MANAGING ICT Anytime, anywhere...


Earnie Kramer considers the risks that must be managed


when students use devices out of school and looks at how mobile filtering works


aim to provide each student with a tablet or laptop that they can take home, are sprouting up around the world. It is easy to see why. Handhelds, laptops, netbooks,


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tablet PCs, iPads and other mobile devices can allow students to take their learning with them, beyond class walls and school bells. They can use digital content as a cost-effective


alternative to traditional textbooks and offer easier opportunities for personalised instruction, increase student-teacher communication, and provide anytime access to class resources and assignments. The use of technology itself also gives students


hands-on, consistent interaction with the devices and tools that will no doubt fill their higher education and careers. In fact, research has shown that learning is enhanced when students use mobile devices at home to continue work initiated at school. But a successful mobile learning programme must also recognise the inherent risks that come with


s part of efforts to enhance the learning process, schools are incorporating technology into core curriculum at school and finding new ways to engage students in their learning even when they are not at school.


Mobile learning and one-to-one initiatives, which


allowing students to use school resources away from the school network. Mobile learning in particular, where no teacher is nearby to monitor use, requires the implementation of technology solutions to ensure that resources are properly used, users are effectively protected, and devices are secured against viruses. When school computers leave the network, both


the computers and the users can be exposed to harmful content and safety and security risks. The school network is filtered and protected; home or public networks are not. But whose responsibility is the online safety of


students when they are off the school network? To some degree, it is everybody’s – the parents, the school, the community. But when the device is provided by the school there are educational and legal and practical reasons for schools to employ a mobile filter. When devices are used on the school campus, the


school filters the traffic and activity through its regular network. This protects against inappropriate activity, pornography, harmful content, cyber-bullying, viruses, and more. When the devices go off-campus, the same potential dangers exist, so it makes sense that schools provide mobile filtering along with their mobile devices. With a mobile filter, schools can extend their on‐


network policies and protection to users who take their mobile devices off the network. This protects both the technology and the user, whether they are working at home, in a park, in a café, or somewhere else. Many schools have reported saving time by not having to remove malware and viruses from mobile devices exposed to malicious sites. In the past, many schools resorted to simply


disabling internet access when school mobile devices left the network, but that severely hampers the learning benefits of the mobile learning initiative. A school technology specialist once told me: “We


feel (mobile filtering) adds value to our students’ educational experience by enabling them to safely conduct off-campus internet research in the same way that they do on our classroom computers.”


Mobile filtering offers benefits to schools including:


• Protects students from harmful content when they use school resources off the network.


• Protects mobile computers from viruses and spyware.


• Protects schools from liability for issues on school-owned resources.


• Provides information on off-network activity, ensuring use is for educational and appropriate purposes.


• Monitors use to ensure the ongoing success of a mobile learning programme.


• Promotes positive digital citizenry, even outside of school hours.


When it comes to out-of-school online activity, social networking can be a particular concern. Policies should be constructed to allow access to educationally focused (safe, monitored) communications, protecting the students as well as the school.


How does mobile filtering work?


Depending on the solution, a mobile filter can communicate with a database and policy hosted in the cloud or on an on-site appliance. It communicates browser requests back to the filtering solution, which references the user’s policy and the content database and determines if the access should be allowed or blocked. Depending on the result of the query, the user then continues to the site, or to a blocked page notification. There are definitely some things to consider when


comparing mobile filtering to on-campus filtering. For example, during off-hours it might make sense to provide looser filtering policies than those enforced during school hours. Flexible policies are key. With this, though, ongoing monitoring and reporting


are essential to ensure that looser policies do not provide a means for abuse or inappropriate activity. Also, safe access to the classroom resources and


tools from off-campus adds significant value to a mobile learning programme. The type of device to be deployed should also be considered, as not all mobile filtering solutions work on all devices.


Mobile learning programmes give schools an


exciting opportunity to make learning an ongoing, anytime, anyplace activity for students. But in order for the initiative to be a success, mobile devices must be filtered to ensure compliance with policies, student safety, policy enforcement, and resource security. A content filter provides safety and security for


online learning opportunities. Mobile filtering extends that same feeling to laptops and handhelds – wherever and whenever they go.


• Earnie Kramer is a director of Lightspeed Systems. SecEd


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The Facebook dilemma– with a safe, monitored, education-focused environment for social networking.


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SecEd • May 17 2012


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