Program/Project
Description
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NetSelector, Inc. (formerly EdView) builds Internet portals for kids of different age groups. Each portal contains thousands of educator-selected Web sites for searching, learning, and entertainment.
Complementing the portals, NetSelector offers thin client software (patent pending) that admits kids only to the sites contained in the parent- or teacher-approved NetSelector age-group portal. NetSelector technology enables customers to be certain that kids will have safe, fun, and age-appropriate experiences on the Net. The products are easy to install, easy to tailor, and virtually maintenance free.
NetSelector, as its name implies, involves content selection from the Internet through an inclusive versus a restrictive approach. Rather than simply focusing on the negative -- filtering or blocking ugly and harmful sites -- NetSelector offers a collection of high- quality content chosen by educators who know first-hand what is interesting, entertaining, and educational for students at different age levels.
NetSelector President and CEO Jim Goulka, who was responsible for the evolution of Encyclopaedia Britannica from books to CD-ROM and the Internet, manages this unique, inclusive approach to content management by engaging educators across the United States to review, describe, and approve each site for placement into the NetSelector database. Applying the experience of education professionals in conjunction with proprietary technology, NetSelector builds portals that contain only useful, entertaining, age-specific educational and curriculum content or other material that meets pre-defined parameters.
The portals to the Internet are divided into three "zones" for children within three age levels: elementary, middle school, and
high school. This allows high school students to see more sophisticated -- even controversial -- material, while elementary students are taken to a zone that is age-appropriate.
This new selection software will allow parents, teachers, and administrators to easily customize the portals based on their needs and ethical standards. Parents can add and delete Web sites to their individual liking, and novice school administrators can customize the material to their preference, since each city and school district has different "community standards."
NetSelector is the compromise between freedom of speech arguments and proposed law. For years, libraries and parents have only picked the best, most appropriate material to be placed in the hands of children. They have not filtered material with words or blocking devices. NetSelector does not block sites -- rather, it adds Web sites daily. If a site is not in the database, parents and educators can customize the portal to include it. NetSelector is the new library on the Web.
Whereas the Child Online Protection Act has been labeled overbroad by the courts because there is no definition of community standards for material on the Web, NetSelector lets schools, teachers, and parents decide what is most appropriate for their community.
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