There are 9 messages totalling 607 lines in this issue. Topics in this special issue:
1. K12> Online Curriculum kicks off with live Shuttle Communications 2. K12> Linking Their Thinking at MIT 3. LISTS> "MakingHistory" - History and Archaeology Lists 4. K12> Violence stops "Stop the Violence" program :o) 5. MISC> [netsites] noattacks 6. K12> Technology For Learning Symposium - Register Today! 7. RESOUR> Canada--Historical Database Prototype Now Available Online 8. K12> ALA CIPA 9. K12> S.O.S. -- Help for Busy Teachers (Site 42): Ode to Drivers ***************************************** For individual postings, send the message: set net-happenings mail to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe, click and send (no body or subject: required) mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Net-happenings mailing list is a service of Classroom Connect - http://www.classroom.com Archives for Net-happenings can be found at: http://www.classroom.com/community/email/archives.jhtml?A0=NET-HAPPENINGS Newsgroups: news:comp.internet.net-happenings http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&GROUP;=comp.internet.net-happenings ******************************************* ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:32:24 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: K12> Online Curriculum kicks off with live Shuttle Communications Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 08:17:45 -0400 From: "K.Ellis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Online Curriculum kicks off with live Shuttle Communications To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [Please post to interested lists] I understand that at some point today NASA will try to launch a rocket. If you want to listen to the live conversation between the astronauts and the command center, you can through the internet radio station link below. Site for live Shuttle Communications http://www.chron.com/content/interactive/space/missions/live/live.ram You may also be interested in finding out how to integrate this event to launch your own online curriculum about radio, and learn how to do something with it in your classroom. click on Become a lifeguard - Guard our Airwaves YOU can save lives learn Morse Code Ham radios in the aftermath of 11 September 2001 <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Technology/Crystal_Radio_kits_online!.html> Explanation of wireless communication . . . "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat." -- Albert Einstein best, Karen Ellis <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> The Educational CyberPlayGround http://www.cyberpg.com/ 7 Hot Site Awards New York Times, USA Today , MSNBC, Earthlink, USA Today & Best Bets For Educators, Macworld Top Fifty Guavaberry Books <http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/culdesac/ReadingModule/domino/_DOMINO_.html> Diversity University Collaboratory Mailing List ISSN:1529-7861 http://www.cyberpg.com/diversity.html Cul De Sac Online Curriculum Mailing List ISSN: 1531-7196 http://www.cyberpg.com/culdesac/Home_culdesac.html <>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<>~~~~~<> ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:35:09 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: K12> Linking Their Thinking at MIT To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 15:54:07 -0400 Linking Their Thinking -- Researchers at MIT's Media Lab work to link burgeoning technologies to education http://www.edweek.org/ew/newstory.cfm?slug=20mit.h21&keywords=linking%20their%20thinking "Pretend you know how to do this: Take a digital camera and wire it to a global positioning satellite receiver, and, for good measure, stick on a digital compass. Could such a contraption?if you could make it?help kids learn? Well, Brian Smith thinks so." Anton __________ Anton Ninno, K12 Tech Integration Trainer E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Voice: 315-431-8407 Web: http://www.ocmboces.org/ Onondaga-Cortland-Madison BOCES 6820 Thompson Road, Syracuse, NY 13221 NYGPS http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nygps/ RIC http://www.classroom.com/community/email/archives.jhtml?A0=RIC ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:35:09 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: LISTS> "MakingHistory" - History and Archaeology Lists Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 15:01:24 -0500 From: Cami McCraw <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "MakingHistory" - History and Archaeology Lists Advertise and promote your history and archaeology lists. Open membership. Moderated to keep out spam. Open archives will help the search engines outside of Yahoo to pick up your advertisement. Post as often as once a week. Only listowners may promote, but anyone may join to find lists. Advertise lists only at this time (not websites), covering ancient history - Vietnam war. Subscribe at the website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MakingHistory Subscribe by e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:35:09 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: K12> Violence stops "Stop the Violence" program :o) Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 16:13:44 EDT From: Jerry Taylor <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Violence stops "Stop the Violence" program :o) To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Port Arthur, TX school district canceled the performance of an anti-violence play after fighting broke out among some of the 500 high school students watching it a day earlier. Thomas Jefferson High School students presented "Stop the Violence," a play about conflict resolution and the consequences of violence, in the school auditorium for all three high schools. The performance was part of the school district's annual Peace Week, five days of events that encourage peaceful solutions to problems. The full story can be found at: http://www.southeasttexaslive.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=3474295&BRD=2287&PAG=46 1&dept_id=481650&rfi=6 Jerry Taylor Technology Integration Teacher Greece, NY School District Web page: jerrytaylor.homepage.com "If you think that there is good in everybody, you obviously haven't met everybody." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:35:09 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: MISC> [netsites] noattacks From: "Alan S. Harrell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [netsites] noattacks Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 16:14:23 -0700 noattacks http://www.noattacks.org/ Children and asthma - learn how to react to their attacks and how to prevent them. Alan [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:35:09 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: K12> Technology For Learning Symposium - Register Today! Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 21:25:47 -0400 From: EDTECH Editor-Eiffert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Technology For Learning Symposium - Register Today! To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Frederick Delventhal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The Arlington Technology for Learning Symposium will be back for the third year on June 25-26, 2002 at Wakefield High School in Arlington VA. You will find the catalog, registration form and other information at http://www.arlington.k12.va.us/symposia/ . This premier technology conference for educators will feature over 120 hands-on workshops, 50 concurrent sessions with master teachers, and keynote addresses by luminaries Alan November and Chris Moersch. Symposium workshops will focus on technology integration and Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel skills. Some workshops will take place in one session while others will cover multiple (two, three or four) sessions to provide in depth training in using a software application or device in your classroom. Participants will be able to attend 2 hands-on workshop sessions each day! The Symposium registration fee is $50 for both days or $25 per day. This fee makes it one of the most affordable conferences available. The Technology for Learning Symposium is funded in part by a Technology Literacy Challenge Grant and Northern Virginia Technology in Education Consortium (NOVATEC). If you have any further questions, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Frederick Delventhal Instructional Technology Coordinator Instructional Media & Technology Arlington Public Schools 2801 Clarendon Blvd. Suite 312 Arlington, VA 22201 Pager 703-612-1586 AOL instant messenger I.D. - fdelventhal -------------------------- Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself - and be lenient to everybody else. - - Henry Ward Beecher --- Edtech Archives, posting guidelines and other information are at: http://www.h-net.msu.edu/~edweb Please include your name, email address, and school or professional affiliation in each posting. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:38:39 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RESOUR> Canada--Historical Database Prototype Now Available Online Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 22:10:40 -0400 From: gary <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Canada--Historical Database Prototype Now Available Online To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I just posted this to the VAS&ND weblog. Census--Canada Genealogy--Databases--Canada Source: National Archives of Canada Prototype Now Available: Census of Canada, 1901 http://www.archives.ca/02/020122_e.html From the site, "Through this research tool you can access digitized images of the original census returns, which record age, nationality, religion, profession, income, education, etc for every single resident of Canada on 31 March 1901. The database behind this research tool allows you to search by geographic location. As these are copies of the original records, they are not searchable by family name." Happy Searching! cheers, gary =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-= All postings to LM_NET are protected under copyright law. To quit LM_NET (or set-reset NOMAIL or DIGEST, etc.) send email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the message write EITHER: 1) SIGNOFF LM_NET 2) SET LM_NET NOMAIL or 3) SET LM_NET DIGEST 4) SET LM_NET MAIL * Please allow for confirmation from Listserv. For LM_NET Help see: http://ericir.syr.edu/lm_net/ Archives: http://askeric.org/Virtual/Listserv_Archives/LM_NET.shtml See also EL-Announce for announcements from library media vendors: http://www.mindspring.com/~el-announce/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-= ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:38:39 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: K12> ALA CIPA Date: Fri, 31 May 2002 21:31:54 -0700 From: Nancy Willard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> The three-judge panel held that "we are constrained to conclude that the library plaintiffs must prevail in their contention that CIPA requires them to violate the First Amendment rights of their patrons, and accordingly is facially invalid"; the three-judge panel sitting in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania ruled Sections 1712(a)(2) and 1721(b) of the Children's Internet Protection Act to be facially invalid under the First Amendment and permanently enjoined the government from enforcing those provisions. The ruling can be obtained at: http://www.paed.uscourts.gov/documents/opinions/02D0415P.HTM This case did not directly address the constitutionality of CIPA from the perspective of schools. However, I believe that the findings of fact and conclusions of law made by the judge raise significant concerns regarding the constitutionality of the use of filtering software in schools, as well as the constitutionality of CIPA. I have prepared the following overview of the court decision. I will be working on a more detailed analysis. Schools are in a difficult position at this point in time -- being required to comply with a law that is forcing them to take actions that will likely, in the future, be found to be unconstitutional. When courts consider the constitutionality of a requirement that is tied to funding, they use a 4-part test that was first developed in the case of South Dakota v. Dole. Only one part of this test is relevant in this case -- this is the question of whether the government is CIPA requires libraries to violate the constitutional rights of their patrons. Therefore, it is necessary to consider whether or not the use of filtering violates the constitutional right of free speech of library patrons. This is an important underlying issue. Because not only does the court address the constitutionality of CIPA, a specific statute, the court is also addressing the constitutionality of the actions mandated by CIPA -- the use of filtering software in public libraries. When courts address free speech rights, they first address the type of forum. There are three basic types of forums: 1. Public forums -- such as sidewalks and parks. 2. Limited public forums -- such as public libraries and schools. 3. Non-public forums. The legal standard for analysis for public forums is whether the restriction is narrowly tailored to further a compelling government interest and no less restrictive alternative would serve that interest. In a limited public forum, the government is generally permitted to place limits related to speakers or subject matter, as long as they do not discriminate based on viewpoint. As noted, generally public libraries have been considered to be limited public forums. In this case, however, the court ruled that access to the Internet in public libraries should be considered under the standard for public forums. This determination of forum is what makes the decision not directly applicable to schools. It is unlikely that access to the Internet in school would, or should, be considered a public forum. It is reasonable to assume that access to the Internet in schools should continue to be considered a limited public forum. It is, and should be, perfectly appropriate for school officials to make place restrictions based on educational standards regarding what material students can and cannot access on the Internet. However, they may not do so if there is discrimination based on viewpoint -- and this is a critical issue. It is important to note the degree to which the court found that access to the Internet is in accord with the principles of the First Amendment. Which is why they applied public forum standards, rather than limited public forum standards. They quoted the following statement from Lessig (a constitutional lawyer): "The architecture of the Internet, as it is right now, is perhaps the most important model of free speech since the founding ... Two hundred years after the framers ratified the Constitution, the Net has taught us what the First Amendment means ... The model for speech that the framers embraced was the model of the Internet - distributed, noncentralized, fully free and diverse." Compare this statement to the standard regarding student access to information presented in the Pico case, the leading case on student rights of acccess to information: "(T)he state may not, consistent with the spirit of the First Amendment, contract the spectrum of available knowledge. In keeping with this principle, we have held that is a variety of contexts the Constitution protects the right to receive information and ideas.... (J)ust as access to ideas makes it possible for citizens generally to exercise their rights of free speech and press in a meaningful manner, such access prepares students for active participation in the pluralistic, often contentious society in which they will soon be adult members. ... (S)tudents must always be free to inquire, to study and to evaluate, to gain new maturity and understanding. The school library is the principle locus of such freedom. ... In the school library, a student can literally explore the unknown, and discover areas of interest and thought not covered by the prescribed curriculum. >From an educational perspective, it is important to consider the findings and analysis in the case: o Regarding the effectiveness of filters: "(W)e find that commercially available filtering programs erroneously block a huge amount of speech that is protected by the First Amendment." "(A)utomated review processes, even those based on artificial intelligence, are unable with any consistency to distinguish accurately material that falls within a category definition from material that does not. Moreover, human review of URLs is hampered by filtering companies' limited staff sizes, and by human error or misjudgement." "Any software filter that is reasonably effective in blocking access to Web pages that fall within its category definitions will necessarily erroneously block a substantial number of Web pages that do not fall within its category descriptions." o Regarding other methods that may be less restrictive: The court found that libraries were using a variety of methods to regulate use. Two of these methods are most relevant in a school setting. "The first category - channeling patron's Internet use - frequently includes offering training to patrons on how to use the Internet, including how to access information that they want and to avoid the materials they do not want. Another technique that libraries use to direct patrons to pages the libraries have determined to be accurate and valuable is to establish links to "recommended Web sites" from the public library's home page." A third set of techniques that public libraries have used to enforce their Internet use policies ... (is) placing all of the library's public Internet terminals in prominent and visible locations." The other two categories used by libraries are providing privacy and using filtering software. The above two methods are important because they related directly to the recommendations that were provided in the recently published report by the National Research Council, Youth, Pornography, and the Internet. This report also noted that filtering technologies (which the chair referred to as "technological quick fixes") can be effective in blocking access to unwanted material "if the inability to access large amounts of appropriate material is acceptable." "The conclusion of the NRC report is: While both technology and policy have important roles to play, social and educational strategies to develop in minors an ethic of responsible choice and the skills to effectuate those choices and to cope with exposure are foundational to protecting children from negative effects that may result from exposure to inappropriate material or experiences on the Internet." The report chided school officials for seeking "surrogates to fulfill the responsibilities of training and supervision needed to truly protect children from inappropriate sexual materials on the Internet." o Regarding the ability to disable the filter. The court noted that there were many reasons why this presented difficulties, including the fact that patrons may not wish to request access to material that is sensitive in nature, the time it takes to unblock a sites, and the fact that it is inappropriate to place this burden on the patron. The court concluded: "(E)ven if patrons requested unblocking every time a site is erroneously blocked, and even if the library staff granted such request, a public library's use of blocking software would still impermissibly burden patrons' access to speech based on its content." This issue is very relevant in schools because of the finding contained in the NRC report that students do not regularly request access to inappropriately blocked sites when using the Internet in schools. o Regarding blocking based on viewpoint discrimination. The issue the court unfortunately did not address, because it applied the constitutional standard related to public forums, rather than the standard related to limited public forums, is the question of preventing access to information based on viewpoint discrimination. There are findings of fact that relate to this specific issue. "(C)ategory definitions and categorization decisions are made without reference to local community standards." "The actual URLs or IP addresses of the Web sites or pages contained in the vendors' category lists are considered to be proprietary information and are unavailable for review by customers or the general public..." "While the way in which filtering programs operate is conceptually straightforward ... accurately compiling and categorizing URLs to form the category lists is a more complex process that is impossible to conduct with any high degree of accuracy. The specific methods that filtering software companies use to compile and categorize lists are, like the lists themselves, proprietary information." "Given the speed at which human reviewers must work to keep up with even a fraction of the approximately 1.5 million pages added to the publicly indexable Web each day, human error is inevitable. Errors are likely to result from boredom or lack of attentiveness, overzealousness, or a desire to 'err on the side of caution' by screening out material that might be offensive to some customers, even if it does not fit within any of the company's categories." The specific language of the court "overzealousness, or a desire to 'err on the side of caution' by screening out material that might be offensive to some customers" gives significant reason to believe that filtering companies are, indeed, blocking access to information based on inappropriate viewpoint discrimination. The fact that companies are protecting what and how they are blocking as proprietary trade secrets presents significant concerns regarding this issue. In sum, this decision holds: o The Internet promotes important First Amendment values. o Filtering software programs erroneously block a huge amount of speech that is protected by the First Amendment. o Even if the ability to disable the filter to provide access to erroneously blocked material was totally effective, which it is not, blocking software would still impermissibly burden access to speech based on its content. o Filtering companies protect their criteria, lists, and blocking processes as proprietary information, but it is clear that sites are blocked based on overzealousness and a desire to err on the side of caution. (This leads to an assumption that sites are being blocked based on viewpoint discrimination.) o There are less restrictive alternatives available to address concerns of access to inappropriate materials on the Internet. Those strategies include education and supervision. These strategies are the very same strategies that were recommended by the NRC as being the preferable approach to address the concerns of youth access to inappropriate material. If it should be assumed that the use of the Internet in schools would be considered a limited public forum, which is a logical and probably appropriate assumption, the findings of fact and conclusions of law presented in this case lead to this conclusion: The use of commercially available filtering software in schools is probably unconstitutional, especially when used with secondary students, because it is blocking access to material that is constitutionally protected based on viewpoint discrimination. An argument could probably be made that the goal of protecting elementary students for inappropriate material (not that filtering software always does this) would override the constitutional concerns. But if schools are seeking to prepare students for active participation in the pluralistic, often contentious society in which they will soon be adult members, they simply cannot do so using technologies that restrict access to information based on the decisions made by filtering companies. Nancy Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D. Director, Responsible Netizen Center for Advanced Technology in Education 5214 University of Oregon, College of Education Eugene, Oregon 97405 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] URL: http://netizen.uoregon.edu ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Jun 2002 07:38:39 -0500 From: Gleason Sackmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: K12> S.O.S. -- Help for Busy Teachers (Site 42): Ode to Drivers Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2002 06:14:47 -0400 From: Kathleen Schrock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: S.O.S. -- Help for Busy Teachers (Site 42): Ode to Drivers To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] _______________________________________________________ SOS: Help for Busy Teachers ________________________________________________________ Sites-of-the-School Days a weekly update to Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators on Discovery Channel School - http://www.discoveryschool.com/ ________________________________________________________ Site 42 Ode to Drivers http://kathyschrock.net/ode/ ...as a fitting end to the school year, I thought I would share this poem, written by a former student as a retirement present for a teacher in our district; it makes one stop and think about the lasting impact we have on our students. Have a wonderful summer vacation! See you in September! ______________________________________________________________________ Visit this and previous Sites-of-the-School Days by going to the following page http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/sos.html and clicking on an entry! To receive daily updates Send an e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Put SUBSCRIBE DCS-SCHROCK in the body of the message Discovery Channel School "The Thrill of Discovery in Your Classroom" http://www.discoveryschool.com/ ================================================= Kathleen Schrock, MLS ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) Kathy Schrock's Guide for Educators http://discoveryschool.com/schrockguide/ Administrator for Technology Nauset Public Schools 78 Eldredge Park Way, Orleans MA 02653 508-255-0016 x216 (FAX: 508-240-2351) ------------------------------ End of NET-HAPPENINGS Digest - 31 May 2002 to 3 Jun 2002 - Special issue (#2002-351) ************************************************************************************
