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October 1, 1997
Forewarned, Forearmed:
An Assessment of Problems Accompanying the Internet in Schools
by William A. McIntyre
Classroom access to the Internet is steadily improving as a result of local school boards and technology initiatives, government-funded programs, and the gritty determination of teachers who recognize its value and find a way to get connected. The Internet is being incorporated into many teachers’ instructional techniques, and it has opened wonderful new avenues for worldwide communication, information gathering, and collaborative projects. The significance of these cannot be denied, but potential problems also arise for public schools and many colleges. Among these problems are the following:
- Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
- The First Amendment and
schools
- Measuring the quality of
information
- Plagiarism
- Copyright
- E-mail and newsgroups
- Tampering and vandalism
- Chat
- Viruses
- Anonymous remailers
Before rushing to get online, teachers, librarians, media people, and school and network administrators should have a realistic understanding of the problems that accompany the technology. The basic rule to live by is this: If it is possible to do something with the technology, then some students surely will find a way to do it. Workshops and training sessions should cover potential pitfalls so that every teacher can be aware of and ready for problems.
The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)
Before a school connects to the
Internet or a service, an acceptable use policy (AUP)
should be developed and adopted. This is mandatory for
schools and a good idea for colleges. The plan should
address the following questions: How will students be
allowed to access the Internet? How will it be
supervised? What controls will be in place? How will this
all be instituted? What will students use it for? All of
this should be answered in detail. The policy for using
the Internet should be a collaborative effort between and
among faculty members, administrators, school board
members, parents, and other community. Most schools
require that both students and parents read the AUP and
then sign it. It should also carefully explain what
disciplinary measures will be taken if rules are not
followed. Teaching students to use the Internet in a
responsible and ethical manner is the best approach to
keeping problems in schools to a minimum. An excellent
discussion of permissions and examples of agreement forms
for students, parents, and teachers can be found at this
Web site:
http://www.newlink.net/education/help/aup
Another list of school districts and
colleges provides examples of their policies. Their AUPs
cited address many topics, notably these are acceptable
use, student and teacher privileges, netiquette,
security, and vandalism.
The legalities of AUPs and Internet
access are provided and explained at:
http://www.erehwon.com/k12aup
There are also AUP templates that can
be adopted for a licensing fee.
The First Amendment and Schools
The recent defeat of the Communications
Decency Act ensures our rights to free speech on the
Internet unless the Supreme Court rules otherwise in
their review. But what does this mean for schools? That
information of all types can potentially be freely
accessed by anyone. Students have a natural curiosity to
see what is out there. As prepared as schools may be to
take advantage of the wonderful things that the Internet
brings, they also will have to be prepared to deal with
the negative. True enough, someone has to go looking for
Web pages from hate groups and antisocial activists, or
sites that promote the use of drugs, but they are easily
available from a search, and much of it is as close as a
few mouse clicks. Restricting access is something for
each school to wrestle with. Many school boards are
flatly refusing to make everything on the Internet
available, using the reasoning that "chat lines or
newsgroups do not fit into the educational purpose of why
the Internet was installed." Access can legitimately
be restricted in that way because legally the school
computer network is a "limited forum" and not
an unlimited public forum. Access can be restricted to
chat or newsgroups, but most parents and teachers would
agree that access to pornography has no educational value
and could be detrimental. Either students can be guided
(or supervised) or some pornography-blocking software can
be installed. Blocking software was discussed in the
September issue of Internet World and is available
at:
http://www.iw.com
The Detroit schools recently installed
relatively expensive network software to block
pornography. A recent Detroit Free Press article included
many comments from teachers and is available at this Web
site:
http://www.freep.com/browsing/internet/qnet21.htm
Putting blocking software on a
school’s network is obviously a local decision; it
may or may not be advantageous to use such a block. It is
an expensive solution that requires ongoing maintenance.
Blocking software is not completely effective, and it can
block certain sites that someone might legitimately want
unblocked. In the end, it is a district decision, but if
computers are kept in viewable areas and are monitored,
then pornography probably will not be a big problem.
Education and expectation may be a better and certainly
cheaper solution, and money can be spent on other
priorities. The Web site at: http://www.erehwon.com/k12aup offers a discussion with legal precedent about
school districts providing a limited purpose network in
light of the First Amendment. Many school districts do
not provide all that is offered on the Internet, because
it is not essential to the educational purpose of the
schools and is detrimental to young people.
Measuring the Quality of Information
One of the real beauties of the
Internet is that every connected "netizen" can
get information that was previously delayed because of a
publisher’s timelines, was published in some obscure
journal and difficult to get, or was not printed at all.
But one real problem with information
is that students have a tendency to believe what they
read, and they are inclined to believe that information
out of a computer must be true and accurate. Because the
Internet is so accessible and available for anyone to
publish just about anything, there is plenty of
misinformation in addition to good information. With all
of the e-zines, research reports, government documents,
archives, records, statistics, policies, editorials, as
well e-mail and chat, it is difficult for students to
separate fact from fiction, and fact from opinion.
Misinformation is compounded as people talk with one
another and unknowingly pass it along. And even when
someone recognizes that facts are wrong, they find it
impossible to retrieve the bad information.
In addition, because much of the
information on the Internet has not been
"juried," or submitted to experts for review as
is commonly done with print journals, factual errors can
appear anywhere. Students must be taught to evaluate what
they read, and they must learn to separate fact from
opinion. Another point to consider is the temporal nature
of many types of information. Because of its electronic
format the Internet presents a rare opportunity in
publishing to update what has already been
"printed." Sometimes Web pages are not kept
current, and the quality of the information suffers as
some new important piece of information is omitted. Our
only defense, then, is to teach students to evaluate and
question what they read on the Net—to get students
to think. This is an opportunity to teach creative
thinking and to have students evaluate the material. Does
an article seem reputable? Who is the author? Is it
possible to see his or her credentials and professional
affiliation? Can the data be cross-checked with other
references or experts? Is the article objective,
subjective, or possibly biased? The list of questions to
ask in student validation of information goes on and
on.
Plagiarism
Both Netscape and Internet Explorer
have a convenient feature. Portions of any Web page can
be highlighted with the mouse, copied, and conveniently
pasted into a word-processing document. Entire papers are
even available online that can be downloaded and perhaps
submitted as a student’s own work. If plagiarism is
a problem at a school, then the Internet will compound
it, and tracing the source will be exceedingly difficult.
Vigilance may be our only protection; teachers will have
to be on the lookout for writing styles that do not seem
to fit with a student’s capabilities and past
performance. It is important to talk about how serious
plagiarism is, and present ways of documenting electronic
sources.
Some Web sites for documentation are as
follows:
MLA style format rules can be found
in Janice Walker’s MLA Style Citations of
Electronic Sources at:
http://www.cas.usf.edu/english/walker/mla.html
Both American Psychological
Association (APA) and MLA formats can be found at:
http://www.uvm.edu/~xli/reference/estyles.html
The information is also contained in
the book: Electronic Style: A Guide to Citing Electronic
Information by Xia Li and Nancy B. Crane (Westport, CT:
Mecklermedia, 1996).
Kate Turabian’s Manual for
Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations has
been taken a step further and includes electronic
sources in Melvin Page’s A Brief Citation Guide
for Internet Sources in History and the Humanities
at:
http://h-net.msu.edu/~africa/citation.html
Teaching students to document
electronic sources must be just as important as teaching
them to document regular text sources.
Copyright
With current browsers, any Web site is
just seconds away. Web sites are copyright protected: Any
Web site author or producer is considered a publisher.
There is little legal precedent for the new digital
technology, but Web sites are being treated as written
documents. Copyright laws are not always clear,
especially in light of the new electronic media, and many
students either think that the laws do not apply to them
or their Web project, or they are just ignorant of the
facts. Most students who get into trouble with copyright
infractions probably do so in creating their own Web
pages by including someone’s copyrighted cartoons or
song lyrics, or something of that nature. This happens
mostly through innocence rather than from an
"in-your-face" attitude.
Copyright owners may pursue individual
violators, because they see it as an infringement on
their abilities to make a profit. To address the
problems, check out two copyright Web sites:
Fairuse and Copyright: http://fairuse.stanford.edu (enter keyword "Internet")
The Copyright Act: http://www.law.cornell.edu/usc/17/409.html
In this fast-paced world of digital
images, video, and sound that can be conveniently and
easily copied, the law still protects the copyright
holder. Although copyright laws are being rewritten, it
will take years for them to catch up with the
technology.
E-mail and Newsgroups
In providing access to the World Wide
Web, schools take two approaches. First, a student must
log on to the school network before going onto the Web.
Second, the Web just opens with an automatic logon. As a
component feature of the browsers, e-mail is very
convenient, but it can be trouble in schools where many
students will use different computers during the day.
This problem will occur in schools where access opens
without students logging on. First, a student could go
into a browser and configure the e-mail options with his
or her own legitimate address. Because the configurations
stay resident in the computer until changed, if the next
user does not change the configuration, then he or she
could knowingly or unknowingly send messages using the
first user’s address. In addition, a student could
easily go into e-mail options and set up the
configuration for another student and deliberately send
messages under that person’s name. Messages that are
threatening or harassing could become problems for the
person named, and it would be difficult to trace the
actual sender. Newsgroups also present the same problems.
Anyone can go into the browser’s options and set up
his or her name and e-mail address. Then going into any
newsgroup where a person’s address is given as a
"reply-to," the person clicks on the address.
The browser formats it with the e-mail information, and
then the person drags the cursor across the
"to" address and changes it to someone else.
The result is that an e-mail message is sent through the
newsgroup. Again, the potential problems for schools
cannot be emphasized enough. To ward them off beforehand,
e-mail transmissions through browsers can be blocked. It
is possible for the Internet service provider to block
the TCP/IP ports that e-mail uses on the router
interface. If posting from newsgroups becomes a problem,
they can be made inaccessible altogether or all posting
from newsgroups can be disabled. Schools should either
invest in a separate e-mail program that requires log-in
names and passwords or make students log-in to the
network before going on the Web.
Tampering and Vandalism
Because the operating systems of PCs
and Macintoshes make adding and deleting software so
easy, problems will crop up. Students love to manipulate
things on the computers. They will try to add software,
and they will delete parts of it. Students will change
background colors, wallpapers, and screen savers on
purpose, but they should be taught that all of that extra
background only slows down transmission speed. There will
also be times when a student eliminates a part of a
program either inadvertently or through deliberate
vandalism. Some labs also have been hit with a downloaded
image of rap or rock stars, extreme sports, and
pornography Students must be taught to respect and value
the equipment. They also must be taught to police
themselves through high levels of expected behavior.
Rules for using computer labs must be part of the AUP. It
might be advantageous to have increasingly higher
penalties for infractions; a rule such as "three
strikes and you’re out" can be effective.
Computer labs that have direct connections can present a
problem; when an instructor and most class members are
doing word processing, some occupants in a back row might
be processing images. In labs such as these it may be an
advantage to arrange the room so that an instructor can
see all of the monitors at once.
Chat
Internet relay chat (IRC) is immensely
popular with teens. Chat rooms can be places of intrigue
and mystery, and students feel they can go there with
some anonymity. If given the opportunity to sit and chat,
many teens will do so for hours. For that reason many
schools simply do not make chat available; they
don’t provide an IRC client. Chat still can be
easily done, however, through Web browsers.
Schools can restrict chat by making
students police themselves. If it is available, some
safeguards need to be in place about giving out real
names, family member names, addresses, and phone numbers.
Students must also be made aware of the potential dangers
of stalkers and molesters and avoid face-to-face meetings
with unidentified people. Safety from detrimental
influences on the Internet prompts many parents to ask
what can they do to protect their children on the
Internet. "Child Safety on the Information
Superhighway," by Lawrence J. Magid, a writer for
the Los Angeles Times and Internet provides an excellent
Web site on safety:
http://www.uoknor.edu/oupd/kidsafe/start.htm
The site covers all kinds of safety and
is one of the best down-to-earth treatments of kids and
the Internet. Parental involvement at home is paramount.
Magid covers the risks of seeing inappropriate material,
potential molestation in a face-to-face meeting, and
harassment. He then explains how parents can reduce the
risks by getting involved and having "rules for
online safety" posted right at the computer.
Another very good discussion about
safety and the Internet can be found at:
http://www.erehwon.com/k12aup
Viruses
Viruses are usually transmitted when
people swap disks from one computer to another. They can
also surface when people indiscriminately download
programs or files from the Internet. People who download
games are particularly vulnerable. Even though Web
masters and commercial online providers routinely screen
what they offer, it is possible for viruses to sneak
through. Schools are at a high risk just because there
are so many users. If students swap school and home
disks, their home computers soon may be infected and
suffering problems. Some schools try to limit what can be
downloaded; others only permit file downloading to floppy
drives. A virus-protection-site license is mandatory for
schools, and students should be taught to use it and be
required to scan their disks.
It is critical that schools teach
students about viruses, what they are, how they are
transmitted, how severe they can be, and how to get rid
of them. In addition, virus scans must be updated as new
versions come out to battle new viruses. Virus protection
that scans Internet downloads is becoming critical. Two
virus-protection company Web sites are:
http://www.mcafee.com
http://www.symantec.com
The Internet has seen many scares the
last few years about getting viruses from e-mail.
Although a virus can’t be transmitted by normal
e-mail, it can be sent in an attached file. Because large
networks such as the FAA and SEC have been hard hit,
there is now software to scan e-mail content for viruses.
But if such viruses affect large networks, then they
might also affect smaller networks such as schools. If it
does become a problem, then site-protection software is
available at:
http://www.integralis.com
It is has been my experience that the
incidence of viruses at schools declines when teachers
emphasize scanning disks. And when the emphasis
decreases, the incidence of viruses usually increases
again.
Anonymous Remailers
Because messages can be sent
anonymously, relationships that end badly, people who are
fired from companies, and students who are angry at
teachers or other students all present problems. Anyone
can take retaliatory action through e-mail with complete
anonymity. Anonymous remailers separate a person’s
message from his or her address and then repackage and,
then send it. Anyone can go to a search engine and look
for "anonymous remailer" or "hate
mail." The search will yield several sites with
directions on how to use them. This is one of the truly
unpleasant sides of the Internet. Some schools grant
students e-mail privacy with the caveat that, like a
locker, their e-mail be searched under certain
conditions. Again, educating young people in the ethical
use of the Internet and e-mail is critical.
The Internet is an amazing thing.
Rising out of research labs and obscurity, it is now
mainstream and vital. As an educational tool, it is
invaluable for research, information gathering, and
online projects. But it can be easily abused, and the
purpose for which schools have installed it and the
reality of its use can quickly diverge if students are
left to explore on their own. There needs to be careful
planning and a team to oversee and evaluate the
Internet’s use.
The Internet and telecommunications are
changing how people live, work, and communicate.
Problems? Of course, but there are problems everywhere.
The best way to avoid problems is through a careful
writing of AUP, by teaching students how to use the
Internet, by making our expectations clear, and through a
little monitoring. Armed with knowledge of what can go
awry, we can intercede before little problems become big
ones.
[William A. McIntyre,
Ed.D. New Hampshire Community Technical College, Nashua,
NH]
Sources
Arnzen, Michael A. "Cyber
Citations: Documenting Internet Sources Presents Some
Thorny Problems." Internet World. Sept., 1996, pp.
72-74.
Blumenstyk, Goldie. "Comics and
Centerfolds on Web Pages Pose a Copyright Problem for
Colleges," (Information Technology), Chronicle of
Higher Education. Sept, 27, 1996, pp. A29-A30.
Bott, Edd. "Internet Lies: Suspect
Anonymity, and Serious Spamming," PC Computing.
Oct., 1996, pp. 189-196.
Chambers, Roy. "Coping with
Copyright Changes," In-Plant Printer. Aug., 1996,
pp. 52- 56. Venditto, Gus. "Safe Computing,"
Internet World, Sept., 1996, pp. 48-58.
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