Ning-

I am wondering if any of you have use NING with elementary school children. I'd like to hear your input.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on March 26, 2008 at 1:27pm

Hi, Marcella!

You might want to check out the http://education.ning.com site, which you'd probably love. Over 1,000 educators interested in using Ning in education.

The bad news right now is that while Ning would be AWESOME for elementary school children, their terms of service require that participants be 13 years of age or older. That's directly related to the COPPA legislation. :(

Steve

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Permalink Reply by Marcela Summerville on March 26, 2008 at 1:52pm

Thanks Steve! The site seems to be wonderful. After reading the Ning site announcement " NIng Announces Ad-free Program for K-12 Student Networks!", I thought I will be able to use it. My students are 1-5.

Marcela

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on March 26, 2008 at 2:13pm

Yes, so sorry. We had to change that to 7 - 12 networks. But there is a lot of energy right now going into figuring out how to bring these benefits to younger students. I, for one, am very interested in it!

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Permalink Reply by Mrs. D on February 2, 2009 at 7:08am

Is it possible to create a NINg site for children under the age of 13 (10 and 11 year olds) with parent's permission??? Does NING support that somehow?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on February 2, 2009 at 9:51am

I'm sure Ning won't officially support this--just my guess. To complicated and still puts them at risk.

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Permalink Reply by Andre Deutmeyer on July 9, 2009 at 7:05pm

I had my students set their age at 18... and then change it again once they joined. With the teacher's as adminstrators controlling who has access to the network, I don't see why Ning's policy should stop you from wanting to use it for your class. It's a great tool... and the age thing is just an annoyance with an easy work around.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on July 9, 2009 at 7:13pm

Andre, Hate to be a doomsayer but if your kids are not 13 they shouldn't be using ning. If anything ever happened--inappropriate language or images, bullying, cheating, copyright infringement, etc. and you have started the network where the infraction takes place you could lose your job or be sued. I'd rethink, N

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Permalink Reply by Marcela Summerville on July 9, 2009 at 7:17pm

Nancy, you just pointed the reason why I can't use it with my students.They are really young (8 to 10 years old). I had to hold my ning idea. I wish I could, I think it is very useful tool, but the risks with younger students is really high. Marcela

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Permalink Reply by Steve O'Connor on July 9, 2009 at 7:24pm

Why not create a discussion forum on an in house sever or on an inexpensive web hosting account? Ning is nothing new or magic.

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Permalink Reply by Marcela Summerville on July 10, 2009 at 7:11am

I did! I am using a basic forum with my young students. It is not perfect but worked very well.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on July 9, 2009 at 8:48pm

Marcela, it is so important to have good solid reasons to use any tool, tech or not. Ning doesn't do anything that can't be done with a blog and Moodle. It's our job to provide the instruction, guidance, but most importantly keep the kids safe and legal.