Several students have complained about a new feature on the Tablets this year that blocks access to different sites, so I decided to get the facts through our very own Mr. Hamada (Tech Supervisor) and Mr. Gilbreath (Tech Director).

It turns out that this year UNIS purchased a web filter for our Tablets that restrict some websites in the interest of internet safety. UNIS can create different groups within the school but only quite general ones: for example, they have restrictions in place on student laptops that become less strict the higher your grade level. The Tech Office blocks very few categories of sites; it is mostly pornography, gambling, shopping, and malware sites that are blocked. These categories were determined by parent and staff feedback that was given to the Tech Office.

So is there any way to get websites authorized again? When the ‘Blocked Site’ message pops up on your web browser, take a screen clipping of it (like the picture above) and send it to your teacher. Your teacher can then send it to the Tech Office who can authorize the website for you (the message contains the information they need). This is called a TSO Request and teachers should know what to do if you send them the request. Another way around this is to go on a home computer but not everyone has a computer aside from their Tablet. Make sure you really want the website unblocked so that you don’t waste your, your teacher’s, and the Tech Office’s time.

This new filter has nothing to do with not changing the proxy settings anymore (for those of you who were here last year) or Manic Time. The filter was put in place due to parent concerns that were expressed to the school about our previously un-restricted access to the internet at all age levels. An interesting thing about this filter (that you will like) is that it is run through Singapore. Why would you want to know about this? Well this diversion causes our Tablets to think that they are in Singapore and since Facebook isn’t blocked in Singapore, we are able access Facebook even if it is blocked in Vietnam!