OFSTED: “Schools Should Let Pupils Surf Freely”

A new report from education inspectorate OFSTED, undertaken as part of Dr. Tanya Byron’s review into the risks and benefits of the Internet, suggests that children who have more freedom to use the internet at school have a ‘richer learning experience’ – and are better at using the internet safely at home.

The finding is contrary to the accepted wisdom of ‘locking down’ school networks with URL and content-filtering software.

The report recommends a “managed” approach of restricting access to the most damaging of websites and monitoring usage at other times.

The report (which looked at 35 schools) found that in 13 schools with ‘locked down’ computer systems, the pupils were less aware of how to use the technology safely, and were therefore ‘more vulnerable’ when using computer facilities at home.

In 21 of the schools, the report also concluded that teaching staff ‘needed more training’ and that this was the ‘weakest aspect’ of the online safety provision overall.

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