Offensive Computer

A computer at Bailey Park Elementary in Grinnell recently had some very offensive material pop up on a lab computer while a young student was working on it.

Below, I have included suggestions to help avoid this happening and also steps to fix the problem.

The Circumstances:

The offending computer was using Google Chrome.  Two Chrome Extensions were installed that allowed pop-ups to show up.  In this case, offensive material first popped up on the screen.  Shortly after, another window popped up that indicated that the computer was 'infected' and that calling a 1-800 number would provide a 'fix'.  Both came from the same people.  It was a scam. By the way.... do NOT call the 800 number. The Grinnell-Newburg Community School District, as required, has purchased a filtering service to help prevent access to inappropriate content during the school day on all school devices.  The District also has purchased an off-site web and email filter for student computers to perform the same function when away from the school buildings.  Images that are tied to 'advertising' companies may get past the web filter if there are no key words to have them flagged.  This is especially difficult on unreliable game websites that rely on advertisement revenue for their income.

Suggestions:

Here are some best practices for your young students:

1. Avoid websites- especially 'game' sites - that have lots of blinky blinky ads.
            For our students, these often have very low educational value anyway.

2. Avoid clicking on any advertisements on any websites.  See #1, especially for our younger web users.

3. Consider using Safari instead of Google Chrome.  It's harder to install Extensions.

4. Use Safari on an iPad instead of a desktop computer.  You won't get pop-ups here.  Again, watch the educational value.  Every K-2 student is assigned an iPad.  They are intended to be available for every class.

5. Use an iPad Application instead of a website where possible.   There are currently about 200 apps available in Self-Service for our students to install on their devices.  This list can be quickly expanded as requested.

6. Monitor students browsing.  Take frequent opportunities to teach your students about practicing good digital citizenship.  This includes teaching students how to protect themselves and practice responsible behavior.

7. Begin with your learning objectives in selecting your tech tools.  Whatever you are using now probably has many other alternatives.  Let's make the most of these great devices we have to work with.  Take advantage of the instructional resources around you, too, to improve on those resources.

How to Fix this Problem:

	Here was the offending website on the computer.  It seems quite innocent now.  It was not the source of the problem, but definitely an effect. There are times that an offending website is turned into the homepage.  Make sure that your homepage is authentic, especially if it has a search bar on it (like Google).
	Check the Chrome Extensions installed.  It is a common source of problems, especially with pop-ups. There are many awesome Extensions that are free and readily-available to use.  I have several that I use daily.  My favorite right now is Grammarly.
	On the left side of the screen, click on Extensions.  Any unfamilair extensions should be deleted.  If in doubt, go ahead and delete it.  Extensions like Drive and Gmail are fine.
	Simply Click on the Trash can to the right of each extension.  I deleted both of these extensions shown.  They were both bad.   Again, if in doubt, go ahead and delete it.  You won't hurt anything if you delete all of the extensions.
	Next, clear out the computer's browsing history to avoid returning to the same website.  This should be done periodically on any 'public' student computers.  This is one of the reasons why we issue a computer to every student. Social bookmarking sites like Symbaloo, SpicyNodes, Diigo,  and Delicious may be used to retrieve your classroom bookmarks on any device.
	On a 'public' student computer, bookmarks should be reset to 'the beginning of time'.  This is the most important to reset. Click on 'Clear browsing data' in the lower right corner of this window.

These types of problems are not very common and can be quickly fixed.  While it's not foolproof, most can be avoided with some simple steps.