We put in a new filter last summer. For the most part it has worked really, really well. However, it works differently than what we had last year. The first major difference is that we’ve set it up so it gives out filtering policies based upon who you are. In other words, staff members get less filtering than students. When you login to your Byte Speed laptop at start up, the filter automatically knows you are a staff member and gives you the staff filtering policy. For, staff, very little is filtered. The only categories we block for staff are pornography, gambling, dating, and virus/malware. If you can think back to last year, we only had two filtering levels: it was on (everything filtered) or it was off (nothing was filtered). If you were out surfing and got blocked, you had to login to bypass the filter. However, what I’ve discovered this year is that with the new, more permissive filtering policy staff are forgetting they still have this as an option. This is very understandable.
One of the things that any filter has trouble with are keywords. There are a lot of searches and websites that are just fine and even educational, but might have some keywords that would be a red flag. My screenshot example is not very educational, but it’s also certainly not pornography either. Again, because so much is not filtered for staff, it can be jarring when you get a block for a keyword. But, it’s really no big deal. When this happens, just click the “Login as Different User” button on the block page. A popup window will appear. Enter your email username (not your full email address) and your email password. Be sure to keep this popup window open as it is what keeps you logged in and bypassed. When you do this, all filtering is removed for 20 minutes or until the popup window is closed. One thing you will notice is that unlike or old filter, you will not be automatically redirected to the site you blocked from. So, you will manually need to go back to the blocked site to access it.
Here is a brief screen cast that shows a "how to" on bypassing the filter.
Another common thing that happens is that when staff encounter a blocked site, they create an exception request. This a form at the bottom of the block page. All of these request come directly to my email. So, if there is a site you regularly access that’s blocked and really shouldn’t be, please do fill out this form. However, if it’s a site that you only plan to visit periodically, please just by pass the filter.
One of the best things about our new filter is that it really does allow us a ton of flexibility. We’ve set it up so kids in grades K-4, 5-6, 7-9, and 10-12 have their own differentiated filtering policies. So, we can have kids access the content on the internet that is appropriate for their age. We are also looking forward to deploying the mobile filter and using scheduling for filtering as we look at giving students in grades 9-12 laptops.
As always, please let me know if you have any questions on anything related to the filter.
