At the school in the Northwest Alaska village of Kivalina, the student machines can and are monitored at anytime by district personnel in order to ensure the computers are not being used for unlawful purposes. Yes, I have even switched on the laptop's camera to observe who is actually using one of these machines. With a stolen machine, one can view the thief.
Typically, all of our high school students swap locker combinations, computer user IDs, and computer passwords in an attempt to avoid responsibility. When a child's books/papers/notes/computer go missing, the child immediately states that it is not their fault somebody took their stuff. When asked why they shared their security information with other students, they respond, "Everybody does it!"
The students reason that since they didn't lose their stuff, the teachers are responsible to find it.
When I observe a student playing computer poker during class instruction and the student is actually reading or doing their assignments, I know that another student is using that machine for an illegal purpose. Since I know all the students on site, I remotely switch on the laptop's camera to find out who is actually typing on the keyboard. Usually, it is a student who has already had their district-issued machine confiscated for doing the exact same thing despite repeated written warnings.
When all else fails, I remotely lock the computer until the student comes to me with an apology.
Each class begins with a verbal warning: "OK kids, the spyware is turned on. Stay on task." And the students do stay on their school computer assignments until they see the teacher is not watching the computer monitor. Then they play. There are three teachers in our school who actively spy on any school-issued laptop tied into the school district's computer network.
Does the child's machine ever get spied on at home? Yes – but only if the child is using the school's wi-fi network, which extends to some nearby homes. Last year, I caught a child making porn films with their laptop in the secluded school kitchen when the cooks had left for the day.
Kids are not adults. And as long as teachers are held legally accountable for student misuse of school district property (including wi-fi networks), the teachers have to be vigilant spies at all times.
Next year, the principal has decided the student laptops will not be going home if its user has been using it for illegal activities. Such children are smart enough to use another student's machine for illegal purposes until I actually observe them on the laptop's remote camera.
I cannot and do not monitor computer use on the TNAF Village Wi-Fi. That is a privately funded network for public use. I urge students to purchase their own computers for non-school activities.
Wishbone Doggy is only computer literate enough to come get me off the computer keyboard when it is time to go to bed – usually 10 p.m. – although I'm unsure how he knows the time with the sunset not occurring until 11:30 pm.
Dr. Ali Fant was was born in Texas and raised by bush school teachers on St. George Island. She is a former U.S. Antarctica Research Scientist, U.S. Department of Defense Dependent Schools teacher, NASA Manned Spaceflight Controller trainer, IBM Trainer, and now the high school science/math teacher in Kivalina.
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