My Big Campus Delivers on the Rye Neck Mission: Safe and Effective Online Learning Environments
School / District: Rye Neck Union FSD
State: New York
District Size: 1,500 students
Solution: Total Traffic Control, Web Access Manager, My Big Campus
Focus: Web 2.0
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Overview
The technology department at Rye Neck Union Free School District in New York has a mission: to create safe and effective online learning environments. To this end, approximately 400 workstations and 200 mobile laptops and netbooks are used by students and teachers, and network access and wi-fi are available throughout the district. But having computers available is just the first step: Rye Neck needed a safe way to utilize that technology to engage and motivate students using their favored medium—the Internet and social networking.
Challenge
While technologists, educators, and administrators at Rye Neck all agreed that Web 2.0 opened up a lot of exciting educational possibilities, they were concerned about safety.
Steven Halper, the technology coordinator and chair at Rye Neck for the last 20 years, points to what he calls the ‘YouTube video dilemma’: “We can all agree that YouTube has great videos, with great content for learning. But on the flip side, there is the danger of mature inappropriate content.”
Until recently, the answer to this dilemma at Rye Neck (and at schools across the globe) was simply to err on the side of safety and completely block YouTube and other Web 2.0 sites. But educators at Rye Neck realized that to meet their educational technology goals, blocking was not a valid option: “To enhance learning, and truly create online learning environments, we needed to be able to provide safe access to online videos, Web 2.0 sites, and social networking tools like blogs and wikis,” Steven shares.
Rye Neck technology and curriculum coordinators began to look for a solution that would provide them the benefits of Web 2.0 learning, online resources, and social media—without the safety and security risks.
Solution
A happy customer of Lightspeed Total Traffic Control for the district’s network filtering, security, and management, Steven was excited to hear about My Big Campus, a new feature integrated into the Lightspeed web filter (Web Access Manager). My Big Campus provides access to a Resource Library, with a wealth of browsable and searchable indexed educational videos, web sites, and other resources; as well as a Collaboration Site, with safe Web 2.0 tools and communications within a closed environment.
Steven jumped at the opportunity to pilot My Big Campus in his district. “We need to give teachers and students the best possible learning tools and environment to enhance their education, and we believe that Web 2.0 is that environment. My Big Campus gives us the safe resources and safe social networking we need,” he says.
Rye Neck is currently piloting My Big Campus at one middle school and one high school, where the easy-to-use, familiar interface and language have made it a welcome tool.
That ‘YouTube video dilemma’? Not an issue anymore. “The My Big Campus Resource Library allows us to provide a library of safe, educational videos and websites without the filtering restrictions or the content concerns,” Steven shares. “Teachers submit videos to the library, where they can be viewed without the ads and peripheral content. Teachers love it.”
And the Collaboration Site has opened up new ways for teachers and students to communicate and collaborate. “Online communication between students and teachers is a necessary step for today’s learners: social networking and texting are how students communicate; it’s how they learn. My Big Campus lets us utilize that communication method to improve education.”
Teachers at Rye Neck create My Big Campus groups for different classes, and use features like discussion boards, walls, and calendars to share information and encourage participatory learning. “Teachers use the Wall to post interesting or helpful resources; they use the Discussion Boards to discuss issues and assignments; and they use the Events Calendar to remind students about quizzes and other class events,” Steven reports.
One of the primary issues with integrating Web 2.0 tools in schools is the difficulty filtering the changing and dynamic content. Several safeguards are in place to keep My Big Campus safe for students. Steven shares that these systems are working: “Profanity is automatically blocked. And users are able to flag or delete inappropriate posts. Teachers review all the activity for their group through reports, activity feeds, and email alerts.”
The collaboration and communication that My Big Campus provides has a host of educational benefits. Steven reports that teachers and students can give each other instant feedback on assignments and lessons; students ask questions and communicate with each other about assignments outside of class; and students publish and share their writing online. “English teachers are having students create “digital portfolios” using their My Big Campus blogs,” Steven explains. “Students are also using this area to evaluate and discuss assigned readings.”
Conclusion
Today’s students are used to using social networking for communication and learning. Rye Neck educators, administrators, and technology teams realized that simply shutting off access to that medium wasn’t an effective solution—so they instead found a way to harness students’ enthusiasm for educational purposes. Steven shares the results: “Computers, the Internet, social networking: that is our students’ natural environment; it’s where they feel comfortable. We have found that with My Big Campus, students (particularly those who are shy in the classroom setting) are participating more and are more engaged.”