around the firewalls and system blocks that prevent access to certain websites.  Many students are also very technologically savvy and have discovered how to connect their monitor to another teacher's synchronized software in hopes of being less likely to get caught.  Finally, new sites are continually being added to the internet, and it is near impossible to block them all until you catch a student using the inappropriate site.  Overall, even with all of the risks, schools are getting better at protecting themselves and their students in an effort to reap the many benefits that online communication tools can offer.