When Will The Bloggopotamus Return?

I have not posted anything on the Bloggopotamus since the summer but I hope to get back into the swing of blogging again in the near future with a narrower focus at times. Currently, the Halifax Regional School Board has banned access to journals and blogs on the internet in all schools.

This is done using a netsweeper program that eliminates access to categories of sites based on key words, content, and board administration. Unfortunately this has also eliminated access to educational blogs and their effective use in the classroom. Thanks a lot HRSB!! I used the Bloggopotamus in class so often last year as many of the units progressed, I was able to post relevant information and interesting enrichment for my students. Now that has been erased.

The same goes for Youtube and Google Video and a massive list of other sites that have educational value. Of course, there are dangers and concerns over the use of many sites but it is lack of supervision in the classroom or school environment that is often connected with inappropriate surfing and internet use. School board solution? Ban it all! This is truly unfortunate for teachers and students who benefit greatly from being able to access these resources.

Of course, they claim the process for having a site unblocked and made accessible is quite simple and just needs to go through the proper channels. We attempted this at the end of last year and found that the hurdles we had to jump over were too much of a hassle to bother with and too time consuming.

So...the result for the time being. The Bloggopotamus is blocked on school computers. Ridiculous. I will however be attempting to resolve this issue in the near future and we'll see what happens. In the meantime, posting will be sporadic.

I do realize that this post is likely choppy and not well thought out...but it is more of a venting session for viewers to see. So..no apologies as of yet but hope you understand.

Anyone else care to vent? Fire away. :)