Eric Hoefler

Herdict.org

Sunday, March 1, 2009

This looks like a useful service for schools, and Tom Hoffman’s notes here are helpful. It’s important to know what sites are being blocked in which schools. I’d be very curious to see what patterns might emerge from this and whether they follow types of schools, socio-economic status, etc. I also think schools should have [...]

So Much Wrong

Monday, April 7, 2008

4 Comments

I don’t even know where to begin with this recent article from New York Magazine, “Testing Horace Mann,” about the fallout (or lack thereof) from offensive student postings on Facebook. It’s at the center of the current technology-related problems schools face. Part of this has to do with new problems the technology makes possible, but [...]

The Bloglines Ban

Monday, February 19, 2007

6 Comments

Yesterday, Miguel Guhlin wrote a post about Bloglines’ new “Image Wall.” His main contention is that the images aren’t filtered, and so anyone using the service may be exposed to offensive material. (Bloglines does require you to accept a disclaimer before passing you on to the Image Wall.) Because of the Image Wall, Miguel is [...]

Freedom and Safety for All

Saturday, January 20, 2007

5 Comments

Last week, my creative writing students pulled out their laptops and headed over to the eStudio that I setup on ELGGSpaces (which is designed specifically with education in mind, and for which I had just spend $99 out-of-pocket to make the space ad-free.) They were going to upload some new drafts, write some blog posts [...]

This is Getting Ridiculous

Monday, January 15, 2007

2 Comments

As if we needed more reasons for people to avoid the teaching profession and shy away from the use of technology: Norwich, Conn seventh grade teacher, Julie Amero has been convicted of four counts of risk of injury to a minor after her classroom PC displayed pornographic pop-ups in class. Slashdot | Teacher Found Guilty [...]

MySpace and Parental Guidance

Friday, May 12, 2006

0 Comments

Not long ago, I posted an entry in which I supported maintaining the freedom to access and share information, tools, and resources. I still agree with that. I also understand the dangers that some of the information, tools, and resources bring with them. However, I don’t believe that the right response to those dangers is [...]

YouTube & MySpace: Letting People Do Stuff

Friday, April 28, 2006

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I’ve always been a big fan of "letting people do stuff" … assuming that stuff doesn’t include anything that hurts other people. Of course, there will always be people who hurt other people, and we call them "mean people," and–as t-shirts have been telling us for years–mean people suck. But you don’t put the entire [...]