Day 22–Family Safety Options on a Windows 8 Tablet
A Windows 8 Tablet for Teaching and Learning - Day 22Wednesday, December 26, 2012
I have been writing and thinking about the new Windows 8 tablets through the lens of an educator and also as a parent for the past three weeks. One thing that has been bouncing around in my head is how much, if any, control a parent/guardian should have regarding the use of a computer/tablet by their children inside the family home.
This is a question that often gets glossed over by gadget sellers but is an extremely important issue for educators and parents to at least give some consideration to.
As 1:1 programs are increasingly being considered across the country there should at least be a discussion about the potential side effects that introducing an always connected device into the lives of our students may have. Sure there are a lot of good things such a device can offer but there is also a darker side. There is evidence that symptoms of Internet addiction may occur in 8-12% of children using the Internet.
A couple of years ago the American Academy of Pediatrics posted some advice for parents regarding Internet use and warned about the possibility of Internet addiction. I have posted a link to the article below:Internet addiction a real problem for U.S. kids
The article mentions some common sense advice to parents including monitoring and limiting Internet usage, not placing a computer in a child’s bedroom, and being aware of mood swings or other compulsive behavior. It also mentions that you should seek professional help if you see warning sides of Internet addiction with your child.
Schools have been required to provide Internet safety protection measures for years based on state and federal laws including the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA).
http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-actWhat tools are available (if so desired) by a parent wanting to limit Internet access at home?
Actually on the Samsung Ativ 500T tablet there are several tools built-in to Windows 8 to filter and/or limit Internet activity.
A couple of days ago I wrote about multiuser accounts and the value of setting up a separate account for children to use. This account does not have access to your own apps and account settings. It turns out there are additional things you can do from simply limiting time blocks that a child is allowed to use the tablet to white-listing Internet sites that are the only sites they are allowed to visit.
I have provided a link to a Microsoft post about the Family Safety features available in Windows 8 (x86 versions):Keep your family safer
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/family-safety#1TC=t1
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/family-safety#1TC=t1
The family safety article explains how to setup time limits of use, web filtering and monitoring. Some will say that kids can easily bypass some of these measures and that may be true. This is a family decision and some will choose not to, but it is good to know that there are options out there for parents that may want to have some method of adding an additional layer of protection other than just unfettered Internet access to the devices that end up in our childrens hands.
Keep on Learning,
Dr. Grissom
Tom Grissom, Ph.D.
Dr. Grissom
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