[MACEP] GOOGLE aps and domains

[Paul Nelson]

On 2/7/07, Mike Cullum <mcullum at nsd.org> wrote:
>
>  OK.  I have probably been wearing a tie for to many years, but I have to
> ask.
>
>  How comfortable to you feel that we can guarantee compliance with CIPA if
> we begin moving our students to using the full Google suite?  Does Google
> give any administrative tools when you do a registered domain with them?
>
>  Mike
>
snip...

You do have full control over the domain. You can turn off/on student
accounts and services at will. For example, I could turn off email for
the summer. You can also change and set individual passwords for
students if they have been breaking the rules.

Google is working with educators to make these services useful. They
are asking for feedback. Two of my top issues are some level of
control beyond normal Google spam filtering and the ability to
restrict users to safe search. I can set that from the domain
preferences page for the domain but I'm not sure that a student can't
turn off this feature. Note that the right way to do this is to send
all google searches through a district proxy that would enforce the
safe search settings.

I think all students need access to email and a full suite of web 2.0
tools in schools and they need to know how to use them (as well as
teachers.) I'm not sure how to make that happen but turning off access
to google is not my idea of what's in the best interests of students.

My son is working in DC for a consulting firm. Employees are all over
town. The main way the company interacts is over IM. So, how well are
we preparing our students to use the working tools they will face when
we block access to them?

Have I already talked about how impressed I was with a speaker who
pointed out that the digtal divide was not based on poverty like we
feared it would be? The digital divide today is at the schoolhouse
door. It's inside the schools where digital poverty exists.

I know that there are many schools doing cool things where this would
not apply but I'm afraid that there are too many where it rings true.

I have to admit that I still get excited when I see a new tool and my
first thought is how I could use this with students. But that's why
this is all so much fun!

;-) Paul