Internet Filtering Committee Meeting
April 18, 2016
4:00-5:30 pm
Item / Facilitator / MinutesWelcome and Overview / Tom / · Introduction of committee members
Review Fall Meeting Minutes / Ellen / · Minutes were reviewed, there were no questions.
· Fall meeting minutes were approved
Responsible Use Policy Review / Julie / · Review policy, show on website, digital citizenship lessons
o Julie has developed a digital citizenship course in Canvas. She is working in partnership with schools to make lessons “our own.”
o RUP drives people to digital citizenship.
o Julie is working with the librarians at the elementary level and the school leadership teams at the secondary level to determine how digital citizenship will be introduced into classes.
o RUP is up and live on the RSD website. RUP will be published this fall in student handbooks.
§ Student tech committee suggested that the RUP be translated into different languages and posted on the website.
o RUP will no longer require a staff or parent signature. By logging in, the staff/student accepts the policy.
Future of Internet Filter / Tom / o What are the options to replace Websense?
o Subscription to Websense is coming due soon. We are looking at another product to replace Websense called DNS. DNS is hosted by an out of the district.
o DNS has similar filtering categories as Websense.
o Tech Services will be looking for volunteer sites to test DNS before the end of the school year.
o Discussion of Article: School Districts are obligated to follow rules of CIPA. Beyond CIPA requirements, districts can apply their own filtering rules. Renton has been heavily filtering at the student level for years. Teachers find many resources they would like to present to students are unavailable for student use because of current filtering levels. With the RUP now in use, students have more latitude to explore content. Students also learn how to make mistakes in a safe place where they can learn.
o Example: Heinemann curriculum – (District’s approved literacy curriculum) is not accessible to students because of current filtering policy.
o What would be the implications of using the same filtering of the internet for staff and students?
o Guest Wi-Fi is currently filtered at the student level, not staff level. However, there is nothing in CIPA to say that we couldn’t open up the Wi-Fi at the staff level.
o Managing a classroom of students, it is not possible to monitor every student’s activity. Does classroom management issue outweigh the trust issue?
§ Kids who are going to abuse the system, will find a way to do it anyway.
o For some teachers, the filter removes the responsibility of monitoring students while they are on the internet.
o Current filtering restrictions are actually encouraging students to find a way to bypass the filter.
o Students need more access and we have the tools to teach them how to use the web responsibly.
o Opening the filter will create some pushback from staff.
o Where does the teacher’s responsibility lie? How do we support teachers if we open the filter? What are instructional examples?
o If we wanted to open filter, the IFC’s recommendation would go to RTCC and then to cabinet. There is not currently a policy regarding internet filtering.
o Is the committee ready to make the recommendation?
o Do we have information that shows why the current levels of filters are in place? Original CIPA guidelines were more restrictive. Students have grown from just being curious web-surfers to now having a need for the internet to access tools and information. Teachers are a lot savvier as well.
o The district is still maintaining standards of CIPA whether we remove filters or not.
o This is not an all or nothing decision – we can slowly open the filters/categories as needed.
o What is the plan if there is a problem after the internet filtering is opened up?
o Timeline might be start of next school year. May need time to prepare teachers.
o High school is already filtered very similarly to staff. What would the impact be if the district opened up high school filtering to mirror staff filtering?
o IFC recommended opening up high school student filtering for the following reasons: The new RUP guided decision. Students need access for academic reasons. Opening the filter remove barriers for students and contributes to student equity. Students can publish work that can then be shared with an authentic audience.
o RECOMMENDATIONS:
o Allow YouTube for all students.
o Set high school students to staff settings
o Recommendations approved.
Review of categories* / Barbara / · Websense and Open DNS https://community.opendns.com/domaintagging/categories
Good of the Order / Tom / Carla is working with Eric Hogan a professor at Central Washington University Highline. They would like to set up a program where Education students at CWU collaborate with RHS students providing feedback to student work. Does anyone on the IFC see any concerns about this partnership in terms of student security?
o Set up permissions in Office 365 so there is supervision between student, student teacher, and professor/RHS teacher.
o Also possible to use TurnItIn.com for this program that allows for student security.
ROLE CALL
Member / Present/Absent
Barbara Folmer / District Website Coordinator / Yes
Brenda Summers / Administrative Assistant, Instructional Technology – Committee Secretary / Yes
Carla Smith / CTE Teacher, Renton High School / Yes
Diane Ferbrache / Librarian, Hazen High School and Library TOSA / Yes
Ellen Dorr / Director, Instructional Technology & Online Learning / Yes
Erin Morin / Elementary Literacy/Social Studies Facilitator / Yes
Julie Paddock / District Technology Facilitator / Yes
Justin Isbell / Assistant Principal, Kennydale Elementary / No
Nathan Barnes / 4th Grade Teacher, Campbell Hill / Yes
Pam Teal / School Board President / No
Nathan Burningham / Parent / No
Randy Matheson / Ex. Director, RSD Community Relations / Yes
Robert Summers / Parent of Lindbergh High School Student / No
Seymour Hanfling / Chief Technology Officer / Yes
Tom Howley / Manager, Technology Infrastructure / Yes
Tracy Dyer / Interim Principal, Dimmitt Middle School / No