In Wayzata, Minnesota, a school spies on its students(boingboing.net)
boingboing.net
In Wayzata, Minnesota, a school spies on its students
http://boingboing.net/2014/12/03/in-wayzata-minnesota-a-schoo.html
67 コメント
Funny how the same "you have nothing to hide if you're innocent" logic doesn't apply to him reading out the terms of their contract.
Surveilled reading is more dangerous than censorship, full stop.
It's frustrating people don't realize this.
It's frustrating people don't realize this.
Yet another reason I'm increasingly really disliking the client-server relationship of the Web. I'd vastly prefer a decentralized distributed content system.
And yes, that would totally gut advertising models.
And yes, that would totally gut advertising models.
If someone says you have no need for privacy if you have nothing to hide, ask to come over to their house and watch them shower and sleep.
While in HS and for 4-5 years after I ran a simple http proxy (Just enter the address you want to go to and it loads it on the server then serves up the page) for my fellow students. It was far from perfect and didn't work with a number of websites but it gave a great deal of access to content that was otherwise inaccessible. I had a couple teacher come to me to ask how to use it so they could use youtube videos in class (educational). I wrote code for my HS and so to prevent being blocked I just hosted the code on the same server (that I owned and paid for) on a subdomain of the site I wrote for the school. They couldn't block the domain (they couldn't figure out how to block just a subdomain) and they couldn't block the IP.
That worked for about a year until I graduated and then I transferred all the code to the school and they ran it on an internal machine and stopped using the URL which got blocked soon after. I still had siblings in HS and MS so I just bought 5 .info domains (dirt cheap, like $2/each and a further discount b/c I bought 5 at a time) and named them all after popular songs (The thinking being kids remember song lyrics/title easily). I then would text the mirror URL to my siblings and they would distribute them to their friends and I would also post 1-2 of the URLs on the site itself with a reporting tool to let kids let me know when a mirror they were using was blocked.
The site was not only a proxy but also hosted a couple thousand flash games (all custom PHP that I wrote at the time). The ad revenue from the games covered all my hosting costs for this site and other ones I was working on and covered the buying of new domains every few months when I had exhausted the old ones.
I had the opposite encounter with the administration though. The games were the main focus and kids were just starting to get into FB/Twitter and the admin knew me because of the programming I had done for them and so didn't care. Kids would get in trouble for playing games when their work wasn't done (as they should) but (most) teachers didn't care if they kids played games as long as they had their work done.
This story isn't super related to the linked one but I felt it was in the same vein and wanted to share. I also used SOCKS proxies out to a server I owned and booted off an external USB HD so I didn't have to deal with the locked down computers and never had an issue (though I didn't rub either in the admin's face).
That worked for about a year until I graduated and then I transferred all the code to the school and they ran it on an internal machine and stopped using the URL which got blocked soon after. I still had siblings in HS and MS so I just bought 5 .info domains (dirt cheap, like $2/each and a further discount b/c I bought 5 at a time) and named them all after popular songs (The thinking being kids remember song lyrics/title easily). I then would text the mirror URL to my siblings and they would distribute them to their friends and I would also post 1-2 of the URLs on the site itself with a reporting tool to let kids let me know when a mirror they were using was blocked.
The site was not only a proxy but also hosted a couple thousand flash games (all custom PHP that I wrote at the time). The ad revenue from the games covered all my hosting costs for this site and other ones I was working on and covered the buying of new domains every few months when I had exhausted the old ones.
I had the opposite encounter with the administration though. The games were the main focus and kids were just starting to get into FB/Twitter and the admin knew me because of the programming I had done for them and so didn't care. Kids would get in trouble for playing games when their work wasn't done (as they should) but (most) teachers didn't care if they kids played games as long as they had their work done.
This story isn't super related to the linked one but I felt it was in the same vein and wanted to share. I also used SOCKS proxies out to a server I owned and booted off an external USB HD so I didn't have to deal with the locked down computers and never had an issue (though I didn't rub either in the admin's face).
I did the same thing. Started a network of ~10 web proxy websites when I was 14, advertised on proxy.org and some link partnerships, ended up making $50 per day on adsense before crashing down to $15 a day. Sold the network on sitepoint market (now flippa) for $1200. It was the first "real money" I made online and I never looked back. :)
In high school my friends and I worked on a proxy, that using a custom build of portable FireFox on USB drives, that would connect through Germany to get us unfiltered internet. There were about a half dozen of us with the required files, settings, and knowledge to use it in the school. We were able to go 6 months before anything came up from administration, it was during a school wide assembly that it was reported that "some students were by-passing the schools firewall, and a reminder that this was against the rules." This didn't stop us. We took the knowledge that the school was looking as a bit of a challenge. Over the next couple of months we did some more work on our "product" and changed the routing to first hit the school network, check to see if it was blocked, then continue on via a proxy that we had running at one of our homes if needed. We went 2 more years without ever hearing anything from the administration about the firewall.
I say good on the author for standing up against the schools asinine blocking policies.
I say good on the author for standing up against the schools asinine blocking policies.
Their networks, their rules.
Intentionally doing things they do not want you to do is a terrible idea. I agree that the rules are stupid but the author is very lucky they haven't run into someone vindictive and stupid who called the police, or just expelled them. These things happen.
Intentionally doing things they do not want you to do is a terrible idea. I agree that the rules are stupid but the author is very lucky they haven't run into someone vindictive and stupid who called the police, or just expelled them. These things happen.
Came in to reply similarly, the rules and rights of students in school are not what children want them to be. Ignorant staff or not, the best way to get through school is to play by the rules. If you want to change those rules, you have to do so after growing up, going through college to be an educator and administrator, then joining into that system and changing it from there. It takes a lifetime of dedication, so just get your work done, hack elsewhere, stay on your own machine and you'll excel after school.
I ran into administration on multiple occasions, and within the broader laws of corporal punishment they can exact any reasonable, or unreasonable, punishments. I've heard of schools now taxing parents if students are tardy, moving the responsibility up. You don't have the same rights as an adult when you're in school, you don't get to do what you want, conversely when you do screw up you don't get as heavy handed a punishment an adult might.
Imagine the same scenario, but instead of school, this is the place you work, and instead of a school administration its the IT department bringing you in. You'll lose your job pretty darn quick right? Even if you're innocently exploring, cross the wrong person and you'll get cut.
Additionally, instead of complaining about the school we should be congratulating the kid. He or she has bucked the system, questioned authority, pushed their boundaries, found limits, and circumvented them. Don't come to their defense, it will do them no good to continue growing, instead help them back up, pat them on the back and say 'good job'. He or she is a welcome addition to society! Congrats on questioning authority and sticking to what you believe, I can't wait to see what you do.
I ran into administration on multiple occasions, and within the broader laws of corporal punishment they can exact any reasonable, or unreasonable, punishments. I've heard of schools now taxing parents if students are tardy, moving the responsibility up. You don't have the same rights as an adult when you're in school, you don't get to do what you want, conversely when you do screw up you don't get as heavy handed a punishment an adult might.
Imagine the same scenario, but instead of school, this is the place you work, and instead of a school administration its the IT department bringing you in. You'll lose your job pretty darn quick right? Even if you're innocently exploring, cross the wrong person and you'll get cut.
Additionally, instead of complaining about the school we should be congratulating the kid. He or she has bucked the system, questioned authority, pushed their boundaries, found limits, and circumvented them. Don't come to their defense, it will do them no good to continue growing, instead help them back up, pat them on the back and say 'good job'. He or she is a welcome addition to society! Congrats on questioning authority and sticking to what you believe, I can't wait to see what you do.
I cannot believe I am reading this on hacker news. Your comment is so far from the spirit of hacking that I, frankly, have no idea what the heel you are doing here. Just know that if the Apple founders had taken you advice there wouldn't have been an Apple today.
Perhaps I didn't get my point across adequately enough then, hacking is awesome, it should be encouraged and supported. However complaining that a school does what it does best, stifling the creative and curious mind, is silly. We can discuss improving schools, but I'd rather just tell this young person that they are doing well, right, and to stay curious and keep questioning things. I'd love to be more clear, but you didn't specify, what, if anything, was against the spirit of hacking or hacker news.
I was arguing against the notion that they should go the traditionalist way and become an educator to change the system, I was arguing against the school being right about their actions, I was arguing for disrupting rules that only exist to protect the status que.
> complaining that a school does what it does best, stifling the creative and curious mind, is silly.
This is exactly the opposite of what a school is supposed to do. Spreading awareness that the system is so badly broken ("complaining") is anything but silly.
This is exactly the opposite of what a school is supposed to do. Spreading awareness that the system is so badly broken ("complaining") is anything but silly.
Public school, learning environment. The administrators are ignorant, and the policy is too strict.
Even if you thought the policy is a good fit at a high school, they should be trying to use this as a chance to tune the student's interests into a classroom assignment or something rather than just tell him he's in trouble.
I help run the web proxy for a large bank. /That/ network has plenty of reasons to be completely locked down, and we even provide wifi for employees to use their devices for personal web access. My point being that I recognize the legitimate use of a proxy to secure a network from malicious software and completely inappropriate sites (for a public net) like porn, violence, etc. But this is a place that should censor as little as possible.
Even if you thought the policy is a good fit at a high school, they should be trying to use this as a chance to tune the student's interests into a classroom assignment or something rather than just tell him he's in trouble.
I help run the web proxy for a large bank. /That/ network has plenty of reasons to be completely locked down, and we even provide wifi for employees to use their devices for personal web access. My point being that I recognize the legitimate use of a proxy to secure a network from malicious software and completely inappropriate sites (for a public net) like porn, violence, etc. But this is a place that should censor as little as possible.
You're being down voted, but you have a point. Commenters nearby don't get that the school district and its administrators will be liable if kids are using school resources (bandwidth) to access controversial websites.
E.g., there's an audit and someone starts looking into the router logs, and then word leaks to the local newspaper. ("Think of the children!") So the district in effect must put in a filter. Now we're just arguing about the threshold on the filter, and it's not a matter of absolute principle, just the setting of a knob.
The same reasoning applies to a school-supplied laptop or iPad.
The situation is similar to a job-supplied network and computer. There are limits on what you should be doing on it, because it's not yours.
If you want to do whatever you want, you'd better own the resources.
E.g., there's an audit and someone starts looking into the router logs, and then word leaks to the local newspaper. ("Think of the children!") So the district in effect must put in a filter. Now we're just arguing about the threshold on the filter, and it's not a matter of absolute principle, just the setting of a knob.
The same reasoning applies to a school-supplied laptop or iPad.
The situation is similar to a job-supplied network and computer. There are limits on what you should be doing on it, because it's not yours.
If you want to do whatever you want, you'd better own the resources.
Liable for what precisely? What type of controversy? Reading naughty words? Reading opinions that disagree with the status quo? Perhaps reading a pamphlet titled Common Sense?
The district could actually not put in a filter. That is a thing they could just do. Then, when the newspapers complain, they can yes that's what they did. I promise you the world won't end.
Do you know where underage school children can go to access "controversial websites"? The public library. They can walk right in, sit down at a computer, and view the internet in all it's uncensored glory. For free. In public. As children. Shocking I know.
Also they can just use their smart phone because it seems like every kid over the age of 10 has a smart phone with internet. As best I can tell the world has still not ended.
The district could actually not put in a filter. That is a thing they could just do. Then, when the newspapers complain, they can yes that's what they did. I promise you the world won't end.
Do you know where underage school children can go to access "controversial websites"? The public library. They can walk right in, sit down at a computer, and view the internet in all it's uncensored glory. For free. In public. As children. Shocking I know.
Also they can just use their smart phone because it seems like every kid over the age of 10 has a smart phone with internet. As best I can tell the world has still not ended.
"I promise you the world won't end."
For the teacher and the school administrator, it could. We don't live in the world you're writing about.
The smart phone comparison is not the same, because the kid's parents control whether there is a phone and its settings.
The public library comparison is interesting. Not the same (because their missions are different), but interesting.
For the teacher and the school administrator, it could. We don't live in the world you're writing about.
The smart phone comparison is not the same, because the kid's parents control whether there is a phone and its settings.
The public library comparison is interesting. Not the same (because their missions are different), but interesting.
No, their world would not end. Even in the worst case scenario of getting fired their world wouldn't end. There's no need to be melodramatic.
Even in the face of public anger the school district could choose not to fire the targets of public ire. That would of course require having a backbone and principles, but it's totally a thing that could happen.
Kids look at porn at smart phones. I'm not even sorry if this bothers you. It's a thing. You can't stop it. Stop trying.
Even in the face of public anger the school district could choose not to fire the targets of public ire. That would of course require having a backbone and principles, but it's totally a thing that could happen.
Kids look at porn at smart phones. I'm not even sorry if this bothers you. It's a thing. You can't stop it. Stop trying.
"I'm not even sorry if this bothers you. It's a thing. You can't stop it. Stop trying."
I think I see. My aims have been unclear.
I'm pointing out a political reality that I feel is controlling outcomes here. I'm not staking out a personal position, because in the context of a school administration embedded in a city government with oversight by the voters, my personal position means little.
To be honest, and this is where we diverge, I'm not interested in staking an opinion on this one. The school can do whatever it wants. Let it be open, or restrict it -- whichever works.
The library case is different; there are obvious free expression interests at play there -- including patrons who rely on the library for all internet access. (Would it further irritate you to mention I've been an ACLU member since the early 1990s?)
As I mentioned, the smart phone comparison is not apropos, because parents would supply the smart phone, and what their kids do on the phone is up to their family to decide.
I think I see. My aims have been unclear.
I'm pointing out a political reality that I feel is controlling outcomes here. I'm not staking out a personal position, because in the context of a school administration embedded in a city government with oversight by the voters, my personal position means little.
To be honest, and this is where we diverge, I'm not interested in staking an opinion on this one. The school can do whatever it wants. Let it be open, or restrict it -- whichever works.
The library case is different; there are obvious free expression interests at play there -- including patrons who rely on the library for all internet access. (Would it further irritate you to mention I've been an ACLU member since the early 1990s?)
As I mentioned, the smart phone comparison is not apropos, because parents would supply the smart phone, and what their kids do on the phone is up to their family to decide.
"Commenters nearby don't get that the school district and its administrators will be liable if kids are using school resources (bandwidth) to access controversial websites."
Then teachers shouldn't assign homework activities that require use of those same websites (Twitter being one example from the article).
"Your homework assignment is to go use Twitter to find 5 spanish language articles and translate them, then tweet in spanish. Oh, and Twitter is deemed 'controversial' enough to not be allowed on school property. And you'll get a 0 on this assignment if you don't complete it".
Sweet...
Then teachers shouldn't assign homework activities that require use of those same websites (Twitter being one example from the article).
"Your homework assignment is to go use Twitter to find 5 spanish language articles and translate them, then tweet in spanish. Oh, and Twitter is deemed 'controversial' enough to not be allowed on school property. And you'll get a 0 on this assignment if you don't complete it".
Sweet...
That doesn't sound that weird at all? "Your homework assignment is to go [home and] use Twitter to [...]". If they were saying "Your in-class project is to use Twitter to find these articles. Also, Twitter is banned on the school network. And you get a 0 if you don't do it", then yes, I'd be agreeing that it's weird.
But homework is, sort of by definition, meant to be done at home. When I was in school, I would certainly take advantage of down time to get homework done early, but (until I started getting free blocks in high school) I never felt like homework was meant to be done during school hours on school grounds.
Why are teachers assigning work to be done on websites that the school network blocks? Because at home, it's the parent's job to ensure their child doesn't access material that parents object to; at school, it's the administrator's job to ensure that EVERY child doesn't access material that ANY parent can object to. That's a much more challenging proposition, and (for better or for worse), schools tend to paint with a broad brush when it comes to enforcing limits.
But homework is, sort of by definition, meant to be done at home. When I was in school, I would certainly take advantage of down time to get homework done early, but (until I started getting free blocks in high school) I never felt like homework was meant to be done during school hours on school grounds.
Why are teachers assigning work to be done on websites that the school network blocks? Because at home, it's the parent's job to ensure their child doesn't access material that parents object to; at school, it's the administrator's job to ensure that EVERY child doesn't access material that ANY parent can object to. That's a much more challenging proposition, and (for better or for worse), schools tend to paint with a broad brush when it comes to enforcing limits.
not everyone has internet access at home.
Make it a book. The school system has deemed that "Huckleberry Finn" is too controversial to be allowed in our library. Your homework assignment is to do a book report on "Huckleberry Finn".
Make it a book. The school system has deemed that "Huckleberry Finn" is too controversial to be allowed in our library. Your homework assignment is to do a book report on "Huckleberry Finn".
Public libraries don't block access to Twitter (and also carry copies of Huckleberry Finn).
"Their" networks are taxpayer funded - this isn't an issue between private parties, it's an issue between an education system misusing technology by setting noxious (and possibly abusive) policies on something that's been paid for by the public for the public good.
We have a direct interest in this.
We have a direct interest in this.
You're implying that they can make any rules they want, despite the fact that they're taxpayer funded and operating an institution intended to extend a basic right to all citizens, and with explicit goals which are in dire conflict with those rules.
How about, "our children, our rules"? I would personally like to see school rules that do not single out and punish harmless behavior from students who merely don't act "normal."
How about, "our children, our rules"? I would personally like to see school rules that do not single out and punish harmless behavior from students who merely don't act "normal."
Who gets to define what harmless and normal is? Is it you? What if that's not my definition? What if I have a really good lawyer and you don't? Then is it me?
Welcome to 21st century education.
Welcome to 21st century education.
It's almost like we need to have some sort of discussion and process instead of simplistic nonsense like "their network, their rules."
porn and hate speech filtering was a condition of the federal grant that allowed them to buy all that equipment.
If you think college will be any better, you're dead wrong. It will be worse, because the punishments are greater, the rules are more ad hoc, and the administrators are both more knowledgable and more likely to be embarrassed in the more hierarchical and bureaucratic institution.
I learned in college not to fight with administration, just focus your efforts on improving yourself and doing something great with your talents. This will someday hopefully put YOU in the position of power, and then it's your responsibility not to be a hypocrite.
I learned in college not to fight with administration, just focus your efforts on improving yourself and doing something great with your talents. This will someday hopefully put YOU in the position of power, and then it's your responsibility not to be a hypocrite.
So this might be off topic but still related, Ghostery blocked 104 trackers from this site. One hundred and four! So given that, I am a bit wary of folks claiming rights of privacy when you are throwing that many tracking devices at me.
--EDIT-- Apparently Ghostery was turned off after an upgrade (I hate when that happens) - and apparently its a recursive tracking nightmare where some load some more, and then more, and then more. I reblocked everything and now I'm showing 8 - but it does balloon to 104 for non-blocking users. If you are brave you can pause blocking and see :)
--EDIT-- Apparently Ghostery was turned off after an upgrade (I hate when that happens) - and apparently its a recursive tracking nightmare where some load some more, and then more, and then more. I reblocked everything and now I'm showing 8 - but it does balloon to 104 for non-blocking users. If you are brave you can pause blocking and see :)
I get 8, plus 12 blocked JavaScript requests, including this thing to apparently detect that I'm blocking it: http://blockmetrics.com/static/adblock_detection/js/d.min.js
BoingBoing is pretty bad, but not at all exceptional.
BoingBoing is pretty bad, but not at all exceptional.
Right? For a site that is all about 'Snowden this' and 'Manning that' you'd think they'd be a bit more reasonable about the cookies and whatnot. Not saying cookies are bad at all, they make a lot of the web work for us for free, and I am not saying those cookies on boingboing are malicious at all, but it does cause a pause for concern.
I'm using Ghostery, too, but mine is only showing 8 blocked. Are you still seeing 104?
I'm seeing 8.
It's really sad how many school officials see themselves as rule enforcers rather than education facilitators.
A kid that's arguably more knowledgeable than any of the school's IT staff is bypassing the schools federally mandated filters, and the solution is to ban him from the school's internet?! There are so many better ways of handling the situation that it's almost funny.
A kid that's arguably more knowledgeable than any of the school's IT staff is bypassing the schools federally mandated filters, and the solution is to ban him from the school's internet?! There are so many better ways of handling the situation that it's almost funny.
I was accused of "destroying" about 20 laptops (didn't boot) in 8th grade, because some other kids called me a "hacker". Later I realized that the system administrators of the school had probably broken the bootloaders or partitions and were incapable of fixing it, so they blamed it on "hackers".
All computers are full of surveillance software (Apple Remote Desktop), and there is a person constantly monitoring them (in the library and in classrooms).
The internet can only be accessed through a firewall blocking content that really shouldn't be blocked. Pages like nmap.org are blocked under the phrase "hacking". Minecraft and any pages related to games (like wikis), or even slightly related, possibly completely unrelated, were blocked for for the reason "games", as if that would have stopped people from bringing them on a USB drive. At some point I had a school project about Minecraft and was told to research. I could, but that was because of my SSH socks proxy.
It's sad that Google gets set to "safe mode" and deactivates HTTPS when accessing it from a specific IP address on the will of schools. However, that's great for WiFi sniffing and practicing the use of Ettercap.
Don't ever accept a school-provided device without removing whatever OS or ROM there is on it and flashing/installing something new.
Great choice of Arch Linux tethered to the phone (me too).
All computers are full of surveillance software (Apple Remote Desktop), and there is a person constantly monitoring them (in the library and in classrooms).
The internet can only be accessed through a firewall blocking content that really shouldn't be blocked. Pages like nmap.org are blocked under the phrase "hacking". Minecraft and any pages related to games (like wikis), or even slightly related, possibly completely unrelated, were blocked for for the reason "games", as if that would have stopped people from bringing them on a USB drive. At some point I had a school project about Minecraft and was told to research. I could, but that was because of my SSH socks proxy.
It's sad that Google gets set to "safe mode" and deactivates HTTPS when accessing it from a specific IP address on the will of schools. However, that's great for WiFi sniffing and practicing the use of Ettercap.
Don't ever accept a school-provided device without removing whatever OS or ROM there is on it and flashing/installing something new.
Great choice of Arch Linux tethered to the phone (me too).
To which you respond, "If you are not a <insert appropriate bad thing>, why are you spying on me?"
I remember that a couple of years ago a school did that the "if you're not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to hide" a little further, and spyde on kids at their homes via their webcams. I find it almost unbelievable that public official can sink so low, but apparently it did happen:
The "laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. "
- http://boingboing.net/2010/02/17/school-used-student.html
Edit: The case was apparently settled for $610,000: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School...
The "laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools' administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins's child was disciplined for "improper behavior in his home" and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. "
- http://boingboing.net/2010/02/17/school-used-student.html
Edit: The case was apparently settled for $610,000: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbins_v._Lower_Merion_School...
I can't fathom how that Vice-Principal could have possibly thought that was a good idea. Monitoring students in their homes isn't only a grotesque violation of their privacy but also just plain creepy.
Went to school here (WHS 1995). It is a top notch school district and should be embracing these kids. Seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.
I live in Austin TX now and have a 2nd grader. School district is loaded with computer science / tech industry children. His computer science teacher would give him an award if he could get around a firewall - and then have him teach the others.
I live in Austin TX now and have a 2nd grader. School district is loaded with computer science / tech industry children. His computer science teacher would give him an award if he could get around a firewall - and then have him teach the others.
The problem is bigger than this. Teachers, anyone getting a degree in education, have for decades had the lowest SAT scores of any major. We don't send our best and brightest into our schools. Then we don't promote our brightest into management roles within those schools. The result is a sadly predictable Stalinist approach to things, especially technology.
That factoid is somewhere between misleading and false.
https://educationrealist.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/teacher-qu...
https://educationrealist.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/teacher-qu...
It's neither. Instead of a blog, here's CBS news article from 2011:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heres-the-nations-easiest-colleg...
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heres-the-nations-easiest-colleg...
I coulda sworn those goalposts were over there.
Notice that that blog post references undergraduate grades, and that the parent to my post, as well as the post to which I link, mentions SAT scores. A global inflation in teachers' undergraduate grades does not imply those teachers are unqualified.
Also notice that the blog post I reference, in turn references this in-depth report on teacher quality.
http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/TQ_full_report...
Notice that that blog post references undergraduate grades, and that the parent to my post, as well as the post to which I link, mentions SAT scores. A global inflation in teachers' undergraduate grades does not imply those teachers are unqualified.
Also notice that the blog post I reference, in turn references this in-depth report on teacher quality.
http://www.ets.org/Media/Education_Topics/pdf/TQ_full_report...
For 2013, the average SAT score for declared Education majors in the area of critical reading was 481, it was 485 in mathematics, and 476 in writing. That's around the 26th place out of 38. It's not great by any stretch of the imagination, but it has been consistently near area that for decades.
That's not exactly "the lowest SAT of any major". That place is held consistently by either 'Other,' 'Mechanic and repair' or 'construction'. So, there's that.
Stop spreading misinformation based on belief instead of facts. The 'Stalinist' approach to things, especially technology stems more from outside entities claiming to know what's best for education and cramming the same reforms down our throats on a rotating 5 year cycle for the last four or five decades. Ever notice that everyone has a theory about how to fix education? Ever wonder how many of those theories are based in research?
That's not exactly "the lowest SAT of any major". That place is held consistently by either 'Other,' 'Mechanic and repair' or 'construction'. So, there's that.
Stop spreading misinformation based on belief instead of facts. The 'Stalinist' approach to things, especially technology stems more from outside entities claiming to know what's best for education and cramming the same reforms down our throats on a rotating 5 year cycle for the last four or five decades. Ever notice that everyone has a theory about how to fix education? Ever wonder how many of those theories are based in research?
Yes, it has been improving recently, but most of the manager class out there were hired further back. That's not misinformation or belief; it's numbers which I've observed personally. What do you think the federal level you object to have their degree in?
CBS news article from 2011:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heres-the-nations-easiest-colleg...
CBS news article from 2011:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/heres-the-nations-easiest-colleg...
That CBS article doesn't say anything about the SAT other than making the same assertion you made. And given your snark about blogging in your other reply, it seems fair to point out that the author of your link is more of a guest blogger than she is a hard hitting journalist.
I feel like some teachers get way too hard on the tiny amount of power they are delegated.
Ofc, most of my teachers were great, but at the same time some of the worst adults I've ever met were teachers.
Ofc, most of my teachers were great, but at the same time some of the worst adults I've ever met were teachers.
The most amazing thing to me is that if you had a student that demonstrated extreme aptitude and interest in any other subject in school they'd be looked at in the best possible light. But if it involves computers, they're a "hacker".
I'm sorry to see how little this has changed in fifteen years.
I'm sorry to see how little this has changed in fifteen years.
If people were doing things outside the authorized rules with their chemistry sets, for example, you can bet administrators would be pissed about that too.
I don't agree with the school's response, but I also don't buy kids hiding behind the "aptitude for computers" thing. In high school, I was programming in C++. Took a class in it. Got praised for it. You can display aptitude and interest in computers without indulging your adolescent urges to toe the line with the rules.
I don't agree with the school's response, but I also don't buy kids hiding behind the "aptitude for computers" thing. In high school, I was programming in C++. Took a class in it. Got praised for it. You can display aptitude and interest in computers without indulging your adolescent urges to toe the line with the rules.
I graduated from high school in 2010 and had a few of these same meetings with administrators and the like. Luckily for me, one of the computer teachers was kind enough to encourage me behind the scenes and give me more constructive things to do with my time (making websites for small businesses, writing programs for science class simulations, etc.). More kids like the author need that positive encouragement.
I currently go to this school and they actually blocked this specific article, claiming it contains "prohibited forums content"
An alternative around this is to use a mobile hotspot but most high school kids can't afford them.
any kid with a data planned cell phone and minor abilities in computers has a mobile hotspot.
More people should be upvoting this. Especially Americans.
Even more so, any American with children, like me. The treatment this guy received is unethical at best - if the adults in charge don't know what the (insert expletive here) they are doing when being paid for it, harassing an educated person, regardless of age, because they are smarter & better with technology is in no way a solution.
What we need to do is stop educating the Americans we have, "Free speech," if these policies are reflective of the modern nation state we've built. If that's not the case and we still value some form of, "Free speech," then the way this has been handled should be investigated and dealt with.
Not yet another Benghazi investigation. Seriously.
Even more so, any American with children, like me. The treatment this guy received is unethical at best - if the adults in charge don't know what the (insert expletive here) they are doing when being paid for it, harassing an educated person, regardless of age, because they are smarter & better with technology is in no way a solution.
What we need to do is stop educating the Americans we have, "Free speech," if these policies are reflective of the modern nation state we've built. If that's not the case and we still value some form of, "Free speech," then the way this has been handled should be investigated and dealt with.
Not yet another Benghazi investigation. Seriously.
Mm, I don't think this really has anything to do with free speech. No one's speech is being restricted here. They're being prevented from doing off-hours activity on school grounds. Whether that helps or harms in a school's educational goals is an open question. But it's not a restriction of free speech in any meaningful way.
What's more concerning to me is school administrators who are so quick with the stick when they could be using a carrot instead. Give this kid a study hour to work on stuff with the IT guy. Probably he could do a lot of good work for the school, effectively for free, and he'd have no reason to keep up the circumvention game.
Which, to be clear, is what this is. It's fun to break the rules and feel you're speaking truth to power. I know I did that in high school, even taking apart a computer to remove the CMOS battery to reset the BIOS password to launch a different OS. No good reason for it, it's just fun. The trouble is it's a dangerous game this kid is playing. And it needn't be, they could turn this into a great learning opportunity.
But no, school administrators keep up their tiny dictatorship image, and this kid will get expelled or something. Oh well.
What's more concerning to me is school administrators who are so quick with the stick when they could be using a carrot instead. Give this kid a study hour to work on stuff with the IT guy. Probably he could do a lot of good work for the school, effectively for free, and he'd have no reason to keep up the circumvention game.
Which, to be clear, is what this is. It's fun to break the rules and feel you're speaking truth to power. I know I did that in high school, even taking apart a computer to remove the CMOS battery to reset the BIOS password to launch a different OS. No good reason for it, it's just fun. The trouble is it's a dangerous game this kid is playing. And it needn't be, they could turn this into a great learning opportunity.
But no, school administrators keep up their tiny dictatorship image, and this kid will get expelled or something. Oh well.
Free speech as in, doing investigation into what policies are and how they are setup. Read the article, they are restricting speech in the sense that they aren't sharing what they're doing in monitoring usage of the device, networks, etc.
Is it so hard to publish the, "Rules of the road?" In my day, we called them, "Terms of Service," for private companies and public institutions have laws, etc, that govern their operation. All of that is how the system, near as I've ever been able to figure out, should function.
Then this happens, when a kid can't actually find out what policies are or why, or who implemented them, or what rule was triggered to ban / block certain things, that run counter to the established curriculum...again, read the article.
My children have multiple passports and I know very well how restrictions work in multiple countries, having worked in three so far full time for long enough to need to know. The way the high school in the article is being run, as well as the opaque nature of the system administrators rules, is abhorrent.
Tax payer money being spent to...enshrine and embiggen the ego of some two bit hack who can't get a job in the private sector because their technical skills aren't up to par? From the sound of it, this may be the case. Sorry but regardless of public or private sector, a person needs to be qualified to hold the job they are hired to do.
Somebody, please, fire the webmaster and the director here. Then let's start implementing some transparent policies or dump the notion of, "Free speech."
Is it so hard to publish the, "Rules of the road?" In my day, we called them, "Terms of Service," for private companies and public institutions have laws, etc, that govern their operation. All of that is how the system, near as I've ever been able to figure out, should function.
Then this happens, when a kid can't actually find out what policies are or why, or who implemented them, or what rule was triggered to ban / block certain things, that run counter to the established curriculum...again, read the article.
My children have multiple passports and I know very well how restrictions work in multiple countries, having worked in three so far full time for long enough to need to know. The way the high school in the article is being run, as well as the opaque nature of the system administrators rules, is abhorrent.
Tax payer money being spent to...enshrine and embiggen the ego of some two bit hack who can't get a job in the private sector because their technical skills aren't up to par? From the sound of it, this may be the case. Sorry but regardless of public or private sector, a person needs to be qualified to hold the job they are hired to do.
Somebody, please, fire the webmaster and the director here. Then let's start implementing some transparent policies or dump the notion of, "Free speech."
> Then this happens, when a kid can't actually find out what policies are or why, or who implemented them, or what rule was triggered to ban / block certain things, that run counter to the established curriculum...again, read the article.
I did read the article, and there's no mention of what the student did to find any of this out. Did he ask anyone?
You seem to be jumping to conclusions based on a one-sided account.
My reading of this piece is that it's petulance, a child who doesn't get it that school internet access is not a right (hell, when I was in high school, there was one computer in the library that had access at all).
When you use a school's internet service, you're subject to the rules of such privileges, and the administrator (in this case the DoT) is the final rulemaker. Don't like it? Do what he's doing now, and get your own internet service.
I did read the article, and there's no mention of what the student did to find any of this out. Did he ask anyone?
You seem to be jumping to conclusions based on a one-sided account.
My reading of this piece is that it's petulance, a child who doesn't get it that school internet access is not a right (hell, when I was in high school, there was one computer in the library that had access at all).
When you use a school's internet service, you're subject to the rules of such privileges, and the administrator (in this case the DoT) is the final rulemaker. Don't like it? Do what he's doing now, and get your own internet service.
The voters that elect the school board are the final rule makers. Not the bureaucrats charged with carrying out the policies set by the school board.
The actions of this student are easy to look at as activism designed to influence those voters.
The actions of this student are easy to look at as activism designed to influence those voters.
We see that issue throughout this thread, voters don't get to make the final rules in most things. They elect the school board, or elect whomever chooses the school board, and they put their trust in the ideals which that candidate has sold so that they rules that end up being put in place are most like the ones the voter would have chosen themselves. If the voters candidate doesn't win, or their candidate does win but changes his or her tune, that voter has little to no recourse until the next voting cycle. Voters don't get to set the minutia.
Furthermore, for smaller government bodies, voters outside of the residential area for that government body don't have a vote at all! You have to go even higher to put your faith in a state or county school board candidate.
Furthermore, for smaller government bodies, voters outside of the residential area for that government body don't have a vote at all! You have to go even higher to put your faith in a state or county school board candidate.
Yeah, this idea that democracy is a good thing all on its own (which at least seems to have gained strength in my lifetime, maybe I've started paying more attention) is quite dangerous.
It's an important part of our system, but I'm not sure we should celebrate when important and far reaching decisions are made on a 51/49 basis.
I think we just are talking about slightly different things. Of course mechanistically, voters, as you say, have to put up with what they get. But philosophically, their agents (the board and those the board hires) are meant to act in their interests.
It's an important part of our system, but I'm not sure we should celebrate when important and far reaching decisions are made on a 51/49 basis.
I think we just are talking about slightly different things. Of course mechanistically, voters, as you say, have to put up with what they get. But philosophically, their agents (the board and those the board hires) are meant to act in their interests.
Transparent policies are hard to find. I used to work at the hospital in my city, it's the second largest employer in this area. I was tasked with getting the policies and procedures, both administrative and medical, onto the intranet. Having these policies online was a requirement for their accreditation and, at first, everyone thought this was a great idea.
Actually getting it done, however, proved nearly impossible. The majority of departments (clinical departments included) literally had no documentation of their policies or procedures, the ones that did (i.e, human resources) insisted that they were out-of-date or not suitable for reading by employees. Eventually I was told to drop the issue entirely and simply post the few, out-of-date and known incorrect policies that I had on hand. The remainder of the policies posted to the intranet were purchased, en masse and without vetting, from the company that produced the document management software (that is, though they might appear legitamite no one had actually read them and it's unlikely they described what people were actually doing).
Perhaps I am just naive but the big surprise to me was how those in power understood that clear documentation placed bounds on the extent of their power and introduced accountability; providing a very clear dis-incentive for them to write such documentation. In fact, the organization as a whole appeared to agree with this position and willfully mis-represented their documentation to the accreditation organization, something that posed very real risks to the organization itself (dates were changed on existing documentation, the canned articles were presented as if they represented real policy and procedure).
TLDR: I am not surprised there isn't a clear internet policy at this school. I am surprised they spelled out the extent of their snooping in a contract that was passed out with the iPads. At least there's that.
Actually getting it done, however, proved nearly impossible. The majority of departments (clinical departments included) literally had no documentation of their policies or procedures, the ones that did (i.e, human resources) insisted that they were out-of-date or not suitable for reading by employees. Eventually I was told to drop the issue entirely and simply post the few, out-of-date and known incorrect policies that I had on hand. The remainder of the policies posted to the intranet were purchased, en masse and without vetting, from the company that produced the document management software (that is, though they might appear legitamite no one had actually read them and it's unlikely they described what people were actually doing).
Perhaps I am just naive but the big surprise to me was how those in power understood that clear documentation placed bounds on the extent of their power and introduced accountability; providing a very clear dis-incentive for them to write such documentation. In fact, the organization as a whole appeared to agree with this position and willfully mis-represented their documentation to the accreditation organization, something that posed very real risks to the organization itself (dates were changed on existing documentation, the canned articles were presented as if they represented real policy and procedure).
TLDR: I am not surprised there isn't a clear internet policy at this school. I am surprised they spelled out the extent of their snooping in a contract that was passed out with the iPads. At least there's that.
They're being prevented from doing off-hours activity on school grounds.
The article clearly states that it's not just "off-hours" activities that are being blocked.
Our censorware, however, blocks material ranging from Twitter to comic books. Meanwhile, students are told to use Twitter as part of our Spanish classes and our school offers a course on comic books. Beyond blocking sites that are used in classes, there are also many false positives.
The article clearly states that it's not just "off-hours" activities that are being blocked.
Our censorware, however, blocks material ranging from Twitter to comic books. Meanwhile, students are told to use Twitter as part of our Spanish classes and our school offers a course on comic books. Beyond blocking sites that are used in classes, there are also many false positives.
He was punished (denied a school-issued iPad intended to be given to every student, internet access cut off) merely for reading out loud a contract that everyone was being told to agree to. Sounds like a free speech issue to me.
> they could turn this into a great learning opportunity.
Unfortunately, in this day of NCLB, unless its a great "preparation for taking a standardized test" opportunity they're uninterested.
Unfortunately, in this day of NCLB, unless its a great "preparation for taking a standardized test" opportunity they're uninterested.
This librarian is a bad librarian who must have dumped whatever he or she learned as part of their MLS program. Librarians are against filtering, they are against censorship, it is written into the code of ethics of the American Library Association. Librarians understand the chilling effect that privacy intrusions create. Protecting the privacy of library patrons is a central tenet of being a librarian and in my opinion this librarian needs to have an attitude change or lose their job.
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/proethics/codeofethics/codeethic...
http://www.ala.org/advocacy/privacyconfidentiality
Librarians fight censorship and privacy intrusions, they stand up for their patrons and fight school boards and other government agencies. They have fought the controversial patriot act provisions that required revealing library records to law enforcement without informing the affected patrons.
This librarian makes me so mad.