Products
Social Workers
4/1/2011 By:
By Ellen Ullman
When we started looking for districts to talk to about social networking, we realized that plenty of schools are not there yet. In fact, only a small percentage are using online collaboration tools. And while Twitter and Facebook dominate press coverage, these products are not designed for K–12 collaboration and may not be the best fit for school projects. Instead, why not choose one of the four products covered here, all of which are meant to be used in the classroom?
Red Mountain
Middle School
Deming, New Mexico
What do you
use?
edmodo
www.edmodo.com
A little
background
“We’ve been using Edmodo for two years,”
says Laura E. Oldham, eighth-grade languagearts
teacher and department chair. In her
classroom, Oldham says, there are always
laptops with Edmodo open.
What is the
district’s
policy on
socialnetworking
and collaboration
sites?
There’s no specific policy on these sites, but
each student has a district email address, and
there are rules about what students can do with
those addresses. Social-networking sites like
Facebook are still blocked.
How are you
using it?
“Almost all our assignments are posted on
Edmodo,” Oldham says. “It’s a fantastic
resource, especially when kids are absent. I’ve
also used it as a back channel.”
Where would
you like to
see this in
one year? In
five years?
“I’d like for the more tech-inclined teachers
to get access and encourage their students to
use it. If it expanded into other departments, it
would be fun to do cross-curricular projects.”
Any
limitations?
The biggest one is that most of her students
don’t have Internet access outside class.
What are its
best
features?
“I love that when a student is absent, I can tell
him or her to go look at the calendar. I teach
three subsets within each class, and they all
do different things. Edmodo is fantastic for
keeping up with all of that.”
Wish list
“I wish we could reply to a post and it would
look like a discussion board rather than
replying to the main post.”
Any security
problems?
Oldham hasn’t had any. “I make sure the kids
always log out when they walk away. The
ability to change passwords really helps too. If
we have problems, I change their password and
there aren’t any problems anymore.”
Memphis (TN) City
Schools
What do you
use?
Gaggle
www.gaggle.net
A little
background
Memphis City Schools selected Gaggle for its
third- through 12th-grade students and started
using it for the 2009–2010 school year. The
superintendent wanted to introduce social
networking in the middle schools.
What is the
district’s
policy on
socialnetworking
and collaboration
sites?
“Our existing acceptable use policy addresses
email and other forms of communications,
which include Gaggle,” says Jason Parrish,
professional development coordinator.
How are you
using it?
Students use it to collaborate on projects,
communicate with teachers, and get
information on e-school, or online courses.
Where would
you like to
see this in
one year? In
five years?
In five years he’d like it to be a part of
everything they do, not an add-on. “Some
of our fifth-grade computer classes work on
projects and use the chat features.”
Any
limitations?
“It could be faster. That’s partially because
we’re asking it to do a lot, and our network
may be a factor.”
What are its
best
features?
The site’s digital lockers, which provide online
file storage, are extremely popular and are
replacing flash drives. Teachers really like
GaggleTube (filtered YouTube).
Wish list
“I would love to see additional productivity
tools, such as video editing and podcasting.”
Any security
problems?
“No. Part of the reason is that we subscribe
to Gaggle’s HMS [human monitoring service].
On top of filtering, if a Gaggle employee sees
cyberbullying, potential drug use, fighting, or
abuse, he or she lets us know about it.”
When we started looking for districts to talk to about social networking, we
realized that plenty of schools are not there yet. In fact, only a small percentage
are using online collaboration tools. And while Twitter and Facebook dominate
press coverage, these products are not designed for K–12 collaboration and may
not be the best fit for school projects. Instead, why not choose one of the four
products covered here, all of which are meant to be used in the classroom?
Maine
Township
High School
District 207
Park Ridge, IL
What do you
use?
Google Docs
docs.google.com
Why do you
use this
product?
Maine Township started piloting Google Docs
in 2007. In the middle of the 2009–2010 school
year, the district migrated to Gmail, says Hank
Thiele, chief technology officer.
What is the
district’s
policy on
socialnetworking
and collaboration
sites?
“Almost everything is open,” Thiele says,
“unless it’s porn, hate, gambling, or Facebook.
If a teacher thinks something is inappropriate,
I’ll make a judgment call.”
How are you
using it?
Google Docs has opened the door for
collaborative projects and made everyone,
even administrators, be more open in how they
handle material and projects, Thiele says.
Where would
you like to
see this in
one year? In
five years?
“In five years I’d like to see us reach a point
where all students have access to an Internetconnected
device.”
Any
limitations?
Yes, Thiele says. “If you’re expecting a
full desktop suite of tools, you may be
disappointed. As a set of free collaboration
tools, nothing else matches it.”
What are its
best
features?
“It’s free! That makes a huge difference.
Google’s been fast at developing, and what it
does is amazing. I don’t maintain any servers
for email.”
Wish list
On the subject of administration, Thiele would
like an easier control panel on the back end.
“It’s functional and does what we want, but it’s
somewhat complex.”
Any security
problems?
None, says Thiele. “The agreement with Google
is that our data is our data. Google can’t
see the problem unless we give them a test
account. It’s 100 percent private and secure.”
Hauppauge
(NY) Public
Schools
What do you
use?
ePals
www.epals.com
Why do you
use this
product?
“We wanted to build an environment in
which students could produce video and Web
content and be active users of technology,”
says Ken Graham, assistant superintendent and
technology director.
What is the
district’s
policy on
socialnetworking
and collaboration
sites?
Graham created a permission form and
information about how ePals fits into
Hauppauge’s acceptable use policy. Parents
and students have to sign the form.
How are you
using it?
The 24 teachers who piloted it use it for
assignments that kids collaborate on after
school and on weekends. “One elementary
teacher says the kids are doing 10 times more
writing, because they love an audience.”
Where would
you like to
see this in
one year? In
five years?
“We want to use ePals as a full curriculum
platform and are moving in that direction.
We’re creating an environment and refreshing
our technology so students can continue
working at home.”
Any
limitations?
“There were a couple, but they have been
addressed with the new release. Whenever we
pose a challenge, they come up with a solution.
We’re looking forward to using more apps and
having it continue to evolve.”
What are its
best
features?
“It’s very intuitive, flexible, and easy to use.
The kids get their own page and digital locker
to store their stuff. Teachers can make groups
and subgroups; they can control the level of
communication.”
Wish list
“We want to break the barriers of time and
classroom. Teachers talk about authentic
collaboration with students; they say their best
days of teaching came after we started using
LearningSpace.”
Any security
problems?
“ePals did a very nice job setting up the
security. You can make the controls as tight as
you want. It is moderated by ePals, who have
rules in place and filtering.”