Protection for student devices — Even off campus

Lightspeed Systems is offering a free, extended trial of Relay Filter or Relay Classroom through the end of the school year.

Relay Filter protects students, even off-campus
Students being out of school and at home for extended periods can mean they spend more time online. Distance learning can also mean students who don’t usually take devices home will need to do so. Filtering those devices is essential.

Relay Filter protects students on school devices at school, at home, and everywhere in between. Safety Check extends this protection to include real-time monitoring and alerts on students at risk of self-harm or violence.…Read More

Lightspeed Systems releases updated school web filter

Version 3 of Rocket Web Filter features increased speed, live reports, easy SSL traffic handling

Ed-tech solution provider Lightspeed Systems announced the release of version 3 of Rocket Web Filter for content filtering in K-12 schools.

The release features a new user interface as well as a variety of new features to simplify school network management.

Rocket Web Filter — which is powered by Lightspeed Systems’ proprietary Rocket appliances, either on school networks or in a cloud — was built specifically for schools. With a reputation for robust content filtering without over-blocking, Web Filter quickly became the K-12 market leader for filtering. The new version features improvements to filtering speed, scalability and SSL handling as well as live traffic reports and other tools to make filtering and reporting fast and easy.…Read More

Companies respond to ACLU’s ‘Don’t Filter Me’ campaign

The ACLU has called for the removal of filters that block content in support of the LGBT community.

Web filtering software companies have started to respond to the American Civil Liberties Union’s call to remove filters that block websites with content geared toward the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities.

The ACLU has launched a national “Don’t Filter Me” campaign, which seeks to remove censorship of pro-LGBT information on public school computer systems.

As part of its campaign, the organization has sent letters to several schools, asking them to reset their filtering software to stop blocking students’ access to such information, which it says is protected free speech. The ACLU also has contacted leading makers of filtering software, asking them to remove websites with content in support of the LGBT community from their block lists.…Read More

November to educators: Let students use online social tools

Ed-tech consultant Alan November believes in the power of student-centered learning.
Ed-tech consultant Alan November believes in the power of student-centered learning.

The most important change that technology brings to education is that it enables students to take charge of their own learning, said education technology consultant Alan November. Yet, this is happening in too few classrooms, he said—and a key reason is that schools are blocking access to the very tools that allow such activity.

November was speaking at a Jan. 14 session during the Florida Education Technology Conference in Orlando. Sponsored by Lightspeed Systems, the session focused on how to balance safety and learning in the digital age.

If you were to ask teachers or administrators what one indicator they would look for to show that real learning was occurring in a classroom, most people would say they’d like to see that students were engaged in the lesson, November said.…Read More