Bakersfield, Calif. (June 29, 2010) – An increasing number of schools and districts are providing educators with the tools and resources they need to safely and effectively tap into the educational potential of the same collaborative, creative, and connected digital environment in school that students thrive on when out of school. In the upcoming school year, nearly 800 schools plan to implement My Big Campus, which enables educators and students to collaborate and share appropriate online resources while ensuring safety and security. My Big Campus is the latest feature of the smart Web filtering software offered by Lightspeed Systems Inc., a leader in school network security and management.

While the use of Web 2.0 technologies in schools can enhance learning, engage students, and support the development of critical 21st century skills, concerns about cyberbullying, security, bandwidth availability, federal regulations, and more prevent many schools from incorporating these resources into the classroom. My Big Campus provides a way for school leaders to foster participatory, Web-enabled learning without the risks. Schools are no longer limited by over-blocking, or in jeopardy of under-filtering.

“We need to give teachers and students the best possible learning tools and environment to enhance their education, and we believe that Web 2.0 is that environment,” explained Steven Halper, technology coordinator for Rye Neck Union Free School District in Mamaroneck, N.Y. “My Big Campus gives us the safe resources and safe social networking we need.”

An intelligent filtering solution, Web Access Manager enables schools to balance the educational use of the Internet with network security and student safety through customization, granular policy control, safe Web 2.0 access, reporting, and mobile filtering. For no additional cost, My Big Campus offers access to a searchable collection of user-submitted online resources, and a suite of collaboration tools that are integrated into the Web filter to help schools streamline IT administration, protect students and the network, enforce acceptable use policies, and maintain regulatory compliance. Educators can safely post, share, and access online videos, Web sites, documents, and other content for students, groups or other teachers. Using the resources and collaboration tools, such as discussion boards, blogs, calendars, and closed messaging (which can function as student e-mail), educators and students can co-create learning experiences and build professional learning networks.

The Hendrick Hudson School District in Montrose, N.Y., began using My Big Campus in the 2009-10 school year. “Our pilot group of teachers and students used it successfully for a wide-variety of projects, and we plan to introduce it to all teachers next school year through professional development and training sessions,” said Mathew Swerdloff, the district’s technology director. “Projects ranged from Kindergarten students using it at home with parents to boost learning, to high school students using it for discussions, assignments and test review. At the middle school, My Big Campus was used as a starting point for a discussion of netiquette and social networking.”

With My Big Campus, teachers at Rye Neck give students instant feedback on assignments and lessons, students communicate and connect with each other about schoolwork outside of class, and students publish and share their writing online. “English teachers are having students create ‘digital portfolios’ using their My Big Campus blogs,” Halper said. “Students also are using this area to evaluate and discuss assigned readings.”

In addition to the plethora of educational benefits, My Big Campus also minimizes the IT management hassles associated with Web 2.0 technologies or add-on solutions, providing built-in safeguards. “My Big Campus is so well integrated with the network security software and Active Directory that it’s safe and easy to implement, and it’s hosted – we don't have to manage the server or space,” Swerdloff explained.

District IT directors can use all of their existing Active Directory or LDAP groups, policies, and reports, simplifying network management, administration, and policy enforcement. Users are required to login with their network credentials. For CIPA compliance and network security, pornography and security-risk sites are always blocked. Risks are further mitigated by scanning uploaded documents for viruses, by enabling users to flag inappropriate content for review or removal, and by monitoring and reporting all user activity. Reports provide IT staff and other designated individuals such as a school principal with the information they need to ensure acceptable use.

Web Access Manager is available as stand-alone software or as an integrated component of the Total Traffic Control all-inclusive network security and management suite. Lightspeed Rocket, Web Access Manager provides an appliance-based smart Internet filtering solution for high-capacity networks. To learn more, visit www.lightspeedsystems.com. For a guide on creating a safe online learning environment, download the white paper, “Web 2.0 in Education: Bringing the New Face of the Internet Safely into Schools.”

More Information

Call 661-716-7600, or visit www.lightspeedsystems.com.

About Lightspeed Systems

Lightspeed Systems Inc., founded in 2000, develops comprehensive network security and management solutions for the K-12 education market. Lightspeed is committed to helping schools operate their networks effectively and efficiently, so educators can provide a safe online teaching and learning environment. The company’s flagship product integrates content filtering, spam management, bandwidth management, antivirus protection, extensive reporting capabilities, email archiving, and mobile filtering into a single application. Lightspeed Systems software is used in more than 2,000 school districts in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia to protect more than 6 million students. For the past three years, Lightspeed Systems has been recognized on the Inc. 5,000 list as one of fastest-growing private companies.

Contacts

Lightspeed Systems
Crystal Cochran
661-431-1649
crystal at lightspeedsystems dot com
www.lightspeedsystems.com

C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.
Kristen Plemon
608-839-9805
kristen at cblohm dot com
www.cblohm.com

Printer Friendly

Download Release (316 KB)

Images

Click to view at full size, then right-click to download.