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As educators and school administrators know, adherence to regulations within the Child Internet Protection Act plays an important role in school budgets. Compliance with CIPA means assuring that school Internet filters and necessary website blocks are in place before schools can receive technology allocations, called E-Rate funds, on which so many schools depend.
Beyond school Internet filtering, CIPA requires that schools put policies into place that provide a safe environment for students and one where they are protected from damaging and inappropriate Web and social media content needing to be blocked. It has also become important to schools that private data and school networks are secure from outside threats.
School Internet Filters
Last year, the FCC established some new rules impacting Internet filtering in schools, specifically regarding social networking. The new FCC rules apply to CIPA compliance and are also tied to E-Rate funds. Here is an overview of the requirements:
- New FCC rules are in addition to existing CIPA requirements - they expand rather than replace rules around school Internet filtering
- The rules mention popular social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube as being potentially harmful to minors but not inherently bad
- In addition to making sure school Internet filters are in place, the FCC asks that schools initiate policies and education for proper social networking use and blocking where necessary
- The FCC acknowledges that social networking sites may have the potential to support student learning and does not mandate that they be banned
iPrism Internet filtering in schools can now include Social Media Security, an add-on service that allows schools to monitor, filter and report on student interactions with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and others.
iPrism combines Internet filtering software for schools with a self-contained appliance that assures comprehensive protection from Web-based threats.
Schools that deploy iPrism Social Media Security as part of their Internet Filtering strategy will be able to:
- Dispel with an all-or-nothing approach by allowing students worthwhile access to social networking while assuring granular compliance with AUP and CIPA requirements
- Augment existing school Internet filtering by keeping content that is in violation from being posted -customizable block messages appear within the application
- Use standard templates included with the service or customize social media rules to fit their specific requirements
- Implement Internet blocking and/or website blocking for emergency or situational needs.
- Use customizable reporting to track and log student interactions with Web 2.0 applications
The new service is controlled via the iPrism Web Security interface and is in-the-cloud, so it can be enabled easily.
> iPrism Social Media Security
> iPrism YouTube for Schools Support Augments School Internet Filtering
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