Is it better to have surfed and lost………..?

I’ve been robbed!

A recent change in the source of the Internet feed to my place of work meant that overnight (there was no warning of the switchover) we went from having an Internet feed that was free from restrictive filtering to the same level of ‘protection’ that primary schools have to endure. So, now, every other visit to a site or blog that happens to belong to a category such as social networking is blocked, and I see this logo a lot.

Somebody, somewhere, whose job is probably not about teaching & learning, has decided that the work and commentaries of luminaries such as Ewan McIntosh and Andrew Brown are off limits for folks such as me and primary colleagues. In case you can’t make the links, these guys both work for Learning and Teaching Scotland and write about topics such as Glow and other developing technologies within Scottish schools.

My job involves supporting pupils who have additional support needs to gain access to the curriculum both in school and at home using assistive technology. A significant part of my work involves running training for teachers, bringing in visiting lecturers from various academic establishments, carrying out research on behalf of pupils and our teachers and, as you’d expect, I (used to!!) rely on the Internet a great deal.

I’ve heard primary teachers complaining about these restrictions for ages and I’m just sorry that I haven’t paid enough attention to their plight as it wasn’t affecting me directly. Now I really know what they’re up against.

If we expect teachers to take on the challenges of using ICT to support the new Scottish curriculum then issues such as these have to be positively addressed. Failure to allow teachers their own discretion over the choice of resources and their access to appropriate professional and personal development will both restrict and dilute the potential benefits of ICT in education.

As Doug Dickinson ( who is, happily, not blocked - for now!) pointed out recently to a group of Head Teachers - ‘We don’t teach road safety by banning cars from our network of roads - instead, we hold our children’s hands until they are ready to look, listen and look again for themselves.’