Starting July 1, HCPSS will block access to social media at all schools and most game websites at the secondary level only on the HCPSS instructional (student) network and on student Chromebooks.
Access to game websites is being blocked at the secondary level because devices are assigned to individual students allowing unfettered access throughout the day. Blocking access on secondary devices will help to promote student engagement and support parents/guardians as they help students use their school-issued devices responsibly at home. Elementary school students do not have 1:1 access to devices and the majority of students leave their devices at school.
Staff will continue to have access to these sites on the Admin (staff) network and their laptops; only student access will change.
! IMPORTANT: When secondary teachers plan instruction, including for summer school, they should assume that students cannot access game websites unless the site is listed on the approved supplemental tools list.
For your convenience, below are some of the most used game sites and their approval status.
| Game Website | Approved | Not Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Blooket | x | |
| Kahoot | x | |
| Prodigy | x | |
| Duolingo | x | |
| Minecraft | x | |
| Gimket | x | |
| Quizlet | x | |
| Coolmathgames | x |
Secondary staff are asked to review the current list of approved digital tools and use the Digital Tools Request form found in the Service Request (SR) System to advocate to include additional supplemental digital tools on the list. Read more about the Supplemental Digital Tools Approval Process. Please note the process to approve digital tools is extensive as it looks at accessibility, data privacy, and curriculum connections. Submissions may take up to six months to be reviewed. Teachers planning instruction should not assume the submitted digital tool will be available for a lesson.
Information for students and families is available online, and will be shared with parents/guardians this week.