Policy archive
Education Reform and the Freedom to Mod
Last month, I asked readers to give me their thoughts on what school reform truly looks like, so I could begin a conversation on the topic that was to take place at the Educon 2.1 conference in Philadelphia. Both online...
What Does School Reform Look Like?
This weekend, I’ll be moderating a discussion at the second annual EduCon conference in which we tackle the question, “What does school reform look like?” It’s such a big topic that no discussion panel could ever capture the full scope...
Boosting Public Broadband, One Library At A Time
This week, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced a $7 million grant to invest in the expansion in broadband access in libraries across seven states. While $7 million may sound like chump change from a foundation that routinely spends...
Lori Drew Convicted in Megan Meier Case
Last week, a jury in California convicted Lori Drew on misdemeanor charges related to the Megan Meier suicide case. Though public sentiment wanted to see her convicted specifically on Drew cyberbullying Meier into committing suicide, in the end she was...
Case Closed for Julie Amero
Julie Amero, the substitute teacher subjected to a judicial roller coaster ride over whether she intentionally exposed a group of students to inappropriate computer images, ended her legal limbo by agreeing to a plea deal this Friday. It’s the end...
What’s Your Memo to President-Elect Obama?
The longest presidential campaign in history is over. We now know Barack Obama will become president, but what will he accomplish in the realm of education technology policy? What do you want him to accomplish?...
Congress Passes Bill Mandating Online Safety Education
Education technology organizations are hailing the passage of legislation in the House and Senate addressing online safety education in schools. The legislation will require schools receiving federal Internet subsidies to educate their students about appropriate online behavior and cyberbullying....
Judge: School was Right to Suspend Student over Fake MySpace Profile
A court has ruled that a school was within its rights for suspending a student who created an offensive fake MySpace page for the school principal. The ruling brings together a number of legal precedents regarding the difficult question of...
CA Legislation Criminalizes Campus Cyberbullying
The California state legislature has just passed one of the first laws in the country to deal directly with cyberbullying. It gives school administrators the authority to discipline studies for bullying others offline or online. But will legislation translate into...
Coming Soon: A National Center for Edtech Research
This past week, President Bush signed into law a bill that will establish a new national research center for studying digital technology and learning. The center aspires be to edtech what the National Institutes of Health have been for medical...
Internet Orgs Weigh in on Lori Drew Prosecution
In an interesting legal twist to the Megan Meier saga, a group of high-powered Internet law advocates have published a brief in relation to the case against Lori Drew, the woman being prosecuted in the wake of Meier’s suicide. In...
On Order: Half a Million Classmate PCs to Portugal
This week, Intel announced a major partnership with the government of Portugual to supply half a million low-cost Classmate PCs to Portuguese primary school students. One can only imagine the disappointment of MIT’s One Laptop Per Child initiative, but that...
Appeals Court Smacks Down COPA
Last week, a federal appeals court ruled against the constitutionality of the Child Online Protection Act, or COPA, a law passed in 1998 to prevent minors from accessing harmful Internet content. It’s a major victory for free speech advocates who...
Random Acts of Journalism
At the Personal Democracy Forum in New York City this week, participants discussed and debated the impact of Web 2.0 on journalism, politics and governance. For two days, I couldn’t stop asking myself: what skills should we be teaching students...
Judge Upholds NYC School Ban on Mobile Phones
In a blow to parents and school groups fighting the New York City Department of Education’s prohibition against mobile phones on campus, a judge has ruled that the board was within its rights to institute the ban....
Publishers Sue University over the Distribution of Digital Course Packs
Like many universities, Georgia State University distributes electronic reading materials to students, often copying sections of copyrighted materials. But a group of academic publishers have concluded that GSU’s actions go beyond the notion of fair use and they’re suing the...
Strengthening Student Resilience to Online Risks
A new report commissioned by the British prime minister tackles the thorny challenge of addressing online safety for young people. The report urges people to put the relative threat of online predators in perspective, while at the same time noting...
Judge Dismisses Student Lawsuit Against Plagiarism Detection Service
A group of Virginia high school students who sued a plagiarism detection service on the grounds of copyright infringement has had its case dismissed. Ironically, the judge concluded that the company’s storage of student researcher papers constituted fair use....
Online Safety Bill Snags in Senate
A Senate bill that would appropriate $50 million for a competitive grant program funding educational online safety initiatives has now hit a parliamentary snag. Online safety organizations are now pushing to get things moving again....
Student Dodges Expulsion Over Facebook Study Group
A Canadian student learned yesterday that he won’t be expelled after all. What egregious crime did he commit on campus? He coordinated an online study group using Facebook....
School Authorities Stifle Student Blogging Project
An Australian teacher renowned among educators for his use of blogging in the classroom has just had his latest blogging project shuttered by state authorities. Are other edubloggers next?...
Students and Copyright: Discipline and Punish?
Microsoft has just come out with a new survey on student’s attitudes towards online copyright. The research suggests that very few students have a strong understanding of the issue, but it also makes me wonder just how they’re defining the...
Harvard Faculty Revolt Against Publishing 1.0
In a vote that could potentially rock the publishing world, Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) have unanimously adopted a new policy that would allow them to retain the copyright of scholarly research. As a result, students and the...
Utah Bill Would Block Wi-Fi Access to Minors
There’s a new twist on policymaking efforts to make the Internet safe for young people: denying them access to it altogether. A bill in the Utah state legislature would require public wifi providers to ensure that minors can’t access the...
Going On Your Permanent Record: Just About Everything
A New Jersey lawsuit between an HMO and a family whose daughter was denied insurance coverage for her anorexia may not sound like the kind of thing you’d read about on this here blog. But the legal tactics being used...
Ron Paul and Hillary Clinton on Education and Technology Policy
As part of my ongoing series covering the positions of the presidential candidates regarding education and technology, I wanted to share some of my latest policy discoveries, this time coming from Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY)....
Debating Federal Funding for Online Safety Curricula
A coalition of online safety organizations and activists has come out in support of federal legislation that would create a $50 million grant program supporting online safety education initiatives. They’re also criticizing a competing measure on Capitol Hill that would...
Discussing Edtech and the Digital Divide with Barack Obama and John Edwards - Sort Of
I’ve been hoping to ask the U.S. presidential candidates some questions about education technology and the digital divide, but my access to them is, shall we say, limited. So I suggested some of my more pressing questions to tech blogger...
Overcoming Media Illiteracy among Media Literacy Educators
Now I know I have a habit of examining a lot of research reports in this blog. Yeah, I realize I overdo it sometimes. Today, though, please bear with me, as there’s a new report that examines what I believe...
Ten Questions for Presidential Candidates, Including One of Yours?
Move over YouTube debates, now for something meatier! A coalition of blogs and news organizations is using Web 2.0 tools to create another exciting experiment in interactive presidential debates. It might even be a chance for your students to pose...
Education Technology: A Matter of Debate
Next week, The Economist will hold an online version of a debate series they’ve been conducting for more than 160 years, and they’re kicking it off by focusing on the educational value of technology in the classroom. I’m hoping it’ll...
Indecent Exposure?
An Ohio state legislator found himself in hot water last week when a nude photo stored on his flash drive popped up on screen while giving a talk to a group of students. It didn’t take long for people to...
Back to School - Don’t Forget Your Cell Phone!
As middle school students go back to school this week in Montgomery County, MD, many of them will probably have cell phones in their backpacks. But this school year, they won’t be penalized for doing so, as the local school...
New NSBA Report on Social Networking
The National School Boards Association has released a new report on student use of social media tools. The report contains a multitude of findings that have already started an online debate about the role of social networking in the classroom....
Senate Hearing on Online Safety: More Emphasis on Educating Kids
Last week, the U.S. Senate held a committee hearing regarding children’s online safety and what steps need to be taken to prevent predatory behavior. Interestingly, much of the testimony emphasized the importance of online safety education over the use of...
The YouTube Debate: Shining More Light on Schools, Filters and the Digital Divide
You’ve probably noticed I’ve been harping lately on the relationship between the digital divide, civic participation and Internet filters. Thanks to this week’s YouTube presidential debate, others have been talking about the issue as well....
Do Internet Filters Undermine the Teaching of 21st Century Citizenship?
We all know that Internet filtering policies have the best interest of students in mind. But what are we sacrificing when we don’t allow educators to override filters at their own professional discretion? It’s something I’ve asked myself over the...
Intel and the $100 Laptop: What Does it Mean for U.S. Schools?
Last Friday, I nearly did a spit-take when I saw the headline: after years of acrimony, computer chip manufacturer Intel is forming a partnership with MIT’s so-called $100 laptop program. It’s big news, no doubt, but how will the move...
Court Rules Against Student Suspended Over Threatening Instant Messaging Avatar
In the wake of the “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” ruling at the U.S. Supreme Court late last month, it was probably just a matter of time before we’d see another student free space case using it as precedent. I might...
Got Broadband?
After posting my interviews with several of the Democratic presidential candidates last week regarding the digital divide, some of you emailed me and asked about the actual status of the divide here in the U.S. As it turns out, there’s...
Video: Democratic Presidential Candidates Discuss the Digital Divide
Over the weekend I edited together some video I shot at the PBS Democratic candidate presidential debate on June 28, 2007. The video features candidates Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel offering some thoughts on how they...
Ask a Presidential Candidate
Last night, PBS hosted a debate among the Democratic candidates running for president. After the event, I had a chance to speak with four of the candidates about their perceptions about the digital divide and the role schools might play...
Supreme Court Rules Against Student in “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” Case
In the first major Supreme Court decision on student free speech in almost a generation, the Court ruled against a student who was suspended for displaying a banner with drug-related messaging just off the school campus. What does the ruling...
How Not to Use MySpace in the Classroom
Just when you thought you could avoid yet another educational controversy breaking out on MySpace, a teacher in suburban Washington DC is finding herself in hot water for comments she wrote on her MySpace blog, and the online discussion with...
When Students Become Accidental Celebrities, What Next?
Every teacher and parent should read the article in today’s Washington Post about the California high school student who’s become an online celebrity, from MySpace to YouTube. Who she is and how she got in this predicament, however, probably isn’t...
D-Day for Julie Amero
Last week, the Connecticut substitute teacher convicted of exposing students to porn was supposed to find out her sentence. Yet once again, her sentencing has been delayed - until D-Day, of all days - and even the press is beginning...
Could Wikis Help Achieve Consensus on Edtech Policy?
If you had the opportunity to help craft federal education technology legislation, would you participate? The idea isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds, as politicians are beginning to explore wikis as a tool for collaborative policymaking. And educators could become...
Open Letters on the Role of Education Technology
The U.S. Secretary of Education is asking for your input on the role of technology in the classroom. I hope you’ll respond to her - and tell the rest of us what you think as well....
Avast Ye Knee-Jerk Reactions, Matey!
A pre-service teacher has been denied obtaining her teaching degree because her MySpace profile featured a photo of her with an alcoholic beverage in hand, including the caption “Drunken Pirate.” Pirate or not, she’s suing the university, and generating a...
Schools drop laptop programs - but are they dropping the ball as well?
The New York Times is reporting today that some schools have been dropping their student laptop programs, labeling them a failure. But what’s the actual failure taking place here? I fear it’s a failure of expectations and imagination....
The iPod of the Beholder: Can MP3 Players Enhance Learning?
First it was cell phones, and now it’s iPods. K-12 schools around the country are beginning to ban students from carrying MP3 players, fearing they may use them for cheating. Yet at least one university is embracing the exact opposite...
DOPA Jr. Gets a Rewrite - and a Little Sibling
There haven’t been too many headlines as of late regarding the latest incarnation of the Deleting Online Predators Act, which rose from the ashes in January. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t news to report....
Does Sentencing Delay Mean a Possible Reprieve for Julie Amero?
Julie Amero, the Connecticut substitute teacher facing a controversial 40-year prison sentence for exposing her students to online pornography, has once again had her sentencing delayed. Might the delay be a sign that prosecutors are reconsidering the evidence that led...
Virginia Tech: Yet Another Wake-Up Call for Better Emergency Preparedness
Eleven years ago, Readers Digest proclaimed Blacksburg, Virginia as “The Most Wired Town in America.” So why couldn’t this wealth of technology be used to save lives during the horrific massacre at Virginia Tech? Perhaps the wrong tools were in...
What Goes Up Must Come Down?
Over the last couple of weeks we’ve seen the release of a pair of research reports that on the surface have nothing to do with each other. But as one report details how the U.S. is struggling to figure out...
Cardboard Camcorders Take Playground by Storm!
There’s a short video floating around the Net right now telling the story about a school where all the students started to make toy cameras out of cardboard and pretended to film each other, YouTube-style. It paints a fascinating, and...
Supreme Court Case Could Realign the Limits of Student Free Speech
Attention First Amendment geeks: there’s an important case being heard this week at the US Supreme Court about student free speech rights. And even though the case has nothing to do with the Internet, it’s quite likely that the resulting...
The Julie Amero in All of Us
Mainstream media has finally started covering the case of Julie Amero, the substitute teacher who was found guilty of child endangerment because some of her students saw adult-oriented popup ads on her computer screen. And the news coverage is causing...
Wikipedia Receives a Citation
Middlebury College is now informing students that Wikipedia is not appropriate for research, and that they use it at their own academic peril. Somewhat surprisingly, Wikipedia doesn’t necessarily disagree with them....
More Details Emerge in the Julie Amero Case
Ever since substitute teacher Julie Amero was convicted last month of exposing her students to pornography on her classroom computer, bloggers have been debating who’s to blame, with most siding with her. Now, a published interview with a tech consultant...
Caught on Tape - For Better or Worse
A student records a teacher violating school policies, leading to a ban on students taping teachers. What’s the story here, and who do you think is right?...
The Mobile Phone Debate’s Latest Twist
As yet another school district bans students from carrying cell phones, a mobile phone carrier heads in the other direction, creating school-based contests to encourage students and their parents to interact via text messaging. The timing couldn’t be worse....
Lifting the Hood on DOPA Jr.
The official text of the bill to replace the Deleting Online Predators Act has been published, and it goes beyond the scope of the original legislation, addressing child pornography, cyberbullying and children’s privacy. Let’s take a look under the hood...
The Birth of DOPA Jr.
It didn’t take long for the latest generation of the DOPA legislation to rear its head on Capitol Hill. But will the bill go anywhere this time around?...
Bloggers Back Teacher Convicted on Questionable Porn Charges
The blogosphere is rallying in support of a substitute teacher who was convicted on porn charges despite evidence suggesting she was a victim of malicious computer software and a lack of technical safeguards on the part of the school....
Teacher Faces 40-Year Prison Sentence Because of Filtering Folly?
In a case that’s receiving scant national attention, a substitute teacher has been convicted of exposing students to online pornography, which she claims appeared on the screen due to spyware. Is this merely the case of a rogue educator, or...
UK Proposal to Tackle Home-School Digital Divide
At a major edtech conference in London this week, a British government announced a new proposal to address the home-school digital divide....
New York’s Cell Phone Proposal: Lock ‘Em Up
In the latest twist over the battle over student cell phone use in New York City, school officials are proposing a compromise. And so far, it seems that many students and parents aren’t buying it....
DOPA Dies on the Vine
The end of 2006 also marks the end of the current congressional session in the House and Senate, closing the door on the Deleting Online Predators Act. Let’s take a look at why this legislation, which passed overwhelmingly in the...
Should Schools Teach Responsible Gaming?
A national watchdog group has just published a report card on efforts to protect kids from the effects of violent video games. While progress is being made, there are still serious shortfalls - which raises the question of what role...
The Student Becomes the Spy Master
A video of a recent tasering incident by a police officer against a college student gets posted on YouTube and creates a public outcry. With more and more students having access to camera phones, how do you balance maintaining discipline...
Understanding the Impact of Online Communities on Civic Engagement
This week, the USC Annenberg School published a major study on the impact of the Internet on American society. Their research suggests that the online world is becoming equally important to people as the offline world - and it’s affecting...
Mobile Devices in School: What Policy Would You Create?
In the latest twist in the debate over the role of cell phones in schools, the parents of an Oklahoma high school student have filed larceny charges against two local school officials for refusing to return a confiscated cell phone...
Course Forge: Posting Your Entire Curriculum Online
Last week a Washington state school district announced an ambitious plan to put its entire curriculum online for public access. They’re one of the first K-12 districts to follow the lead of higher education’s open courseware movement, which is changing...
Through the Looking Glass: Coping with COPA
Last week, a federal court in Philadelphia began hearing arguments on the legislation known as COPA. No, I’m not talking about DOPA, the Deleting Online Predators Act, or COPPA, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. I’m talking about yet another...
Is MySpace Your Space As Well?
Even though MySpace seems to be on every politician and parent’s hit-list, a growing number of educators are staking their own claim on the online social network. We already know how those politicians and parents would react, but what about...
Fair Use Has a Posse
Yesterday, the British Library jumped head-first into the digital copyright wars by issuing a manifesto demanding greater protection of Britain’s “digital heritage.” What’s going on exactly, and what does this have to do with American education?...
The Politics of Plagiarism Detection Services
Today’s Washington Post includes a fascinating story about a group of students rebelling against their school’s use of plagiarism detection services (PDSes) to catch students taking shortcuts in their work. It may seem like sour grapes at first, but these...
Blackboard, Lawsuits & Wikis, Oh My!
In case you’ve spent most of August relaxing on a beach somewhere, you might have missed the lawsuit that causing a firestorm in the edtech world and beyond. Let’s take a quick look at Blackboard vs. Desire2Learn, and see what...
Back to School: Five Predictions and a Waffle
It’s that time of year, kids - we’re going back to school. (Okay, I’m not going back to school, but millions of educators and students are, so there’s a good chance this applies to you.) In honor of the start...
Panic! at the Capitol: The House Passes DOPA
Yesterday, the US House of Representatives unexpectedly moved forward in voting on the Deleting Online Predators Act, or DOPA. This legislation, proposed on May 9 of this year, would require all schools and libraries receiving federal Internet subsidies known as...
Should Principals Be Allowed to Review Students’ Cell Phone Records?
A Boston-area school district is asserting the right to search students’ cell phones for inappopriate information. Does this policy, one of the first of its kind in the US, cross the line?...
A Man, A Plan, A Lot of Laptops
I’ve just spent the last two days hanging out at the Anytime, Anywhere Learning Foundation conference here in Boston, an intimate gathering of educators discussing the role of ubiquitous Internet access and portable computing devices in education. The personal highlight...
Fatherhood and the Future of Online Learning
On Friday night, I became a dad. I know you didn’t come to this blog to see baby pictures - not that I could resist - but I don’t think I could write my next post without thinking of little...
Punishing Students for Extracurricular Online Activities: Crossing the Line?
Last week, an Illinois school district adopted a new policy towards student online activities that’s already stirring up a lot of controversy. All students in the Libertyville-Vernon Hills Area High School District 128 participating in extracurricular activities will now have...
The Rant that Rocked the Edtech World
For more than a decade now, I’ve been the moderator of WWWEDU, an online community of technology-using educators discussing the role of the Web in education. We’ve had many intense debates over the years, but this week, emotions rushed to...
Students Outsmarting Filters for Sport
BoingBoing, arguably the most popular blog in the United States, just posted a link to an April news story from C|NET News on how kids are engaging in a cat-and-mouse game with schools to successfully get around Internet filters. If...
Technology Counts 2006: Did Your State Make the Grade?
In case you haven’t seen the last issue of Education Week, they’ve released their latest Technology Counts report. Each year, Ed Week takes an in-depth look at education technology in all 50 US states. They assign the states edtech report...
Online Social Networks Join the Fray Over Online Social Networks
It’s been just four days since word got out about the Digital Online Predators Act of 2006 (DOPA), the legislation that would require all schools and libraries receiving federal Internet subsidies to filter online social networks and other interactive websites....
New Federal Legislation Would Ban Online Social Networks in Schools & Libraries
Just when you thought the media circus around MySpace had peaked comes this whopper of a story: members of Congress have proposed new legislation that would require schools and libraries to block access to online social networks. As reported by...
Should Students be Allowed to Carry Cell Phones?
Wired News reports on current attempts by parents groups and policymakers to force New York City schools to allow students to carry cell phones. The schools have long banned mobile devices as a public nuisance, but critics argue that cellphones...
