St. Ignatius High implements stringent Internet usage policy
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ST. IGNATIUS – Freeloading web surfers and off-task students, beware. St. Ignatius School District will close its open Internet network to outside users and implement a stringent usage monitoring policy in July.
The policy is meant to protect students from the dangers of misuse and to free up bandwith that gets clogged and sluggish at times because of heavy non-school related usage, Superintendent Bob Lewandowski said.
“In order to gain access to the district network, all users will have to meet the terms and conditions listed in the authorization when applying for network access,” Lewandowski said. “This includes an online component that mandates that before new Internet access is granted, all users must complete the St. Ignatius Internet Safety Citizenship curriculum.”
The curriculum consists of a 20-minute online video that tells of the dangers lurking online. Students and teachers will have to view the video, and parents will be given information on how to access the video and inform themselves.
“In no way is this curriculum comprehensive of all the dangers that exist,” Lewandowski said. “But it does provide a basic knowledge for use and application.”
Students and teachers will be given a username so they can access the Internet network, which will be closed to the public. Presently, the network is open to the public and it isn’t uncommon to see people parked outside the school at all hours of the day and night, taking advantage of the free access. This is problematic at times because it clogs the school’s access at peak hours.
Closure of the network will allow more bandwith to be used for school purposes, as will the deployment of an online monitoring program.
According to technology director Matt Lyon, the district explored thousands of dollars worth of expensive equipment he could use to monitor the district’s usage, but he was able to take a $19 software program and free surplus computers from state government to generate an Internet monitoring system that provides “an incredible amount of data” about the district’s usage.
At a June 17 school board meeting, Lyon pulled up a screen that showed a compilation of the school’s Internet usage over the course of a day. Facebook usage peaked at lunchtime, Lyon noted. He also showed board members real-time feedback of what was happening on the network during the meeting.
“It looks like some kid is sitting outside in the parking lot using something,” Lyon said. “… Maybe an online chat room?”
He wasn’t familiar with the website being used, but with a little research he could find out what the site is for, and whether or not it is appropriate for student usage. Once user logins are administered, he will also be able to identify who exactly is accessing that website.
This is useful for two reasons. Lyon can use the data to make sure individual students aren’t visiting inappropriate sites or playing on the web when they should be doing classwork. The system is set up to flag suspected inappropriate web visits that Lyon can verify.
“This provides us the ability to watchdog everyone,” Lewandowski said.
Lyon can also prioritize which sites and devices will receive more bandwith, less bandwith, or no bandwith at all.
“We will be able to filter out and say ‘This is a phone. This is a desktop computer …’” Lyon said. “I’ll be able to say ‘Okay, phones have this regulation, desktops have a different set of regulations.’”
This could come in handy if teachers were having problems with middle school children using their phones for unsupervised Facebook usage in class, Lyon said.
“You could say that it is okay to be on that with a desktop but not on your phone,” Lyon said. “I have that level of control, which is pretty cool.”
Board member Peter Matt noted that the new technology won’t solve all of the district’s problems with students misusing the Internet.
“We are supposed to have 4G soon,” Matt said.
Lewandowski agreed that students will still be able to use personal data plans to get around the rules once 4G capability arrives, but said the policies are a step in the right direction in helping students and the district grapple with evolving technology.
“There is no guarantee unauthorized information or content cannot be accessed,” Lewandowski said. “Mobile usage has increased the potential for an unsupervised environment, creating the potential for misuse and harm.”
The new policy goes into effect July 1.
