A key requirement of a 1:1 program is security and achievement – ensuring students are using the device safely and productively. This document provides several best practices that together make for a successful 1:1 experience.
Securly is the industry’s first and only 100% cloud-based web filtering solution designed from the ground up for K-12 schools’ 21st century needs. Securly is designed to provide protection for any device, anywhere, and completely replace the existing web filter appliance.
Chicago area school district uses Securly’s Active Directory &
Google Authentication solutions in concert to achieve seamless user experience for 4,000 staff and students.
Securly is the industry’s first and only 100% cloud-based web filtering solution designed from the ground up for K-12 schools’ 21st century needs. Securly is designed to provide protection for any device, anywhere, and completely replace the existing web filter appliance.
Chicago area school district uses Securly’s Active Directory &
Google Authentication solutions in concert to achieve seamless user experience for 4,000 staff and students.
Securly has built features that enable district IT to delegate certain aspects of web filter administration to staff members, principals, and building-level techs.
Bullying has moved from locker rooms to the screens of students’ devices. Blocking educational apps
like Google Mail is not an option for schools. Auditor is a free tool that helps you monitor Google Mail for signs of cyberbullying and self-harm.
Securly is the world’s first 100% cloud- based web filtering solution designed from the ground up for K-12 schools. Securly goes beyond providing basic CIPA compliance into the realm of student safety.
Top 10 trends In Education Technology for 2016karima1
Technology is essential to learning. It improves education to a great extent has been revolutionizing education for the better. With technology, educators, and learners have a variety of learning tools at their fingertips. This presentation focuses on technology which will improve education in 2016 and beyond
Leadership for Engaging Students Digitally: It's not about the Angry Birds!ewilliams65
How can leaders effectively leverage technology for learning? If we have pockets of best practices, how do we scale up? What specific action steps can leaders take to build a shared vision, facilitate professional learning, provide access 24/7/365, and create polices that support rather than undercut technology use? This file includes numerous links to useful resources.
Scott Edmunds slides for class 8 from the HKU Data Curation (module MLIM7350 from the Faculty of Education) course covering open science and data publishing
Securly has built features that enable district IT to delegate certain aspects of web filter administration to staff members, principals, and building-level techs.
Bullying has moved from locker rooms to the screens of students’ devices. Blocking educational apps
like Google Mail is not an option for schools. Auditor is a free tool that helps you monitor Google Mail for signs of cyberbullying and self-harm.
Securly is the world’s first 100% cloud- based web filtering solution designed from the ground up for K-12 schools. Securly goes beyond providing basic CIPA compliance into the realm of student safety.
Top 10 trends In Education Technology for 2016karima1
Technology is essential to learning. It improves education to a great extent has been revolutionizing education for the better. With technology, educators, and learners have a variety of learning tools at their fingertips. This presentation focuses on technology which will improve education in 2016 and beyond
Leadership for Engaging Students Digitally: It's not about the Angry Birds!ewilliams65
How can leaders effectively leverage technology for learning? If we have pockets of best practices, how do we scale up? What specific action steps can leaders take to build a shared vision, facilitate professional learning, provide access 24/7/365, and create polices that support rather than undercut technology use? This file includes numerous links to useful resources.
Scott Edmunds slides for class 8 from the HKU Data Curation (module MLIM7350 from the Faculty of Education) course covering open science and data publishing
The Future for Educational Resource Repositories in a Web 2.0 Worldlisbk
Slides for a talk on "The Future for Educational Resource Repositories in a Web 2.0 World" given by Brian Kelly, UKOLN at an Edspaces workshop held at the University of Southampton on 4 November 2009.
See http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/workshops/edspace-2009/
Vivitek - BYOD and the new demands for group collaboration in Education and C...WildwoodPR
Vivitek, a leading brand of visual display products, has launched a new white paper, outlining Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) collaboration and the demands for this solution in both the education and corporate spheres.
With the rapid emergence of audio-visual and ICT technologies, the changing methods of working and learning have led to a rapid increase in the need for group collaboration. This latest invaluable resource from Vivitek aims to inform those interested in BYOD of the pertinent issues when specifying a solution.
Driven by the increase in usage of technology such as tablets, the BYOD market has exploded in recent years, with investors seeing the potential advantages of effective collaboration in many types of organisations. Drafted by Vivitek experts, the concise 10-page white paper provides a wealth of important information carefully designed to outline the benefits of BYOD, highlight common concerns regarding it, and discuss the implementation of a BYOD system.
Vivitek’s collaboration solution is NovoConnect, a small box packed with features. Costing a fraction of some high-end products, it allows for seamless distributed display and control between PC, Mac, tablet and smartphone devices to create a fully interactive presentation and collaboration environment. The fully wireless communication enables content sharing across multiple devices and the unit is compatible with Windows, Mac OS, Chromebook, iOS and Android operating systems. It is ideal for classrooms and conference rooms, and includes a range of classroom tools in its software.
Holger Graeff, General Manager, Vivitek EMEA says, “We have noticed a surge in demand for collaborative solutions in the workplace as well as the classroom. We hope this information will empower businesses with the relevant knowledge to ensure that they are able to make an informed decision to get the right solution for them.
“Research suggests that a wireless collaborative system can be hugely beneficial. A BYOD solution has the potential to increase productivity and boost employee or teacher-student satisfaction. The cost of a solution is also often much less expensive than people realise, so we believe it is important that we highlight these points in a considered manner. We feel that NovoConnect provides an excellent solution, boosting engagement and interaction at schools and businesses.”
Presentation given at the Consorcio Madrono conference on Data Management Plans in Horizon 2020 http://www.consorciomadrono.es/info/web/blogs/formacion/217.php
HIT164 COMPUTING FUNDAMENTALSAssignment 1 Research Essaysorayan5ywschuit
HIT164 COMPUTING FUNDAMENTALS
Assignment 1: Research Essay
Due Date: Week 7, Friday 11: 59 pm
Length: 1500 words maximum (not including references)
Value: 20% of the total marks for the unit
TASKS
1. Research a few issues in use of IT in a discipline of current relevance. You may choose issues from any of the disciplines given in the following pages or a discipline of your choice.
2. Prepare an essay about your topic with no more than 1500 words (excluding reference list).
3. Your topic of choice must be posted to the Discussion Board titled “Post your essay topic here” by Week 3, Friday 5pm,
4. Note that if you have not posted a topic by this time, you may be assigned a topic by your lecturer.
REQUIREMENTS
· The assignment should be word-processed.
· It should include a reference list.
· Use Harvard referencing style.
· Do not include sources in the reference list that are not cited in the document.
· You need to use a minimum of 10 sources and there needs to be at least 3 different types (i.e., websites, book, journal article, etc.).
HIT164 Computing Fundamentals
TOPICS (CHOOSE ONE)
Option 1: Social Media
GeoCities is a web hosting service which employs the concept/metaphors of “cities” and “neighbourhood” in real-world. For example, computer-related sites are placed in “SiliconValley” and entertainment sites in “Hollywood”. GeoCities was the third-most visited website at its peak when it was acquired by Yahoo! in 1999.
10 years later as social media had taken over and become mainstream on the Internet, GeoCities was shutdown and
deleted. However, the Internet Archive team made a backup of the site just before it was shut down to preserve the effort put in by around 35 million people since it started. The resulting 650GB archive was published online as a remembrance of the glorious days of GeoCities.
Will current social media (i.e., Facebook) eventually face the same fate? Justify your arguments with robust supporting evidence.
Option 2: Li-Fi
Wi-Fi is a popular networking technology that allows electronic devices to connect to the Internet wirelessly using radio frequency. It can be commonly seen from mobile devices to government facility. However in recent years, researchers have found a way to utilise visible light from light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to transmit data: such technology is called Li-Fi (light fidelity).
Even though Li-Fi is still at its infancy, many universities and researchers are actively studying to reach its potential.
Compare Wi-Fi and Li-Fi critically and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of Li-Fi.
Option 3: Wearable Technology
Google Glass is one of the first and most talked about augmented reality wearable computers in 2013. Its usage varies from personal entertainment to surgical practise. Similar to other emerging technologies, Google Glass has also received quite a few negative critical receptions, such as privacy concern.
Critically discuss the pros and cons of ...
WEBLOG is a combination of both Blog as well as Novels. Blog contain the Information of various things related to Technology, Education, News, International, Business, Sports, Entertainment and ongoing college activities. The main aim of this project is to provide data to students in only one site. Students can gather the information from one site as well as give their feedback and create their own blog. Students can post their views and thought and analyze themselves. Besides all such core functionalities, the application also includes features like FAQ, request, feedback etc. so as to provide a satisfactory user experience.
Just about all of my current technical content in one 364 slide mega-deck. Source files at https://github.com/adrianco/slides
Sections on:
Scene Setting
State of the Cloud
What Changes?
Product Processes
Microservices
State of the Art
Segmentation
What’s Missing?
Monitoring
Challenges
Migration
Response Times
Serverless
Lock-In
Teraservices
Wrap-Up
S.NoSalesforce Business Analyst roleComputer Systems Analysts.docxjeffsrosalyn
S.No
Salesforce Business Analyst role
Computer Systems Analysts
Match the roles and responsibilities
Which point of computer system analyst role match to
Salesforce analyst point?
Explain briefly how it is related in IT project in real time world
1
Responsible for gathering and Creating Custom Objects, Tabs, Custom Apps, Workflows,
Approval processes, Validate Rules, Page Layouts, Data Mapping, Data Export and Imports,
Application Support, Security Administration, Maintenance, and User Security Management, Creating Reports, Dashboards,
Apex Triggers, Apex classes, Data migration, SOQL, SOSL Queries.
Consult with managers to determine the role of IT systems in an organization
2
Responsible to build standard report templates, data validation, and issue research/resolution,
Strong analytical, reporting, Excel, and database skills, extensive knowledge of CRM software (experience administering and configuring Salesforce.com application and Oracle ERP applications).
Research emerging technologies to decide if installing them can increase the organization's efficiency and effectiveness
3
Work with various Salesforce.com objects like Accounts, Contacts, Leads, Opportunities, Reports, and created custom objects based on Business need.
Prepare an analysis of costs and benefits so that management can decide if IT systems and computing infrastructure upgrades are financially worthwhile
4
Work as a Sales Force Chatter APP with the organization and regularly participated in the meetings and chatter community.
Devise ways to add new functionality to existing computer systems
5
Create New Reports, New Dash Boards, and worked on Data Loader by uploading about close to a million records and experienced in cleansing and De-duplicating bulk loads.
Design and implement new systems by choosing and configuring hardware and software
6
Implement pick lists, dependent pick lists, lookups, master detail relationships, validation and formula fields to custom objects.
Oversee the installation and configuration of new systems to customize them for the organization
7
Generate Apex Classes using WSDL and wrote business logic layer for integration with external web services to the system for functional needs.
Conduct testing to ensure that the systems work as expected
8
Integrate and deploy custom integration solutions using Force.com Eclipse IDE Plug-in,
Force.com Explorer, Data Loader, Force.com Excel Connector, Migration Tool and process builder.
Train the systems' end users and write instruction manuals
9
Conduct Release Management tasks required to promote tested functionality from different sandboxes into production environment. Expeftise in Agile/Serum and Waterfall methodologies, SOftware Development Life Cycle (SPLC) processes.
10
Added custom fields and validations to new and existing objects and added custom functionality using custom controllers and custom extensions.
11
Deploy salesforce components from sandbox to production using Change Set and E.
Best practices to shape and secure your 1:1 Chromebook programSecurly
A key requirement of a 1:1 Chromebook program is security – ensuring students are using the device safely and productively. This document addresses several aspects of the Google Apps for Education Admin Console that are important to configure
correctly for a successful 1:1 experience.
Best Practices for Configuring YouTube Restricted ModeSecurly
Love it or hate it you cannot avoid YouTube. If you are a school teacher, a school admin or a parent you will be thinking about YouTube more frequently than you like. And most often than not it will be about figuring out ways to keep inappropriate stuff away without denying your kids the many useful videos that YouTube hosts. With a variety of ways available to keep harmful videos at bay, it is easy to lose your way in the YouTube labyrinth. In this paper, we will lay out some practical tips to help you manage YouTube, particularly the hallowed YouTube Restricted Mode.
Securly deploys complex machine learning algorithms that analyze data against carefully curated data sets. Securly's Natural Language Process (NLP) engines are put through rigorous training and multiple levels of data analysis that train them to think like humans when detecting grief, depression, bullying, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts in kids.
This paper discusses the architecture behind Securly’s DNS-based filtering solution, currently making over 3 million US students safer. The steps for configuring a school network to use Securly’s DNS-based filtering solution are laid out. Additionally, included statistics provide evidence of lives saved and bullying incidents mitigated as a result of these solutions.
Anti-Bullying Legislation in the United StatesSecurly
Bullying in various forms is on the rise in schools in the US and yet there is no federal law addressing this concern. The Department of Education provides some guidelines for states to create laws and policies to be implemented by individual school districts. We cross-referenced various statistics including the Department of Education and individual state government reports filed within the past few years to understand the discrepancies in state policies and bullying numbers across the country. We dug deeper into the prevention methods and policies enacted by each state –as well as its history –to uncover the underlying connections that provide for successful, or not-so-successful, anti-bullying environments.
Managing Screen Time - The Student's PerspectiveSecurly
The opportunities and perils of giving students access to devices like Chromebooks and iPads are well documented. Until now, however, conversations around topics such as screen time, web filtering, cyberbullying, and privacy have been dominated by adults. Very little is known about how today’s youth, the “1:1 generation”, are coping with an unprecedented use of technology in school and at home. We surveyed over 400 students to get their thoughts. Some of the results may surprise you.
Best practices to shape and secure your 1:1 program for ChromebooksSecurly
A key requirement of a 1:1 Chromebook program is security – ensuring students are using the device safely and productively. This document addresses several aspects of the Google Apps for Education Admin Console that are important to configure correctly for a successful 1:1 experience.
Securly is a cloud-based web filter built from the ground up for K-12 schools. The venture-backed startup is responsible for many innovations in its field, including:
- Seamless integration with Google Apps for Education (GAfE) for all devices
- Seamless integration with Chromebooks
- Integration with Google/Bing/Yahoo Safe Search, YouTube Safety Mode, and YouTube EDU
- Bullying and Self-Harm Detection - powerful technology that is capable of discerning troubling searches or social media posts made on student devices
- Parental Integration - patent-pending technology that gives parents visibility into how their children are using school devices; parents can also modify at-home browsing policies
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
2024.06.01 Introducing a competency framework for languag learning materials ...Sandy Millin
http://sandymillin.wordpress.com/iateflwebinar2024
Published classroom materials form the basis of syllabuses, drive teacher professional development, and have a potentially huge influence on learners, teachers and education systems. All teachers also create their own materials, whether a few sentences on a blackboard, a highly-structured fully-realised online course, or anything in between. Despite this, the knowledge and skills needed to create effective language learning materials are rarely part of teacher training, and are mostly learnt by trial and error.
Knowledge and skills frameworks, generally called competency frameworks, for ELT teachers, trainers and managers have existed for a few years now. However, until I created one for my MA dissertation, there wasn’t one drawing together what we need to know and do to be able to effectively produce language learning materials.
This webinar will introduce you to my framework, highlighting the key competencies I identified from my research. It will also show how anybody involved in language teaching (any language, not just English!), teacher training, managing schools or developing language learning materials can benefit from using the framework.
Biological screening of herbal drugs: Introduction and Need for
Phyto-Pharmacological Screening, New Strategies for evaluating
Natural Products, In vitro evaluation techniques for Antioxidants, Antimicrobial and Anticancer drugs. In vivo evaluation techniques
for Anti-inflammatory, Antiulcer, Anticancer, Wound healing, Antidiabetic, Hepatoprotective, Cardio protective, Diuretics and
Antifertility, Toxicity studies as per OECD guidelines
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
A workshop hosted by the South African Journal of Science aimed at postgraduate students and early career researchers with little or no experience in writing and publishing journal articles.
This presentation includes basic of PCOS their pathology and treatment and also Ayurveda correlation of PCOS and Ayurvedic line of treatment mentioned in classics.
How to Build a Module in Odoo 17 Using the Scaffold MethodCeline George
Odoo provides an option for creating a module by using a single line command. By using this command the user can make a whole structure of a module. It is very easy for a beginner to make a module. There is no need to make each file manually. This slide will show how to create a module using the scaffold method.
Executive Directors Chat Leveraging AI for Diversity, Equity, and InclusionTechSoup
Let’s explore the intersection of technology and equity in the final session of our DEI series. Discover how AI tools, like ChatGPT, can be used to support and enhance your nonprofit's DEI initiatives. Participants will gain insights into practical AI applications and get tips for leveraging technology to advance their DEI goals.
Delivering Micro-Credentials in Technical and Vocational Education and TrainingAG2 Design
Explore how micro-credentials are transforming Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) with this comprehensive slide deck. Discover what micro-credentials are, their importance in TVET, the advantages they offer, and the insights from industry experts. Additionally, learn about the top software applications available for creating and managing micro-credentials. This presentation also includes valuable resources and a discussion on the future of these specialised certifications.
For more detailed information on delivering micro-credentials in TVET, visit this https://tvettrainer.com/delivering-micro-credentials-in-tvet/
MATATAG CURRICULUM: ASSESSING THE READINESS OF ELEM. PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS I...NelTorrente
In this research, it concludes that while the readiness of teachers in Caloocan City to implement the MATATAG Curriculum is generally positive, targeted efforts in professional development, resource distribution, support networks, and comprehensive preparation can address the existing gaps and ensure successful curriculum implementation.
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty,
International FDP on Fundamentals of Research in Social Sciences
at Integral University, Lucknow, 06.06.2024
By Dr. Vinod Kumar Kanvaria
Exploiting Artificial Intelligence for Empowering Researchers and Faculty, In...
Best practices to shape and secure your 1:1 program
1. best practices to shape & secure
your 1:1 program
tech brief – summer2014 – v1.2
securly://
2. Contents
Dr. Jekyll.................................................................................................................................... 3
Mr. Hyde .................................................................................................................................... 4
Security & Productivity Best Practices........................................................................................ 6
Best Practice #1: Secure Search............................................................................................ 6
Best Practice #2: Secure YouTube......................................................................................... 7
Best Practice #3: Secure Gmail.............................................................................................. 8
Best Practice #4: Delegate Web-Filtering to Teachers............................................................ 9
Best Practice #5: Don’t Just Block. Audit................................................................................ 9
Best Practice #6: Take-home needs Filtering or Digital Citizenship .......................................10
Best Practice #7: Layered Defense with Base Firewall Policy................................................10
Best Practice #8: Lock-Down Windows Devices with Active Directory...................................11
Best Practice #9: Lock-Down 1:1 Rollout with MDM ..............................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
About Securly ...........................................................................................................................11
3. Dr. Jekyll
Schools are adopting 1:1 programs by the masses. Every week, a number of districts make the
news for deploying chromebooks, iPads, and other devices. One of the better known
deployments occurred in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where 640,000 students
would each receive their own school-issued iPad.
Maine, one of the early adopters of a 1:1 initiative, distributed an Apple MacBook to every
seventh- and eighth-grader in the state back in 2002. More than a decade later, its program has
won qualified praise for making access to technology equitable across students of all
socioeconomic backgrounds.
The 1:1 phenomenon is not just confined to U.S. borders. On the contrary, it is a global
sensation. Take the country of Malaysia, for example, who recently gave Chromebooks for over
10 million students in the country.
“As part of their 1:1 initiative, Malaysia is deploying Chromebooks to primary and secondary
schools nationwide. These efforts to integrate the web are a central part of a national plan to
reform its educational system.” – Felix Lin, Director of Product Management, Google
The perceived benefits of a 1:1 program are plentiful, including:
4. Given the constantly falling costs of devices, these have become cheaper than paper
textbooks. This being the case, it makes financial sense for schools to re-allocate
resources towards buying devices and have students benefit from free 21st
century
online learning tools such as Khan Academy and CK-12.
Online information is constantly evolving as contrasted with static textbooks, where
information is often outdated.
Allowing students and teachers to remotely collaborate on projects via free online tools
such as Google Docs.
Mr. Hyde
“Even the noblest of efforts — such as, say, the Los Angeles Unified School District's program
to give each of its 600,000-plus students Apple iPads — can suffer under the weight of bungled
management. Since the district rolled out its $1 billion program — funded by construction bond
money … reaction has ranged from skepticism at the beginning to downright hostility as more
problems were reported.”
– Los Angeles Times
Several years and billions of dollars later, one question remains: are these devices actually
being used for the reasons they were intended? There is no question that technology opens up
a world of wondrous possibilities to students, but it also exposes them to distractions and risks
that were previously less probable in a traditional classroom model. Among these perils is the
growing threat posed by cyber-bullying and online predators, along with unprecedented access
to adult content through social media and other channels. This problem is further compounded
when students are taking these devices home, where there is just a fraction of the supervision
available at school.
5. Securly works with hundreds of schools across the United States to provide both in-school and
take-home filtering. This enables us to see DNS, HTTP and HTTPS traffic from these schools
“funneled” through a central location. Upending the traditional model (which asks for a on
premise appliance for reporting) allows us to have a centralized, high-performance repository for
all of our customers’ audit data. This in turn helps us find needles in any give haystack
(Example: Which students are being most productive or being blocked the most often) or infer
macro-trends among all of our haystacks put together (Example: Which websites are most
popular amongst high school take-home users across 100,000 students?)
The following graph shows the in-school browsing pattern (top blocked sites) of a district that is
one of our customers.
The browsing behavior of the same cohort of users differs quite a bit as they go home:
6. Facebook is by a long shot the most blocked domain at home. This shows that student behavior
can vary considerably when they’re unsupervised.
Security & Productivity Best Practices
We now proceed to talk about several best practices we have learnt from our customers in the
field. We have seen these being used time and again to create a safe learning environment
while creating “buy-in” from all stake-holders (Administrators, Teachers and Parents) who are
involved in signing off on a 1:1 rollout.
Best Practice #1: Secure Search
Turn on safe-search: Google, Bing and Yahoo support safe search on their respective search
engines. A web-filter will need to pro-actively enable these safety modes. We recommend
enabling safety modes on these three search engines while keeping all other search engines
(Ask, Duckduckgo, etc) blocked. The top three search engines give students more than enough
freedom to research on their class assignments. Safety mode can be enabled by simply
appending a string at the end of the URL, as shown here:
Google: ?&safe=active
Bing: ?& adlt=strict
Yahoo: ?&vm=r
Systems such as Dan’s Guardian and Safe Squid can be used to accomplish the above.
Chromebooks can have the safety mode turned on for Google on the Apps for Education Admin
Control panel.
Redirecting encrypted search: In 2010, Google launched an encrypted version of its search
engine that made SSL the default transport for all Google traffic. This was problematic for
schools, as the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requires that students be blocked and
audited when trying to access inappropriate content. Blocking encrypted search was not really a
viable option, since Google has become a de-facto tool in the 21st
century classroom. Google
has instead provided schools with a nosslsearch.google.com option. All SSL traffic bound for
google.com can be intercepted by the web-filter and re-directed to nosslsearch.google.com.
This ensures a seamless re-direct from HTTPS to HTTP. Additionally, encrypted.google.com
needs to be blocked by the web-filter because the nosslsearch trick does not work for this
domain by design.
Keyword blocking: Even with safe search turned on, keywords that would normally be
inappropriate (ex: those related to drugs or violence) for a K-12 setting are allowed by Google,
Bing and Yahoo. To address this issue, we recommend URL based keyword blocking. Securly
7. uses a keyword list of over 1000 keywords that has been carefully culled to avoid False
Positives. This list can be built from publically available sources. We also recommend
accounting for permutations of those keywords to address evasive behavior. For example, a
student could type “h4(k1ng” instead of “hacking” or “a$$” instead of “ass”.
Safe Image Search: Several of our customers have reported the following issue: Image Search
is not safe enough with Safe Search turned on. Blocking image search is not an option since
there are legitimate uses for this functionality. Our recommendation in this case is to turn on the
“Creative Commons” filter that is supported by all major search engines. The idea here is to filter
out all images except those tagged as being distributed under the “Creative Commons” license.
We have found based on extensive empirical evidence that images with this license are for the
most part appropriate for classroom use. Further, the filter can be turned on for students only
while leaving staff unfiltered on image search. The following strings will need to be appended to
image search URLs to turn on the creative commons filter:
Google: &tbs=sur:fmc
Bing: &qft=+filterui:license-L2_L3
Yahoo: &imgl=ccr
Best Practice #2: Secure YouTube
“So by enabling YouTube for Schools, you're limiting everyone's ability to see videos that aren't
tagged as EDU or added to your own allow list. Then the list of people that are allowed to
whitelist videos is something that you have to maintain manually” - I.T. Admin on Forum
There is often a debate in schools about the use of YouTube, with common implementations
falling into one of three categories: completely open access, YouTube for EDU, or altogether
blocked. Allowing students to access a completely open YouTube can expose them to
potentially inappropriate or distracting content. On the other hand, YouTube for EDU tends to be
limiting, as teachers and admins are required to add one video at a time to their playlist. With
the undeniable importance of YouTube as an educational tool, blocking YouTube altogether is
not really a feasible option. The solution we recommend: YouTube Safety Mode.
8. YouTube Safety Mode is a setting that, similar to Google’s safe search, hides inappropriate
content when enabled. Videos that have been flagged as being inappropriate by users for a host
of reasons will not be accessible in this mode. The following string will need to be injected into
the Cookie header of a YouTube traffic flow in order to enable Safety Mode:
PREF=f2=8000000
What follows is a description of how two of our customers are using YouTube Safety Mode to
achieve a conducive learning environment.
Webb City R-VII School District, MO: Have turned on YouTube Safety mode for in-
school filtering. Since the district believes that home is actually a less supervised
environment, they turn on YouTube for Schools for their 1200 Chromebooks when they
go home.
Romeo Community Schools, MI: YouTube Safety mode has been turned on for both
school and home for 3300 Chromebooks. The Safety Mode is used in conjunction with
URL based keyword blocking to achieve a learning environment that is in line with
community standards. Keywords that lead to inappropriate content showing up are
blacklisted on an as needed basis.
Best Practice #3: Secure Gmail
“Monitor the safety and security of minors when using electronic mail, chat rooms and other
forms of direct electronic communications.” – Wording of the CIPA law (Source: fcc.gov)
The CIPA law is clear in its intent. E-mail sent by students needs to be policed. Since most web-
filters lack the ability to do this, schools normally end up blocking e-mail and chat. However, this
is no longer an option with many schools turning to Google’s free Apps for Education (GAfE)
suite as the foundation on which they base their 1:1 initiatives. Part of GAfE is of course – GMail
– which students will need to use for a truly collaborative experience. The challenge here is –
allowing students to use GMail allows them to log in with their consumer (as opposed to Google
9. Apps) accounts. Consumer accounts cannot be policed and this opens the school up to liability.
The problem is complicated by the fact that all GMail traffic is over SSL. Very few web-filters
support the ability to decrypt SSL traffic. Securly recommends the following steps to secure
GMail:
Intercept and decrypt GMail related SSL traffic. Achieving this normally involves pushing
out root certificates provided by your filter vendor out to your end hosts.
Add the HTTP header X-GoogApps-Allowed-Domains, whose value is a comma-
separated list with allowed domain name(s). Include the domain you registered with
Google Apps and any secondary domains you might have added.
Archive GMail using an application like Vault. This makes all of the mail sent over your
network searchable and keeps your school compliant.
Best Practice #4: Delegate Web-Filtering to Teachers
“Teachers need choice on when they’re ready to unblock as they teach students to use
technology appropriately.” – Tanya Avrith, Google Certified Teacher.
We see two “classroom-level” issues come up time and again in post-deployment scenarios:
Classroom Management: While this was a solved problem in a Windows-only world
with applications like LanSchool, the product that we see used most often for a Chrome-
heavy classroom is Hapara’s Teacher Dashboard.
Web-filtering policy: The advent of Common Core has meant that teachers have a
great deal of control over the tools and websites that they use for classroom instruction.
However, we believe that web-filtering policy (which is decided at the district level) has
not kept pace with this trend. More often than not teachers who find an interesting
resource during lesson planning end up finding that resource is blocked during
classroom instruction. The only recourse is to file a helpdesk ticket. We believe that
where possible, teachers should be allowed, and indeed encouraged to tweak the
district’s web-filtering policy to suit the needs of their classroom.
Best Practice #5: Don’t Just Block. Audit.
"You can't change behavior that you can't see or connect to a specific user." - Tim White,
Director of Technology at Webb City R-VII School District
Based on our interaction with districts around the nation, we have come to the conclusion that
for these districts, filtering is not just about achieving compliance or denying access to students.
It is about:
Modifying behavior: Being able to teach your students responsible use of the
technology that they’ve been given access to.
10. Figuring out how students are really using technology. Usage patterns and statistics
can be used to bolster community buy-in for scaling your 1:1 program.
Tweaking policies to reinforce positive behavior. If the initial policy is stringent, you
might want to use evidence provided by your audit logs to open up access. On the other
hand if the policy turns out to be too lax and students end up spending more time than
they should on distracting sites, you could use that evidence to keep them more focused
on the task at hand.
Best Practice #6: Take-home needs Filtering or Digital Citizenship
The primary driver of the need for web-filtering is compliance with the CIPA law. Having said
that, the law does not mandate filtering at home. Those of our customers who choose to filter at
home do so because it aligns with the standards of their community. For school districts that
choose not to filter at home, we do believe that a monitoring tool of some sort to be useful for
the same reasons stated in the previous section: without monitoring, you have no idea if your
1:1 program is being put to good use and on the trajectory to do what it is really intended to do –
raise student achievement.
In the absence of web-filtering, we have found from empirical evidence that Digital Citizenship is
an effective tool in encouraging appropriate use of technology resources. One example of digital
citizenship as applied to 1:1 would be parents letting kids know that they cannot take devices
with them to their bedrooms (an unsupervised environment). Many of the schools in our
customer base do have programs in place that teach students appropriate use of technology
resources.
Best Practice #7: Layered Defense with Base Firewall Policy
The following FireWall policies can be used with minimal effort to prevent the use of evasive
applications and proxyies in your environment:
Start out by keeping only ports 53 (UDP), 80 and 443 open on the egress and expand out from
there. Generally speaking, DNS, HTTP and HTTPS are the only kinds of traffic you should see
on the egress of your network. You could start from there and open up further ports based on
user demand. Other protocols (RDP, FTP, etc) tend to be limited to your Intranet.
Blocking the HTTP CONNECT method will deter proxy access.
If you use DNS-based filtering such as Securly or OpenDNS, you can further lock down the
DNS egress traffic to be limited to Securly/OpenDNS DNS IP addresses along with perhaps the
clearinghouse DNS server used by the district.
Likewise, if you are using a cloud-based proxy such as Securly or Zscaler, limit your HTTP
CONNECTs to the IP addresses of Securly/Zscaler servers.
11. Best Practice #8: Lock-Down Windows Devices with Active Directory
In a Windows environment, you can prevent application installation by user group using GPO.
Besides preventing the use of evasive applications, this has the added benefit of keeping
malware off your network (and potential cost savings from not having to purchase anti-malware
software for your Windows hosts).
Best Practice #9: Lock-Down 1:1 Rollout with MDM
We believe it to be self-evident that putting devices in the hands of your students without a way
to manage those devices is unlikely to get favorable results for your 1:1 deployment.
Generally speaking, Chromebooks use the Google Apps Admin Control panel as their MDM.
For Windows based devices, Active Directory made it easy to push out Group Policies. The
point of contention is mostly for iOS devices. The lack of a good option from Apple makes this
the case. Common MDM options include AirWatch, Casper, JAMF and MobileIron. Several of
our customers use Meraki’s MDM simply because it is a free and reliable option.
Conclusion
While there is no silver bullet in security, the best practices outlined in this document can not
only secure your 1:1 deployments against exposure to unsafe content, but also keep students
productive and focused on educational content and away from time sinks thereby allowing your
school to achieve a higher achievement ROI on your 1:1 investment.
About Securly
Securly is a cloud-based web-filter that provides in-school and take-home filtering across all
devices. For more information, please visit www.securly.com or email support@securly.com