Further to my own post of a couple of days ago http://www.ruachonline.org.uk/blog/?p=690
and Charlie Loves recent post on the topic
http://charlielove.org/?p=7886
I was doing some further reading and came across the following
I felt this was a good post which covered the topic of filtering from a “feet on the ground” perspective (not that the other posts dont do this too), I want to highlight this extract
“Nothing is ever going to be perfect, but these days any good filtering service is highly configurable and a lot can be done to ease the pain.
Firstly the LA (or provider) must understand how technology is used in an education environment. This includes newer technologies such as tablets, smartphones, cloud working etc.
Secondly, filtering must be “managed”; that means that constant changes must be made in response to school needs.
Thirdly, the LA must work with schools. There has to be interaction as to what is working and what isn’t.
Last but by no means least, schools must work with the LA; unless you tell them they won’t know what difficulties you are experiencing.”
The point this makes is I think that filtering is necessary but that way that any filter service is managed is critical to its usefulness to the end user. End users in this context are pupils and teachers. An essential part of any filtering service is to go beyond the technology and have a process which can respond to end user needs for exceptions.
For example if a teachers discovers a site which needed to meet a learning objective and it not illegal then there should be a process to allow that site to be opened up (if initially blocked) either perminantly or for a time! Such a service should be responsive so that the change can be made in minutes not hours.
The filter service must be more than a box which sits on the edge of the network and blocks certain content – is should part if a service to end users which includes a process for implemented exceptions quickly as needed. If the existing filter policies are more open than closed then I think that it should follow that requests for exceptions will be fewer and therefore manageable.
In the context of the current thinking about GlowPlus/Glow Futures etc I see no reason why such a service cannot be implemented at a national level (Glowplus service) but have it managed at a regional level ( either at school or LA levels).