Blog Juice for Educational Technology

The publication of a cartoon of the prophet Mohammad in a Danish newspaper last fall has recently received much attention, to say the least. Nicholas Carr has a blog post that makes good reading from a leadership point of view.

Carr compares Google’s image search (where the cartoon shows up) with MSN and Yahoo (where it doesn’t’), and does a good job of exposing the risks of being righteous about freedom of speech: "In a world in which the mere existence of a political cartoon can stir violence and sow fear, the noble goal of making information accessible is also a risky and even a dangerous goal."

As school leaders responsible for Internet access in schools, we trust software to manage what students see in our buildings. Would students in your district be able to view this cartoon from the district’s network? When is showing such an image a good idea? When would dealing with the issue another way be more effective?