Beyond Facebook: Using

Collaboration Tools Designed

for Education

Rita Oates, PhD

Formerly ed tech director,
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
VP, Education Markets, ePals Inc.
 Session description
 Are your teachers asking to use Facebook or
similar tools that lack privacy, student safety and
educational rigor?
 What are essential educational and safety
features of collaborative tools for K12 students?
Leverage the power of social connections in
learning – without creating problems.
 Examples from ELL textbook and IBO will be
demonstrated.
 Are you using mass market
tools? How?
 Facebook
 Twitter
 YouTube
 Google docs
 LinkedIn (GREAT way to advertise
positions)
These don’t have student safety controls or
K12 features!
 What are Problems
of Mass Market Tools
for K12 Students?
What Kind of Businesses are
Facebook and Google?

Advertising! They collect data

on users to better target ads to
their interests….all life long….
 “Have you looked for
alternatives designed for K12?”
o YouTube (much is inappropriate for kids)
o Alternatives for K12 users to share their work with
the world, view work of others
TeacherTube
SchoolTube
eSchoolNews.tv
ePals Student Media Galleries (27 million viewers
monthly!)
eFilms on ePals (view only, not upload)
o Great video options helping K12 learners
Publish student work to a worldwide audience
Viewing audience in the millions
 eFilms on ePals and SnagFilms

http://www.epals.com/projects/info.aspx?divid=eFilms_Snag
 “Have you looked for
alternatives designed for K12?”
• Glogster (NOT appropriate for education)
– Edu.glogster.com is designed for K12 use
 Facebook and Other
General Market Social Networks
 Check the privacy settings on your own
account and ask teachers to check theirs
 Advise parents to check on privacy
settings for kids

 What is your policy on teachers “friending”

students? Parents of students?
 Do you have policy on teacher profiles in
public sites?
 Managing Your Public Profile
 “Google” yourself and school; ask parents
to “google” their children also
 Consider the public footprint of school
 Once posted, it’s always available
Wayback site…shows
internet pages on previous
days…NOTHING is ever
really deleted from the
Internet
 Benefits of Online World are
Terrific!
 More teens and ‘tweens are creating
content and connecting online for
educational benefits, offering schools new
opportunities to use technology
National School Boards Association Study
 Students report that one of the most
common topics of conversation on the
social networking scene is education
 Students Report…
 They are spending almost as much time using
social networking services and Web sites as
they spend watching television.
 Among teens who use social networking sites,
that amounts to:
o About 9 hours a week online
o 10 hours a week watching television
o A decrease in amount of TV watching (which is
passive) and an increase in communication online
(which is active)
 Social Learning Networks
 Companies in the education market have
designed social networks that are:
 Private
 Safe
 Observe CIPA and FERPA
 Encourage the best part of social networking
 Protect students and teachers from the problems of
general market tools NOT designed for education
 ePals LearningSpace is one example
 Do You Have Policies about
Facebook?
 #1 advice: do not allow teachers to “friend”
students and put in your policies
 Use to communicate with parents, alumni
 Event notices and RSVPs are great
 Must have something about your school
on Facebook so applicants can find you,
learn how to submit resume
 Inappropriate for academic work
 Video for Students
(and Parents)
 A Geeky Momma's Blog by Lee Kolbert
 http://www.leekolbert.com/2011/01/lesson-to-
share-and-then-create.html

 Blog by a Palm Beach Co. teacher in Boca

Raton, Florida, also a techie
 Common Craft video on Protecting
Reputation Online to use with students and
parents
Common Craft: Protecting
Reputations Online
 TRUSTe certification:
Child Privacy
Adobe Apple
Microsoft Cisco
Electronic Arts

Education-focused sites
with TRUSTe certification
Cahootie Kidzrocket
Brightstorm Leafcutter
Course Hero Leapfrog
Disney Internet Schoolwires
Education Planet Thinkquest
ePals Togetherville
GoTrybe Vantage Learning
Filters are NOT the whole story
 Role-based computing
Teacher
Parent
Student
Under 13
13 and Older
Other trusted adult
SchoolMail365 Policies: Example School District
Policies governing the ability to discover and email groups of individuals
le SchoolMail 365
Communication Policy
Policies Teachers Moderators Students Parents

Teachers can email with: In same district In same school In same class In same school

Moderators can email with: In same school In same school In same school In same school

Parents can email with: In same school In same school In same Family None

Students in grades >=6 can email with: In same school In same school In same school In same Family

Students in grades < 6 can email with: In same school In same school In same grade In same Family

Email Moderation, Monitoring and Filtering Policies

All Media
Role Constraints External Access All Incoming All Outgoing Stop Word
Attachments Attachments
System Admin   Internet
School Admin   Internet
Teacher   Internet N/A for Adult Roles
Moderator   Internet
Parent   NYC Domain Only
Student Grade >= 6 NYC Domain Only Off Off Moderate Off Monitor
Student Grade <6 NYC Domain Only Monitor Monitor Moderate Off Moderate
 Rule and role-based management
A parent of a 7th grader in the Hills School sends an email to a 5th
grade student at the Hills School. The email message: “Meet me
at the museum at 5 pm, and remember don’t tell anyone.”
Google Apps Domain-Based Access:
The text of the message doesn’t contain prohibited
words.
The sender and receiver are in the same domain.
Result: send the message

ePals Rule- and Role-Based Access:

The text of the message doesn’t contain prohibited
words.
The sender only has permission to contact his son’s
teacher
The recipient only has permission to receive emails
from her Teacher and Parent
Result: Message not sent

Controlling access by domain, with an entire school or schools within the

domain can expose students to inappropriate messages and dangers
25
 Rule and role-based management
A student in the 7th grade class at the Hills School who is working on a project
with a 7th grade student at the Dales School sends the email message: “Can
you send me the results of your light experiment?”
Google Apps Domain-Based Access:
The text of the message doesn’t contain prohibited
words.
The sender and receiver are in different domains
(because the whole district would have been too
insecure).
Result: Message not sent
ePals Rule- and Role-Based Access:
The text of the message doesn’t contain prohibited
words.
The sender has permission to contact his Teacher,
Parents, Students in his 7th grade class or other 7th
graders across the district
Result: Message sent; collaboration occurs

Narrowly defining a domain to make up for security architecture

limitations can dramatically hinder a schools ability meet their curriculum
objectives. The limitations of the Google architecture force this choice.
26
 Rule and role-based management
A student in the 7th grade class at the Hills School is working with
another 7th grade student at the Hills School. Email message:
“Can you send me the results of your light experiment?”
Google Apps Domain-Based Access:
The text of the message doesn’t contain prohibited
words.
The sender and receiver are in the same domain.
Result: Message sent
ePals Rule- and Role-Based Access:
The text of the message doesn’t contain prohibited
words.
The sender has permission to contact his Teacher and
Parents, but emails to Students in his class must be
moderated by his teacher.
Result: Message sent to his teacher for review

Rule and Role-based access can help protect students from inappropriate behavior
(bullying, etc.) and younger students can have different rules applied – such as
27 moderating messages they send or receive
 IBO: IB virtual network
• Free to IB schools
– First focus on MYP and DP programs
– Open also to IBO alumni
– Open to all IBO teachers, including PYP
– Not starting in new schools til summer 2011,
but indicate interest now
– Videos showing overview, explaining why IBO
chose this digital platform
• http://ibo.epals.com
 International Baccalaureate
virtual community (IBvc)

View three-minute video showing this community: http://bit.ly/IBvideo

View three-minute video overview: http://bit.ly/IBvideo
Is Your School Registered?
IB has Created Groups
 Heinle ELL Virtual Community
• http://heinle.epals.com
• Practice English with native speakers
Mr. Li’s Classroom
Festivals Project

Hope your
class can join
us!
Mr. Li’s Classroom
Mrs. Torres’ Classroom

Invite

Accepted

Collaborative Project
Request to Join Now
Other Issues of Digital Living
and Learning
 Stop Cyberbullying Toolkit
 www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html
 Megan’s Pledge
 Recommendation to schools:
The school's acceptable use policy can
reserve the right to discipline the student for
actions taken off-campus if they are
intended to have an effect on a student or
they adversely affect the safety and well-
being of student while in school. This
makes it a contractual, not a constitutional,
issue.
First Amendment Rights of free speech are
not then at risk.
Stop Cyberbullying Toolkit
Cyberbullying through Stories

Example of video that tells a story to teach about Cyberbullying

WiredSafety Videos and Animations
 Scribd.com
 Store info and documents for
public view
 Recommend you post
brochures or other info on your
school. Include info on:
 How to apply for admission
 How to apply for a job
 Permission granted to use
these slides with others
This session’s slides are uploaded to
www.scribd.com under “Rita Oates” as
author with AAIE as a tag.

Contact information:
Rita Oates
roates@corp.epals.com
Twitter: @ritaoates and @ePals