Blocksi - Filtering Policies and Assessment Mode

Click on the little yellow hamburger menu at the top left of the Blocksi page.

This will present you with you filtering menu. Go ahead and click on “Filters” to expand it.

This opens the menu to include several options. We will go through each of them for our class filtering.

Click on “Web Filter.”

While not required, I recommend you pick XS_Student as a starting point. Click on the little copy icon to duplicate the filter instead of starting from scratch.

Enter a name (I’m using “My Classroom” for all of the names to make things less confusing), then click on OK.

This will add “My Classroom” (or whatever you name it) to the web filter list. We will click on the pencil icon to edit the filter.

This page shows all of the various categories that Blocksi puts sites in. At the top, you can put in a web address, and Blocksi will tell you the category. Handy if you aren’t sure which category niggles you…

To edit the web filter, click on a category.

This will expand the category to show the sub-categories.

If you want to block something that isn’t blocked, activate the center square. If you want to allow something that is blocked (be careful, we blocked things for a reason), activate the left square. If you want to warn people when they visit a page, but you still want the student to be able to visit, click the right square.

Once you have edited all of the categories to your satisfaction (you can always edit them again later), click the “Save Changes” button.

In our menu, let’s click on “Exception Lists”

Enter a name (I used My Classroom again), then click “Create List.”

This opens the list editor. This list is both an allow and a block list. If you blocked a category in step 11, but you need a site that is in that category, you can paste that site in the “Enter URL” box, be sure that the “Allow” option is selected, then click on the “Add to List” button. Likewise, if you DON’T have a category blocked, you can enter a site in the box, choose the Block button, then click on “Add to List” to prevent access to that website.

Once you add an item to the list, it will be listed at the bottom. You can see the site, edit it, toggle between allow/block, update your settings, or delete anything you add.

Let’s go to “Keyword Filter” in our menu.

Keywords allow us to block websites that have certain words in them. You must be careful with this. It might seem like a good idea to block the word “naked,” but doing so also blocks any website with the phrase “naked truth.” Enter a name and then click “Crete Filter.”

Enter the first word you want to block (must be at least 4 characters long), then click on “Add Keyword.” Side note… “guns” could also block a LOT of legitimate resources as well.

Let’s go to the “Application Filter” now.

Enter a name, then click “Create Filter.”

Click on the little pencil to edit the Application Filter you just added.

The following page shows the main Google apps. You can turn off any of these that you choose, but think about each option carefully. It is possible that you have a class where it isn’t at all helpful to have access to email. If that is true, Block Gmail. You may also choose to block YouTube, but this is more aggressive than blocking YouTube in our Exception Lists. It MIGHT work, and there is no harm in trying.

To block an item, click on “Block,” then click on “Update.”

On to the YouTube Filters! Click on the menu item to expand it.

We will start with the “Category Filter.”

As should now be familiar, enter a name, then click “Create Filter.”

Click the pencil icon on the filter you just added.

This will bring up EVERY category within YouTube.

Allow (left box) or block (right box) any categories of videos you want to work when students are within your room. You could effectively block YouTube by clicking every box, then you can use step 36 to allow access to only your videos and those of channels you trust.

When you are finished, go to the top, and click the “Save Changes” button.

Go to the “Channel Exception List.”

Enter a name and create your list.

Click the pencil tool for your list.

This method allows any video within a chosen channel to be accessible. For this example, I included my channel address. I’ve made sure to choose the “Allow” option, and then I hit "Add to List. I can also use the same method to block an entire channel if I use the “Block” box.

Blocksi looks up my Channel name and lists it below.

Go to the “Keyword Filter” item under “YouTube Filters.”

Enter a name, and click “Create Filter.”

Edit the list with the pencil tool.

This filter is similar to the previous “Keyword Filter” option. It will block the ability to search for these words within YouTube. Be cautious, but enter the word of your choice, then “Add Keyword.”

Click on “Policies” in the menu.

Enter a name in the top left, then click “Create Plicy.”

The window that opens will say “None” all the way down.

We want to choose “My Classroom” or whatever you named each of the previous things for each of the items available. There are two other settings to look at here… The “Access Denied Page” can be set to a custom block page. If you want to add a “hidden” page in your Google Site, you can enter that address here. I recommend that you leave it blank though. I also recommend that you leave “Safe Search” to “On.” Then click on “Save Changes.”

Open a class.

At the top, click on “Keep Policy on Next Session,” and then click “Edit.”

There should be a dropdown to the right of the time. Click on that and choose “My Classroom” or whatever you named your policy.

Make sure you have the correct policy, then click “save.”

Click on the dropdown arrow at the far right.

Click on the checkbox that says “Keep URLs on Next Session” then click the little folder icon.

Under “List name,” choose “My Classroom.”

That should have pulled a list of all of the sites you blocked and allowed.

It is possible that your web filter page will not have the XS_Student starting point. If that is the case, you can create your own and follow these screenshots as suggestions: