Policies for Classroom 2.0 Commercial Solicitations

There are two types of commercial issues that we have to deal with as a community.

The first is a commercial solicitation that has nothing to do with Classroom 2.0, or Web/collaborative tools in education. Any individual or organization coming to our network who is clearly here to advertise a service unrelated to our common discussions will immediately be removed ("banned" in Ning terms) from the network. If you see a member record or come across any material that you feel falls into this category, please email steve@hargadon.com and I'll remove the account responsible. You can also do this privately by sending an email through http://classroom20.ning.com/main/index/report, which is also linked at the bottom of every page.

The second type of commercial solicitation requires a more nuanced, but no less definitive policy. These are individuals or companies who have created products or services which are in fact related to our discussions here. We need to have room for these folks to be active participants in the network--not to "pitch" their services, but because they have an interest in helping education and are often former educators who have seen a need that they are trying to fill. We want to encourage their participation because they can both add to regular discussions and can answer questions about their products or services better than anyone else.

If you are representing a commercial product or service that falls in this category, we ask first that you use your real name, and that you join as an individual an not as the "company." We also ask you not to post descriptions or pricing of your services in regular forum discussions or blogs, or in unsolicited personal messages or wall comments. Members who believe they are receiving such messages are encouraged to email me so that I can investigate.

Skip Zilla has set up a "group" for "shameless vendor promotions" where vendors can talk about product or service with all the gusto that you would like. However, if you post this material in the regular public areas, I will remove your account, which also removes all contributions you ever made to the network.

In no circumstance should a commercial entity or ever "friend" someone they are not already in contact with.

Hopefully, this policy balances the role of vendors in a healthy way. Please remember that we do want to encourage you to bring your experience, expertise, and thoughtful contributions to the rich array of discussions here. If a vendor is looking for a way to participate financially or to advertise, there are sponsorship opportunities for the virtual conferences--contact steve@hargadon.com for more information.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on July 26, 2007 at 3:45pm

Yes, I'm hearing about some recently--whoever it is knows enough to not send it to me, so I'm not seeing them directly. I have reported it to Ning. Sorry!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on February 19, 2008 at 11:39am

I've updated this policy on commercial participation in the network (the main text of the forum post). It seems like a good time to review the discussion. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let me know. :)

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on March 10, 2008 at 2:40pm

OK, I'm bringing this thread back because I would like to run an idea past the members here.

I went to look at a new member--http://www.classroom20.com/profile/CustomEssays--and while "Custom Essays" hasn't posted in a way that promotes the Custom Essays business, because it is not a real name (or real photo?), I felt uncomfortable.

Shall we include the requirement that if you are representing a commercial interest, you must use your own name as a member? I think this is a good enough idea I am going to update the commercial guidelines page, but I also want some feedback on this...

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Permalink Reply by James Dykstra on March 10, 2008 at 3:13pm

Aren't these people selling essays to help you cheat in your courses? That seems like not just a commercial solicitation, but quite dishonest as well. That makes me mighty uneasy.

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on March 10, 2008 at 3:24pm

Yes, I quite agree. See my comment on "her" (?) page. But although I might not agree with the business model, I'm not sure I want to start evaluating the relative "value" of a business as a condition of whether or not they can be here. Certainly, an illegal business would be easy, but I don't think this service is illegal--although I'm sure the users are breaking honor codes when using.

I'd be more inclined, in this case, to hope that the community actively addresses the individual associated with a company and asks them hard questions. :)

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Permalink Reply by David Wees on December 5, 2008 at 10:07pm

I assume we are allowed to advertise our non-commercial services (such as not-for-profit tools) freely?

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on December 5, 2008 at 10:53pm

Without wanting to be held to anything firm (smile), I'd say yes. A couple of people have done that with tools that were "free" for now but ultimately had a revenue hook, and it seemed too commercial at the time. It can be a hard line to draw. I think your post on Pedagogle was appropriate, but if your interactions here were more about getting people to use your tool than to contribute to the discussions here, I think you'll find folks will tune out. Anyway, looks like you're doing good work and I'll look forward to hearing more from and about you.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel Baker on October 4, 2011 at 12:59am

Steve,

I hope I did not cross the line with my website at www.iep4u.com.

I left messages for groups that might benefit from some free stuff.

IEP4U.COM has over 4000 Goals and Objectives (IEP-ITP) each with changeable benchmarks. The Idea Statements are spread out over seven subjects (Domains) an... Teachers, parents and students can now access objectives directly from this Web Site. Input key words, phrases, or test names in the search engine to find just the correct objectives for your students needs. Copy and paste any information you want, then modify the objectives (examples) to exactly describe the needs of your students. The kid section will give your students personal input to write their own objectives (with your help) and to play some interesting games as well.

This information is is designed to help you with the daunting task of writing proper IEP's The data within this web site was written to correlate with the unique characteristics of various formal assessments. Since assessment is essential for the development of the IEP, specific questions were evaluated and idea statements written based upon those questions. Searching the data for idea statements by assessment will enable teachers to plan lessons or web quests based upon how the student scored on the assessment.

Username: iepdemo
Password: iepdemo

Students can pick their own IEP using Pictures!

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Permalink Reply by Steve Hargadon on October 4, 2011 at 8:24am

Hi, Daniel. I'm glad (and appreciate) that you asked. Any posting of messages in multiple locations for the purpose of promoting something (commercial or otherwise) feels like spam, is not a good use of the network, and usually creates the wrong impression anyway. Even though the limited edition of your service is free, allowing this can shift the experience of users of CR 2.0 from feeling like they are talking to each other to being recipients of ads. Thanks for understanding.