Comments on: Imbee is better than Disney http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/ Weblog of Wesley Fryer Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:55:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Life@Stritch » Take a look at Imbee - Safe Social Networking http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/comment-page-1/#comment-18895 Life@Stritch » Take a look at Imbee - Safe Social Networking Tue, 03 Oct 2006 20:36:41 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/#comment-18895 [...] Moving at the Speed of Creativity » Blog Archive » Imbee is better than Disney [...] [...] Moving at the Speed of Creativity » Blog Archive » Imbee is better than Disney [...]

]]> By: Wesley Fryer http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/comment-page-1/#comment-18882 Wesley Fryer Tue, 03 Oct 2006 18:43:02 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/#comment-18882 Well, in schools teachers have a legal responsibility to be moderating conversations that are required, in contrast to discussions that kids have after school on a voluntary basis. I think it is vital that adults be engaged with students in discussions about what is appropriate and not appropriate in both online and F2F contexts. So I definitely wouldn't consider monitoring of the sort permitted to be "Orwellian." Remember also this is targeted at 9-14 year olds. Imbee is free now, so that is a major plus. I think kids will find this environment much more enticing if all or a majority of students in their class were/are using the tool. I agree that it can seem boring if there aren't many people to talk to and with that kids want to socialize with! Well, in schools teachers have a legal responsibility to be moderating conversations that are required, in contrast to discussions that kids have after school on a voluntary basis. I think it is vital that adults be engaged with students in discussions about what is appropriate and not appropriate in both online and F2F contexts. So I definitely wouldn’t consider monitoring of the sort permitted to be “Orwellian.” Remember also this is targeted at 9-14 year olds. Imbee is free now, so that is a major plus. I think kids will find this environment much more enticing if all or a majority of students in their class were/are using the tool. I agree that it can seem boring if there aren’t many people to talk to and with that kids want to socialize with!

]]> By: blogreader http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/comment-page-1/#comment-18682 blogreader Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:20:36 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/#comment-18682 I signed my kids up to imbee for a free trial over the summer but they found it pretty boring after a couple of weeks and stopped using it. Perhaps they have made changes to make it more enticing. The fact that they wanted to charge 3.95 a month for the service seemed like a stretch when so much is free on the Internet these days. I can see how brining an entire class onto imbee might work but although I like the idea of the parental control I wouldnt want my kids teachers knowing every thought my kids communicate online its rather Orwellian, don't you think? I signed my kids up to imbee for a free trial over the summer but they found it pretty boring after a couple of weeks and stopped using it. Perhaps they have made changes to make it more enticing. The fact that they wanted to charge 3.95 a month for the service seemed like a stretch when so much is free on the Internet these days. I can see how brining an entire class onto imbee might work but although I like the idea of the parental control I wouldnt want my kids teachers knowing every thought my kids communicate online its rather Orwellian, don’t you think?

]]> By: Doug Belshaw http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/comment-page-1/#comment-18562 Doug Belshaw Sun, 01 Oct 2006 17:45:22 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2006/09/28/imbee-is-better-than-disney/#comment-18562 Hi Wes, After persuading our Headteacher to sign the legal agreement for <a href="http://www.think.com" rel="nofollow">Think.com</a> and using it for a week with my students, I've now moved them over to <a href="http://www.imbee.com" rel="nofollow">Imbee.com</a>. Although initially they preferred Think.com, I'm beginning to see them come round to using Imbee more powerfully. It's a Year 7 class (11/12 year-olds) that I currently take for both ICT and History which means we can use it in a cross-curricular way. At the moment their homework is to explain to the world what the key historical terms to which they've been introduced (chronology, anachronism, etc.) mean and give some examples. Some of them have really gone to town customising their 'spots'. Due to the restrictions of the Headmaster I have to approve all of their content before it goes live, but I'm hoping to negotiate to remove that restriction once the students have got a few weeks responsible use under their belt. The best thing about Imbee is that its more of a grown-up environment than Think.com, whilst still appealing to almost-teenagers. They're already talking about what they want to 'add to their blog' - which is great! Finally, a couple of annoyances which I noticed were pointed out to the developers in an email. They responded within 24 hours saying the points I made were good ones and they'd get onto them ASAP! :-) Hi Wes,

After persuading our Headteacher to sign the legal agreement for Think.com and using it for a week with my students, I’ve now moved them over to Imbee.com. Although initially they preferred Think.com, I’m beginning to see them come round to using Imbee more powerfully. It’s a Year 7 class (11/12 year-olds) that I currently take for both ICT and History which means we can use it in a cross-curricular way.

At the moment their homework is to explain to the world what the key historical terms to which they’ve been introduced (chronology, anachronism, etc.) mean and give some examples. Some of them have really gone to town customising their ‘spots’.

Due to the restrictions of the Headmaster I have to approve all of their content before it goes live, but I’m hoping to negotiate to remove that restriction once the students have got a few weeks responsible use under their belt.

The best thing about Imbee is that its more of a grown-up environment than Think.com, whilst still appealing to almost-teenagers. They’re already talking about what they want to ‘add to their blog’ – which is great!

Finally, a couple of annoyances which I noticed were pointed out to the developers in an email. They responded within 24 hours saying the points I made were good ones and they’d get onto them ASAP! :-)

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