Gmail Petition
Submitted by GAJET Pres on Thu, 2007/12/27 - 17:33.
Hey everyone; it appears that some of us have come back to school following Christmas to find GMail blocked on our school computers. This is most likely a problem for some of you, as well as blow for GAJET, as our email system is GMail based.
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GAJET's senior council members collectively agree that having email access at school is vital to the life of an ALT. Email is used by many ALTs across the prefecture for business pertaining to their job, be that through professional development whilst at their workplace, through transportation of work/presentation notes via email, through using JET's support structure or contacting their supervisor in an easy and non-invasive way - as well as providing their supervisor the ability to contact them in a similar manner. Some ALTs who visit many schools depend on their email access in order to co-ordinate their schedule for lesson planning. In addition, the use of email at school provides some ALTs their only reasonable method of communicating with home.
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If you have recently had GMail blocked on your school computer, please reply below stating how this will adversely affect your work at your schools.
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Even if GMail has not been blocked at your school, it may be soon - please also reply if this would damage your ability to provide the standard of teaching that you do now.
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It is our hope to raise awareness about this issue, in the interest of all JETs and ALTs in Gunma, in the hope we can have the decision to remove access to GMail reversed.
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Ways around it...
My email has not been blocked, and it would be hard to function without it (though I do admit that most of what I do on email I could probably accomplish without it, though it would take longer). Still, I have been told that if you sign in using https:// instead of http:// (signing in on a secured server), you can bypass that block. Something worth trying!
GMail Blocking
Sometime ago, accessing gmail in one of my schools was blocked. At the time communication with comittee members of GAJET became impossible, and I am a region representative. This hampered my ability to prepare for meetings, and also to communicate with other ALT's. Sometimes a quick response is required when ALT's run into problems. Email is the best solution for communication, as it is private, fast, and inexpensive. Sometimes people find it hard to talk about their problems, but they feel comfortable writing to someone. As most ALTs have access to a computer it is also one of the most available methods of communication too.
Also, for class purposes I sometimes use gmail for activities. Last year I established an email so students could take photographs with their keitai and send them to a gmail account the English staff could access. This was part of a journal activity. Also in the future we hope to establish a pen pal activity by email with foreign students.
Fortunately, now gmail has been unblocked. But in the future, I hope these reasons I have given help to make sure gmail remains available as an important tool for comunicating and doing our work.