EricHoefler.com

Herdict.org

Sunday, March 1, 2009

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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 to provide [...]

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 [...]

Burning Potter

Saturday, August 11, 2007

6 Comments

I just finished the final book in the Harry Potter series. It’s a fitting ending to a great series. Regardless of your opinions of the books themselves, I find it hard for anyone to think of Rowling’s work and not also think: “What a great thing she’s done for kids” … in at [...]

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 [...]

Freedom and Safety for All

Saturday, January 20, 2007

6 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 of Endangering [...]

Freedom of Bigotry

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

2 Comments

Arguments against the existence of the Holocaust are nothing new, but an officially sponsored “conference” where the issue is “debated” only among those already in agreement takes bigotry and intentional ignorance to a new level. From The New York Times: Iran held a gathering that included Holocaust deniers, discredited scholars and white supremacists from around the world [...]

Define Neutral for Me

Wednesday, May 31, 2006

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Wired News recently published an articled entitled “Neutral Net? Who Are You Kidding?” which called into question the idea that the net is currently a “neutral zone,” arguing instead that the internet has always been subject to the control of those companies with the most money/customers/bandwidth. This is true, but the proposed regulations (conveniently [...]

MySpace and Parental Guidance

Friday, May 12, 2006

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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 [...]

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 [...]