Databus Issue: 2007 4 12/04/2007
Tech Equipped Students
Lightspeed Systems With Darryl LaGaceTour Across America
PDF
Equipped with school-issued e-pads,
Verizon Wireless air cards and Lightspeed
Systemsf Guide for web filtering
and reporting, 10 middle-school students
researched and journaled their way across
America on a 16-day, 5,640-mile excursion
in July. These fortunate Lemon Grove
School District students were part of a
51-passenger bus tour that began in San
Diego, culminated in Washington, DC,
and took in at least 14 major sites. The
trip was initiated by the Broadway Heights
Community Council.
gAs they traveled, the kids were able
to do online research, keep a blog, upload
photos and more,h says Darryl LaGace,
Chief Technology Officer for Lemon Grove
School District. gEven with their e-Pads
and wireless access, though, this innovative
learning opportunity would not have
been possible without the online safety
that the Lightspeed Guide provided.hThe Lightspeed Guide desktop filter
employs the Lightspeed Systems Total
Traffic Control filtering database used
today by more than 600 school districts,
shielding millions of students from Internet
threats and inappropriate content.
gIn addition to blocking sites they
shouldnft be at, every student knew that
the Lightspeed Guide would report all
of their web activity, so we really didnft
have any incidents where students needed
to be reprimanded or hovered over,h says
LaGace. gIn fact, it was encouraging to
see how much research they were actually
doing. Thatfs a big accomplishment with
middle-school students.h
The school-supplied e-pads are part
of a multi-partner collaboration between
the school district, Microsoft, Cox Communications,
DT Research, Cisco and the
County Office of Education.
The tripfs itinerary, tour map, student
journals and photo gallery are all
accessible at: http://lemongroveschools1.
net/1341106245362970/site/default.asp. ð¯
Lightspeed Systems, Inc. develops network
security software to ensure CIPA
compliance and provide total traffic
control to educational IT professionals
through a single interface. TTC is
deployed in approximately 600 school
districts throughout the U.S. and protects
over 6 million end users from the dangers
of the Internet. Lightspeed Systems
maintains its corporate headquarters at
1800 19th Street, Bakersfield, California.
Telephone: (661) 716-7600. Website:
http://www.lightspeedsystems.com. For
more information, contact Joel Heinrichs
at Lightspeed Systems at (661) 716-7600
or joel@lightspeedsystems.com.
