Tageducation

School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at home

So, concerned Mr. School Administrator, so responsible and serious in his duties, remotely activates his secret backdoor into student bedrooms at home to watch and listen to all the goings on?? This is one of the most horrifying abuses of authority showing abominable disregard for privacy, not to mention paedophilia, that I’ve ever imagined! (if true: keep in mind this is just an allegation – nothing proven yea or nay).

According to the filings in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District (PA) et al, the laptops issued to high-school students in the well-heeled Philly suburb have webcams that can be covertly activated by the schools’ administrators, who have used this facility to spy on students and even their families. The issue came to light when the Robbins’s child was disciplined for “improper behavior in his home” and the Vice Principal used a photo taken by the webcam as evidence. The suit is a class action, brought on behalf of all students issued with these machines.

via School used student laptop webcams to spy on them at school and home Boing Boing.

On the district website, LMSD, Superintendent McGinley states that he is “… proud of the fact that we are a leader …” while somehow comparing this situation to their installation of security cameras around the on-campus vending machines. Just Fascinating.

Hopefully this whole matter is just some misunderstanding or I’ll have to lose all hope for the “land of the free.”

iKnow!

Some folks are asking what this whole iknow thing is about as I apparently set it up to link with Facebook/Twitter when I created my account, so I thought I’d put a a thingy about it here.
iKnow! (or Smart.FM as they’ve changed their name) is one of the coolest sites I’ve come across of late. If you need to learn something (language, history, science, whatever) you make a list of questions/answers, or use one that someone else has shared, and the site makes a sort of game of it. I’m using it for Japanese and someone has even shared the textbook we are using in class. There are three knowledge acquisition methods on the site: iKnow is multiple choice to/from Japanese (in your choice of Kanji, Kana, or Romanji), as well as text entry of the same. I have not fiddled so much with the other two, but they are dictation/listening practice and a Brainspeed game where you madly try to beat the clock with your answers. All of this is quite amazing, but what really sets the site apart is that it lets you set goals and keeps track of when, for how long, and what progress you’re making in your studies. It’s also not restricted to the strictly serious, but is open to anything which has a question and an answer … say you want to be a wiz at your favourite tv, anime, movie, blah blah blah trivia. It is “smart” because it uses the spaced repetition system (SRS) to not only ask you new questions, but to ensure you remember the old information by intelligently bringing it back in intervals. So, if there’s anything that you wish to know, do check it out! (feel free to contact me – and we can ‘follow’ each other).

Oh, and yes, it’s no-strings attached free. Not an ad or annoyance in sight. Don’t know how they do it. And still better than sites I’ve already paid for by a long shot.