Web 2.0 Services and Student Accounts. What do you do?

There are so many great tools out there, but what do you do for the students who don't have email accounts? Do you feel comfortable creating an account without parental consent? i don't and feel like I haven't been able to take advantage of all the web services I'd like to.

For example, I wished all my students had google accounts so we could create/share maps, create web pages, and everything else. However, since not all of my students have google accounts, I have decided to use Microsoft Publisher to have them create a webpage. (Not the ideal program, but its already installed and we cannot afford Dreamweaver or Frontpage.) Since they are using Publisher, the kids won't actually be able to access their "web page" from home, whereas if we used Google...

In short, what do you all do for account access? Often times I'd like them to post video/audio/pictures online so that we could get direct links, or html code and embedd them into other things. But, without their email addresses/accounts I cannot do so. Sites like Voicethread, Google, Blogger, Flickr, etc. are all things I see tech savy people using with their students and I always wonder how they get around this whole issue.

What do you do? Any advice? I'd love to find a way to get around this roadblock.

Tags: 2.0, Accounts, Student, Web

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alan Stange on February 10, 2010 at 9:51pm

I agree with you here

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Aimee on February 10, 2010 at 7:49pm

My students don't have email accounts either. Lots of sites have educator accounts, free or for a small fee (voicethread, edublogs etc.) where teachers can create student usernames and passwords. Kidblogs.org is great for creating a simple blog community you can monitor and make public/private. Wikispaces is free and you can create usernames and logins without email. This can be public or private and students can create or comment on content.

With an edublogs teacher account ($40/yr) you can create student blogs using your gmail and simple extentions (see help forum at edublogs for support creating student accounts without email). You can moderate blog posts and comments. Student can upload most media, embed content etc. Not having email isn't a barrier, just a challenge.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alan Stange on February 10, 2010 at 9:58pm

This is good advice Aimee. I teach 4th and 5th graders. Most of my parents have allowed their children to establish their own accounts. Gmail is the most popular now I think. My division has student email accounts for all students. I think we need to approach reluctant parents and suggest the benefits of email accounts far out-way the slender possibilities of abuse. Cautious parents can establish conditions and monitoring or their children's accounts.