Council will be first UK Education Authority to Deploy Media Filter

LONDON, UK – 14th January 2010. Bloxx, the innovator in Web content filtering, today announced that Bolton Council will be the first Local Education Authority in the UK to deploy the recently launched Bloxx Media Filter. This will help schools in its area take advantage of YouTube media content in a secure online environment, improve local collaborative learning and resource sharing and give autonomy to teachers to help them enrich learning experiences through the use of approved online media.

“We had a real dilemma on our hands: our schools were demanding access to YouTube, but due to the inappropriate content and user submitted comments which can sometimes be found on the site, it was impossible to allow access in a safe and controlled way,” said Phil Brockbank, Technical Consultant at Bolton Council. “The Bloxx Media Filter will allow us to empower teachers to create and use a free online library of rich learning resources, students will be happier as lessons will be more engaging and enjoyable and the council will be able to deliver on its commitment to keeping our children and young people safer online.”

“We are delighted that Bolton Council has been quick to see the value that the Bloxx Media Filter delivers and will be one of its first customers,” said Eamonn Doyle, Bloxx Chief Executive Officer. “The Council is at the forefront of embracing new teaching technologies and Bloxx Media Filter will allow them to take advantage of the great content that’s available on sites such as YouTube without any of the associated risks and problems.”

Due to the complex way that YouTube media is stored and disseminated, filtering YouTube content is virtually impossible using traditional web filters and until now ICT managers have only been able to allow or block access to the entire YouTube site. The Bloxx Media Filter uses Active Stream Filtering to extract the required URL and in conjunction with the submission and approval processes, ensures that only approved media content can be viewed by users.

The Bloxx Media Filter lets teachers quickly identify curriculum-related YouTube videos and then with just a few clicks, tag, assign these to a subject area and age range and submit the videos for approval. Once approved, students can easily search and view videos which are streamed directly from YouTube through the appliance directly to classroom PCs, without related video clips, contextual advertising or user submitted comments being displayed.