Moderating teenagers on Ning

[Ian Dobson]

I am a full-time performing musician but I do work on the side as a clinician for Bellevue Public Schools in Washington State. I am very excited about the possibilities for inspiring the school band percussionists that I work with and expanding it to other schools where I don't necessarily see the students in person.

Obviously teenagers have the tendency to get negative quickly and I am looking for guidance on how to moderate. Specifically I am looking for suggestions on:

1. what settings should I implement on Ning? At the moment I have it set so I must approve everything that Ning gives me the option to approve - videos, photos, etc.-but I could see how this could quickly get to be a ton of work.

2. how do I keep school administrators happy with the "security" of having students on the site? Are there certain things I need to be careful to avoid?

3. does anybody actually go to the length of having liability insurance for their Ning network just in case a parent decided to take legal action for whatever reason? Or is that covered by the agreement included in the Ning sign-up process.

Any suggestions or thoughts will be greatly appreciated!

[Steve Hargadon]

I hope you get some good responses from others, but I'll just start by letting you know that maybe the best thing you could add to that list would be an acceptable use policy which the students sign and agree to abide by, and that makes the consequences of not complying their removal from the network.

[Ian Dobson]

Hey Steve,

Thanks so much for the suggestion! Can you suggest any examples of an acceptable use policy that other teachers are using? Would you embed that policy in the sign-up process somehow or would I just have them sign a physical piece of paper and then allow them to sign up?

[Steve Hargadon]

I'll let others with actual experience answer you those questions, but if you do a search here and at Classroom 2.0 (www.classroom20.com) for "aup" or "acceptable use policy" I think you'll find some samples. Good luck!

[Nancy Bosch]

Ian, Contrarian position--This is just my opinion so take it for what its worth--Ning has a lot of nooks and crannies, not only is there the "front page" discussions, there are comments and individual blogs and personal pages, abilities to upload video and pirated music and images, instant messaging, inviting friends and more. If I taught kids over 13 (the legal age for ning) I would make sure I had the time to monitor the site and not just let kids have at it! Kids can make some pretty stupid choices and I wouldn't want my name associated unless I planned to monitor all the kids. Here's an example:

Several months ago a teacher didn't realize that Classroom 2.0 (ning) was for teachers and she set up a "Group" for her high school classes. Within hours there were a dozen stupid discussions started, at the time CR 2.0 had a chat feature and it was filled with kid lingo and obscenities within an hour of being set up. And that was going on on the front page, I have no idea what was going on in personal blogs and individual pages.

All I'm saying if you are going to do it be ready to monitor. Start with written student AUP, written parent permission and clear understanding of purpose. I know I sound old, I am-- but I've never been sued!!

[Michael Umphrey]

My early use of the site is having student respond to assignments. They know me and they know I'll deal with people who ignore my directives. The biggest trouble I have is with texting abbreviations, which I tend to be more forgiving of in the comments.

My position is that they already have MySpace where they can do whatever they want. On the class Ning I want them to practice the writing habits that are appropriate in business, education and government.

I do monitor everything though I don't moderate. I use the comment to note minor failings, just so they know I'm there and standards apply.

Still, I generally have to ban someone, and when I do word gets out. I usually let the banned person back after an appropriate period. So far they always want back and our quite agreeable.

[Ian Dobson]

Hi Nancy,

Thanks much for the reply. I've been super busy lately and haven't been able to follow up. Do you actually use NING for teaching? If so, do you have student AUP and written parent permission forms that you could share? I'd love to see anything like that to get ideas. Or can you refer me to any documents such as you mention?

I do feel that I have a very clear idea of what the purpose of my network is and I am definitely monitoring (I have to approve all video posts, etc. etc.). I've been working as a music clinician for years going into schools on an ad hoc basis. This can be very difficult in terms of continuity. I see potentially great benefits of using ning to help me maintain more of a consistent "presence" and encouraging the students to mentor each other to build specific musical skills over time. I just think the potential benefits are too great to not give this a serious try.

[Nancy Bosch]

My students are too young for ning, you might check with Andrew Churches and see if he has done an AUP or assessment tool for social networking. You could also search here and on Google for "social networking AUP" I bet you'll find dozens of samples. It sounds like the ning will work great for you. N.

[Michael Umphrey]

I have students respond to my acceptable use policy on the site during their first visit. Then I ban people who don't comply. I wish Ning had more levels so I could restrict the use of the comment feature without completely banning them, since it's usually in the comments where kids get into trouble.

I also have the site set to private.

Here's the policy I use:

This is a space for students to add to Mr. Umphrey's class learning dialogue.

There are some basic rules for using this forum.

The school standards of language and conduct apply this forum.

1.Respect- We are polite, kind and appropriate at all times. Remember that many students and Mr. Umphrey will view your comments.

2. Inclusion- Anyone is welcome to comment or join a discussion as long as they are respectful.

3a. Learning (in this forum)- It's okay to have fun in this space, but if others are having a learning conversation either add to it positively or make your comments in a new post.

3b. Learning (in class dialogues and blogs)- These are places to reflect and learn. You are encouraged to: Ask questions; Answer questions; Share your learning; Synthesize ideas; Plan projects or assignments, and Reflect on the process of learning.

4. Safety-In general, be reserved about revealing private details on web sites. You don't need to use your full name, but use enough of it so that everyone in English 11 will know who you are. Though this is a password-protected site, it is digital information that anyone could copy, forward, save to hard drive etc. Anything you type into a digital forum may last forever, so respect your own and others' privacy.

5. Decorating your personal space. Arrange your personal site to your taste, but keep it wholesome. It may be your choice to walk on the dark side, but one of the purposes of this site is to add to the world's light. Please, no gross, disgusting, immoral or irreverent photographs. Also, don't put up a background that makes your text hard to read. Communication is a primary purpose of this site, and design should enhance rather than obstruct communication.

6. Formality. The level of usage here is "informal standard English"--which is what is used in business, government and education for everyday work. No texting abbreviations. Complete sentences. Standard spelling.

I'll ban people who ignore these rules. When a person is banned, the program deletes all his/her content and it cannot be recovered.

Every Student must add a comment to this post. Your Comment text will say, "I have read and I understand the basic rules to posting in the social forum.". You can say more than this if you wish.

[Steve Hargadon]

You are awesome! Thanks so much for posting this. What a great example.

I found your comment above, about students wanting back in when they've been banned, such an interesting statement about a learning environment they want to be in.

I agree about wishing for something less than banning but still restrictive... The biggest problem for me is that banning someone permanently removes all their content and it can't be recovered. I'm sure this is on the Ning wishlist, but it's likely a can of worms to implement.

[Ian Dobson]

Yes Michael, this is phenomenal. Do you mind if I adapt it for my purposes? Do you also do written parent permission or just leave it at the above policy for students to agree to?

Thanks so much for posting this!

[Nancy Bosch]

Just a suggestion, but I'd get parent permission. Might be easier said than done at the high school level.

[Carrie]

I'm a first-year teacher setting up my first Ning. Like Ian, I'd like to use some of your language with my own students. Would that be okay? I will cite my source and be eternally grateful. :)