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Web 2.0 Advocate- Process for Gaining Access

School Description/ Area it serves

M.D. Roberts Middle school is a middle school in Jonesboro, Georgia that serves grades 6-8 in the

Clayton County Public School system. The school offers students a regular curriculum or a honors

curriculum based on testing and performance and also is the host school for the middle school

Orthopedic Impairments program, Functional Autism units, Visual Impairments and 1 class of Severe

physical and intellectual Disabilities classroom (1). The total population of the school is 763 with a racial/

ethnic make-up of 569 black students, 65 Hispanic, 60 White, 45 multi-racial, and 23 Asian/ Pacific

Islander. 70 students with disabilities are included within this population and 477 students were

considered economically disadvantaged. (2) The school has met AYP and in classified as a Title I

school.(2)

Process Flow Chart

Process Description

Access to many of the Web 2.0 tools is very restricted in my system. All of the tools that have any aspect

of social networking are blocked without question and some of the other tools that have odd sounding

names are often identified as entertainment or shopping websites by the system web filter. These

factors usually necessitate action by a teacher that would want access to legitimate Web 2.0 tools to

help their students become more technically literate and enhance their overall learning. The process in

1. Teacher

3. fill out form

8. Approved Form

2. Media

Specialist

(Form)

5. Technology

Help Desk

7. Approval

4. Principal

Signature

6. Coordinating

Supervisor of

Technology

Operations

Interoffice Mail

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Clayton County consists of filling out a request to unblock content form and submitting it for approval.

The process seems simple on the surface but many convoluting factors work to make the process much

more complicated. The information on the process comes mainly from our media specialists, the

receptionist at the Technology Help desk as well as my own experience with requesting access.

The first step required is to acquire a Website URL Access Request Form which is availableelectronically but most people do not have this document downloaded nor know where it is available.

Because most teachers dont know where to obtain the form, they end up going to the Media Specialist

who gives them a hard copy. Once the form is acquired, there are several exclusionary factors that may

stop the process before you can even submit the request. On the form it states that the request will not

be considered if the use of the Website violates established acceptable use guidelines, does not comply

with the Childrens Internet Protection Act and an alternate website tailored specifically for educational

environments can be found(3).

If the requirements are met, a copy of the URL, reason for access, and whether searches on the website

have produced explicit content. Once the form has been filled the teacher must take it to the principal

for an initial screening of the document and a signature. The next step is to send the form via fax of

Interoffice Mail to the Technology Help desk in the Technology Department. The request are then

screened again and sent to the Coordinating Supervisor of Technology Operations who gives the final

decision on the site. An approval form is then sent through the Technology Help Desk then interoffice

mailed to the teacher.

As I have stated previously, the process is fairly reasonable just with a lot of steps and, what I would

consider, unnecessary checkpoints. But, because of the overreaching web filter that the county

employs, the use of the process is an unfortunately reality for any teacher that wants to use most of the

Web 2.0 tools or educational websites.

References:

(1)http://clayton2.mdroberts.schooldesk.net/

(2)http://www.doe.k12.ga.us/ReportingFW.aspx?PageReq=103&SchoolId=20443&T=1&FY=2010

(3)Unblock letter from the Technology Department