Guidelines for using Ning in a school setting

[Scott Habeeb]

This post originally appeared on The Freshman Transition Network.

My school system - City of Salem Schools, VA - has undergone a lengthy process to determine what types of social networking should be available on our system's network. Until recently, all social networks were blocked by our filter.

After much discussion and exploration, it was decided that social networking would be open for all faculty members. Faculty members would be treated as professionals who are able to use social networking appropriately within the work environment. (Our Barracuda filter has made it possible for us to open up certain sites for a specific group within our system.)

We also decided that access to social networking in general is not necessary for students within a school setting. In fact, it probably could lead to more harm than good. However, social networking does have educational value if used properly. Therefore, we decided that Ning would be the one social network available for use by students. Teachers have been encouraged to create Nings for use in the classroom but to follow certain guidelines to make sure that Nings can be used in a manner that maximizes safety and educational value at the same time.

If you're interested in using Ning in your school system, you might be interested in checking out the guidelines that we are using. Here they are: Ning Guidelines

I'd love to hear about anyone else's experiences using Ning in the school setting.

[ellen pham]

Denise (+ others)-- check out EDU 2.0

It is recommended by David Deubel over at EFL Classroom 2.0, and he has very high standards for this kind of thing.

I just found out about it, will check it out this week : )

[Scott Habeeb]

Kyle - if only they were: )
All it takes is 3 minutes on Facebook to realize that many people still don't understand how to properly and safely use social networks.
Plus as a school it is MUCH wiser to have clear guidelines posted BEFORE a problem occurs.

[Kyle c. fort]

haveing guidline are o.k.
but people should be smart enough to know what they can and can't put on

[Denise Lindstrom]

Thanks Ellen! I'm glad to have a definitive answer!... and reassurance that I'm not the only one having trouble with Elgg! I think updating COPA might be a good job for folks at ISTE! I'm going to start hounding them about that!

[ellen pham]

From my understanding, Denise, parent permission isn't enough. It's simply illegal to collect this kind of information from children under 13 by any website or online service that is used for commercial purposes. It doesn't matter if the information cannot be tracked back to a specific individual, and parent permission doesn't have anything to do with it.

COPPA is seriously outdated in terms of internet use (1998), but no politician has had the will to change it.

I know exactly what you mean about elgg! I tried messing around with it a bit, and didn't get anywhere. I was doing it on my own. But if your school has a technical computer support person or department that was willing to help get you set up, running it shouldn't be a problem.

Or maybe you could put a call out on Classroom 2.0 and someone would offer to help.

[Denise Lindstrom]

Thanks Ellen! Even if we get singed consent from parents are we still out of compliance with COPA? I tried using ELGG but just didn't have the technical skills to get the network to run the way I wanted. My technical skills were so low I couldn't even ask the right questions to get help! I've been using blogmeister but it is so clunky!

[ellen pham]

The open source social networking program is called elgg. As I understand it, because you run the network yourself, no data is collected by a third party (but please check for yourself, I'm no expert!) I believe you have to find a place to host it on your own (a web hosting provider).

[ellen pham]

I wish someone was still watching over these discussions! There was a huge thread here two years back, with a lot of pressure on ning to change their practices so that students under 13 could use ning. The problem lies in the data ning collects on all its members (I think it is then sold for marketing purposes.) The data does not include personally identifying info such as name and email, but rather general stuff, like age, location, perhaps online activities? Ning was very close-lipped about exactly what kind of data they collect. In the end, ning refused, and then deleted the whole discussion!

Anyway, ning does not pass the COPPA test. The problem with ignoring COPPA is it exposes the teacher personally, and his/her district, to legal liability of some sort.

Several teachers were broken-hearted when they were forced by their school or district to close down their completely private ning. It happened here in the US, and also in England.

There is an open source alternative, where this type of data is not collected, but I can't remember the name of it. I'll try to find out the name and pass it along.

[Scott Habeeb]

Glad you found it helpful, Melissa. Let me know if you have any questions or ideas to share.

[Melissa Statman]

Thanks for the info. I have a teacher who would like to use this with her students. I can now help her design the environment and stay within our AUP.