Flexible Web 2.0 Filter for Schools

BASCOM's Global Chalkboard is an all-in-one solution that combines a Web 2.0 school filter with curriculum tools to help educators unite technology with instruction.

What's Web 2.0 and how does it work with filtering?
Web 2.0 is user-generated content. It's collaborative input that's fluid—a constantly morphing and mashing of many different sources. So, how do you use it for education in K-12 schools and still maintain security?

If you use a traditional filter, you can't. With the ability to only block or allow an entire site, a traditional filter is too rigid and can't adapt to the fluid Web 2.0 world.

To use Web 2.0 applications while still managing your classroom and maintaining security you need a flexible filtering tool. That's exactly what BASCOM's Global Chalkboard delivers. It gives the IT Department the filtering it needs to satisfy CIPA and the Acceptable Use Policies of the school. And, it goes further by enabling a school to empower their educators with the ability to select specific Web 2.0 content for a lesson.

What is flexible filtering?
The Global Chalkboard is both a Web 2.0 filter and curriculum tool. Therefore, it empowers the IT Department to maintain security AND educators to select Web content for curriculum. The IT Department is responsible for setting the default filter settings defined by the school's Acceptable Use Policy and for creating User Accounts for educators that operate within this policy. Within these User Accounts authority over specific filter categories can be defined for an educator. This authority, or flexible discretion, permits an educator to allow certain sites from within a filter category that may be blocked for the rest of the school or even unblock an entire filter category when instructionally appropriate.

The bottom line: To bring Web 2.0 applications in the classroom requires that educators make content selections. Whether that content is a YouTube video, a specific blog, wiki, NING, or any other Web 2.0 application, an educator needs to decide if that content is instructionally appropriate for a lesson. To empower educators to make these decisions, your filtering solution must provide this functionality securely and within the policy established by your school. BASCOM's Global Chalkboard is unique in delivering this capability—local teacher flexibility within centralized school policy. Educators have always been responsible for selecting content for their curriculum; to use the Internet effectively to teach they need that same authority to select Web 2.0 content, just as they have always selected a textbook or handout.

In addition to flexible filtering, what extra Web 2.0 functionality does the Global Chalkboard offer?
In addition to providing flexible Web 2.0 filtering, the Global Chalkboard empowers teachers to select Web 2.0 content for educational purposes. Whether that content is a blog, wiki, or NING, the Global Chalkboard is the only available solution that combines a flexible Web 2.0 filter with granular content selection: a lesson can be created that gives educators access to a group of school, departmental, or curriculum blogs, or another can be created to focus students on a single blog or even a single page from a blog. The same holds true for a wiki or NING. With the Global Chalkboard as this unique curriculum selection tool, Internet access to Web 2.0 content can range from very broad to extremely narrow, or somewhere in between. The choice is yours.

What about YouTube Filtering?
Although many educators want to use specific YouTube videos, allowing all content in www.YouTube.com delivers inappropriate content and viewing a single page from this site is technically challenging; www.YouTube.com is extremely complex and relies on many different servers for streaming its content. The Global Chalkboard Video Selector™ addresses this challenge with a unique and innovative approach. Because of this robust YouTube filtering feature, educators can now safely extract a specific YouTube video or build a library of allowed videos for your entire school.

The bottom line: The Global Chalkboard delivers flexible filtering with granular Web 2.0 selection. Curriculum decisions, regardless of the type of Web 2.0 application, remain in the hands of educators. Web 2.0 content can be allowed to include: groups of blogs, wikis, or NING sites, a single site, or even a single page from a site. A library of YouTube videos can be allowed for your school or class, or a only a single video can be allowed.

Why Web 2.0 in K-12?
Our students live with Web 2.0 tools everyday. It's their life and how they communicate. They are the collaborative generation. Why not encourage them to be active learners by using Web 2.0 in the classroom?

By keeping pace with the current culture, the Global Chalkboard enables educators to reach students through their medium by teaching them with the same collaborative Web 2.0 tools they use every day. Teachers continue to guide and inspire learning, but are now able to use Web 2.0 applications as a platform for instruction. Teachers can now orchestrate projects with their students that involve global collaboration. What better way is there to engage today's, social-minded students in their own learning?

Since the Global Chalkboard stays current with the latest Internet developments, your students, teachers and staff can use Web 2.0 securely in school. Now parents and your entire educational community can witness true educational value from their technology investment. Tax payers will have proof that their children are equipped with 21st century skills for our globally competitive world.

Will using Web 2.0 to teach take too much time?
When using any new tool, there is an initial learning curve. To help teachers with this transition, the Global Chalkboard comes preloaded with BASCOM Lessons. They can be used immediately or copied and modified. And, once a teacher becomes proficient at making their own lessons, they can include Web 2.0 content in lessons and share them with other educators in your school to replicate best practices across grade levels and curriculum. The Global Chalkboard then becomes your platform for lesson collaboration by storing a library of all lessons created by the educators in your school.

The bottom line: Although there may be some initial investment in time to begin using the Global Chalkboard with Web 2.0 tools, all teachers within a school benefit by this effort. Lessons can be created and shared amongst each other. Lessons can also be modified for at-risk students that require individualized instruction. The Global Chalkboard is a safe and easy curriculum tool designed to extract the educational value of the Internet—which includes this latest surge of Web 2.0 tools.

Web 2.0 has created conflicts between departments. How does the Global Chalkboard help?
The Global Chalkboard eases the tensions between the IT Department and teachers. With the Global Chalkboard's flexible Web 2.0 school filter, when a teacher wants to use Web 2.0 content, he/she has the authority to make that selection. This eliminates a bottleneck created with a rigid, traditional filter that requires teachers to request special access from the IT Department and wait patiently until that happens.

The IT Department still maintains security. They determine the default filter settings for your school based on the Acceptable Use Policy. They also define the User Accounts and delegate authority over filter categories for each educator using the Global Chalkboard. Therefore, the IT Department is no longer burdened with making content decisions. They can focus on security and put curriculum into the hands of educators—where it belongs.

Learn More About BASCOM's Web 2.0 School Filter and Curriculum Tools

BASCOM's Web 2.0 filter and curriculum tools unite technology with instruction. Join the hundreds of schools and libraries around the country that are currently using our technology to facilitate student achievement. To learn more, view a webinar, fill out a contact form or call us today at 1-888-922-2726 to schedule your personal demo.