Sierra Sands Keeps Students Safe–on the Web and on YouTube–with Lightspeed

School / District: Sierra Sands SD
State: California
District Size: 5,400 students
Solution: Web Access Manager, Educational Video Library
Focus: Filtering, Reporting, YouTube

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Overview

As technology becomes an increasingly important part of students’ lives, the role of technology in schools will continue to grow as well. The Sierra Sands School District in southern California recognizes this, and its forward-thinking technology department knows that its job is about more than keeping the computers working—it’s about making the network a valuable tool for education.

“The students are used to technology; it’s what they relate to. If we want to keep them engaged, we have to match the things they do at home, and the things they enjoy. That is technology,” shares Donnie Morrison, Director of Technology for the Sierra Sands School District.

Smartboards, web access, online videos and 1:1 initiatives all play into the district’s vision for technology—but it is critical that it is done with safety in mind. And Donnie and his technology team are working with administrators and teachers to find the right balance: “We have to make sure we’re protecting the kids, but also giving them access to valuable resources,” Donnie recognizes.

Challenge

Realizing that information is key to ensuring student safety, enforcing Acceptable Use Policies, and adhering to regulations, Donnie began searching for a replacement to his previous content filter, which offered very little reporting. With eleven schools in the district, one of the main goals Donnie had as he began his search was the ability to send administrators reports about what was happening at their individual schools.

Like every other California school, the other challenge Donnie faces is budget. With Lightspeed, Donnie has the powerful web filter and reporting engine he needs—and a lower price tag. “Lightspeed gives us comprehensive reports, and lets us create custom reports. In my opinion, it has more features, and is still more cost-effective, than other options.”

Solution

The Sierra Sands Acceptable Use Policy prohibits users from activities like harassing other students and accessing inappropriate sites. Lightspeed Web Access Manager provides the filtering, monitoring, and reporting to ensure that those policies are enforced. “I review reports like blocked content, search engine queries, and suspicious search engine queries every morning,” Donnie says. “I’m able to look at everything and see if there are any issues I need to look into further. And I pass along reports to the principals so they can see what’s happening at their individual sites as well as the entire district.” Among the things Donnie is on the look-out for are students searching for words like ‘suicide’ or ‘bomb’ or a user searching for proxies that might allow him to bypass the content filter. “I feel like with this information, I might be able to mitigate something that may otherwise have turned into something disastrous,” Donnie shares.

“The reports are just awesome,” Donnie compliments. “We can see everything that’s going on on the network and determine if there are any areas of concern, with what the kids are doing or just with network traffic in general.”

A new feature Donnie is excited about is the Educational Video Library, which allows teachers to share approved YouTube videos with students—without the concerns of inappropriate content, peripheral links, or comments. “We get a lot of requests for teachers to be able to share good educational videos from YouTube, but allowing that in the past has really been quite a hassle,” Donnie recalls. “The Educational Video Library allows us to easily review and approve a video and put it out there for access, and everyone benefits from that.”

Conclusion

As Sierra Sands prepares its students for success in the 21st century by increasing the role technology plays in education, it relies on Lightspeed Web Access Manager to help ensure that those endeavors don’t compromise student safety, regulatory compliance, or Acceptable Use Policy adherence. “If I have a question about anything, I can go in and run a report and see what’s going on. Having access to that information ties to acceptable use as well as student safety and legal issues,” Donnie concludes.

About Lightspeed Web Access Manager

Ensure safe and appropriate web browsing with customizable filtering

Lightspeed Web Access Manager ensures that users’ web browsing is in line with Acceptable Use Policies and CIPA mandates—while they are on the network or when utilizing school computers off the network. An education-specific database, as well as customizable allow/ block lists and filtering profiles, provide the flexibility to meet any district’s unique requirements. Innovative features, like the Educational Video Library for safe access to approved YouTube videos, help to ensure a balance between learning and safety in Web 2.0 environments.

About Lightspeed

Lightspeed Systems Inc., founded in 2000, develops comprehensive network security and management solutions for the education market. We are committed to helping schools operate their networks effectively and efficiently, so educators can provide safe online teaching and learning environments.

Our software is used in more than 1,000 school districts in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia to protect more than 5 million students. For the past two years, Lightspeed Systems has been recognized on the Inc. 5,000 list as one of the fastest-growing private companies.