Bring Down That Wall

Some of you know my day job is teaching.  Schools have lots of issues with technology.  They don't have the money to keep up with the latest and greatest for starters.  It's also difficult to hire good people in fill their needs in technology areas because people really knowledgeable in that stuff can make so much more money elsewhere.  Sometimes the old guard teachers embrace new things with fear and reluctance though as a whole, the faculty at my school are begging for more training, more programs and continually sharing ways to use some of the wonderful things available to bring education out of the nineteenth century.

Another problem all schools face is the line between allowing students access to online resources and preventing undesirable use of the same.  Every school, even if you haven't heard about from your local school, has had issues with students finding their way to porn sites, texting inappropriate messages and pictures, and visiting places on the web the school and their parents don't want them to go.  Schools try to prevent this with firewalls able to stop nuclear attacks.  I'd like the burn down that wall but it does have a reason for existence.

Seriously, if I visit any website that allows shopping, I receive a warning the visit may violate my user agreement.  I'm not allowed, even as a teacher, to visit blogs or social network sites.  I'm not permitted to check my google mail.  As a teacher, I have a lunch break and one other break sometime during the day.  If I could use those breaks to visit some blogs I enjoy, I could expand my network of friends.  The only way I keep up with even half of my friends is by spending two to three hours per evening visiting and commenting.  On weekends when I can be online on and off through out the day, I can take small breaks from writing and check to see who has a new blog post.  It's so easy.

I've decided I have one or two solutions.  The first would be to quit my day job.  My children and I need to eat so that isn't likely to happen for a few years.  The second possibility is to spend the money to get a 3G or 4G phone or iPad(salivating) so I can get online at work without using the work network.  Less expensive than quiting the job but still a few dollars I hate to spend with two kids in college and another due to start in about eighteen months.  I have to price it out.

So how about you? Can you jump online during the day and go where you wish? Is your school embracing technology?