Comments on: Navigating challenges of public learning communities for students http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/03/navigating-challenges-of-public-learning-communities-for-students/ Weblog of Wesley Fryer Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:55:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Not Just Change. Transformation. | Grandé With Room http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/03/navigating-challenges-of-public-learning-communities-for-students/comment-page-1/#comment-61277 Not Just Change. Transformation. | Grandé With Room Sun, 09 Nov 2008 02:18:39 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=3166#comment-61277 [...] has been written about the changing needs of students in the 21st century and the transformation that must take [...] [...] has been written about the changing needs of students in the 21st century and the transformation that must take [...]

]]> By: Scott Moore http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/03/navigating-challenges-of-public-learning-communities-for-students/comment-page-1/#comment-61188 Scott Moore Tue, 04 Nov 2008 22:35:10 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=3166#comment-61188 Wesley, thanks for clarifying that the username was also inappropriate. Removing the user account makes more sense now. I also managed to assume that the ban included preventing the email address from starting a new account which is an error on my part. Let's hope that the student does return and participates in a way that is appropriate and allows everyone to benefit from the interaction. Wesley, thanks for clarifying that the username was also inappropriate. Removing the user account makes more sense now. I also managed to assume that the ban included preventing the email address from starting a new account which is an error on my part.

Let’s hope that the student does return and participates in a way that is appropriate and allows everyone to benefit from the interaction.

]]> By: Wesley Fryer http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/03/navigating-challenges-of-public-learning-communities-for-students/comment-page-1/#comment-61182 Wesley Fryer Tue, 04 Nov 2008 16:19:28 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=3166#comment-61182 I would like to see this student able to participate in the learning community in appropriate ways. Given the username s/he had selected, however, banning their account seemed like the best decision. They can create another account with a different userid and pw of course, but now those created accounts will be moderated in an approval queue. We are working with a developer to build a more robust learning community in Drupal and will be sharing more about that in the weeks and months ahead. I would like to see this student able to participate in the learning community in appropriate ways. Given the username s/he had selected, however, banning their account seemed like the best decision. They can create another account with a different userid and pw of course, but now those created accounts will be moderated in an approval queue.

We are working with a developer to build a more robust learning community in Drupal and will be sharing more about that in the weeks and months ahead.

]]> By: sylvia martinez http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/03/navigating-challenges-of-public-learning-communities-for-students/comment-page-1/#comment-61181 sylvia martinez Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:17:00 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=3166#comment-61181 Smart way to seize the teachable moment for everyone involved. Thanks for sharing some sanity about this topic! Smart way to seize the teachable moment for everyone involved. Thanks for sharing some sanity about this topic!

]]> By: gail desautels http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/03/navigating-challenges-of-public-learning-communities-for-students/comment-page-1/#comment-61179 gail desautels Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:00:12 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=3166#comment-61179 Thank you, this is a good way to deal with what will surely be a situation bound to be repeated. Perhaps rather than banning them from the community, as this can have disastrous effects, it would also be possible to monitor all further postings from this student for a period of time. They need to keep saying things - even if we don't like what they are saying, and guided further along the path towards some sort of enlightenment, if possible. Reading the actual comments written also gives a little understanding of their "emotional" state when they were posting. Understanding leads to empathy. I hope they a soft touch glove to help students who post about being "high" at that school, and a warm support circle to embrace them!!! Thank you, this is a good way to deal with what will surely be a situation bound to be repeated. Perhaps rather than banning them from the community, as this can have disastrous effects, it would also be possible to monitor all further postings from this student for a period of time. They need to keep saying things – even if we don’t like what they are saying, and guided further along the path towards some sort of enlightenment, if possible. Reading the actual comments written also gives a little understanding of their “emotional” state when they were posting. Understanding leads to empathy. I hope they a soft touch glove to help students who post about being “high” at that school, and a warm support circle to embrace them!!!

]]> By: Scott Moore http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/03/navigating-challenges-of-public-learning-communities-for-students/comment-page-1/#comment-61177 Scott Moore Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:52:21 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=3166#comment-61177 Your post caught my eye so I hope you don't mind me coming out of left-field. As someone with experience in fostering online community (but not in working with students), I like the way you caught and handled this. Monitoring your own RSS feed and documenting everything is very smart. And I like that you start off the letter to the teacher by praising student participation even if this instance wasn't what is desired. Should this happen again, would it be appropriate to not ban the student, but remove the offending material and prevent him or her from posting until the teacher can have the conversation you suggest? Or would you be willing to allow that particular email to return to COV if they sent you an apology and did not again post offending material? Of course, there may be particulars that prevent offering this additional help such as restricted contact with students (minors), intent of the site, or the resources available. It's the harder path to follow, I know. I've spent many hours trying to reform people who post inappropriate material. I guess I recommend it because when someone does turn around (and it does happen), they often try to teach others what is appropriate for the community. Thanks for documenting your process in such detail. It's something that I rarely see when people blog about moderation/facilitation methods. Your post caught my eye so I hope you don’t mind me coming out of left-field. As someone with experience in fostering online community (but not in working with students), I like the way you caught and handled this. Monitoring your own RSS feed and documenting everything is very smart. And I like that you start off the letter to the teacher by praising student participation even if this instance wasn’t what is desired.

Should this happen again, would it be appropriate to not ban the student, but remove the offending material and prevent him or her from posting until the teacher can have the conversation you suggest? Or would you be willing to allow that particular email to return to COV if they sent you an apology and did not again post offending material?

Of course, there may be particulars that prevent offering this additional help such as restricted contact with students (minors), intent of the site, or the resources available.

It’s the harder path to follow, I know. I’ve spent many hours trying to reform people who post inappropriate material. I guess I recommend it because when someone does turn around (and it does happen), they often try to teach others what is appropriate for the community.

Thanks for documenting your process in such detail. It’s something that I rarely see when people blog about moderation/facilitation methods.

]]> By: Bill Fitzgerald http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/11/03/navigating-challenges-of-public-learning-communities-for-students/comment-page-1/#comment-61176 Bill Fitzgerald Tue, 04 Nov 2008 06:02:38 +0000 http://www.speedofcreativity.org/?p=3166#comment-61176 Hello, Wesley, At the outset, the communication you lay out is the central piece of managing a community -- it definitely requires a human, personal touch. Some technological wrinkles that can augment the personal touch (and I don't know whether these are possible in Ning or not): 1. Create a placeholder role for students without rights to comment on profiles; once they have made a small number of posts (say 3-5) in the site, they are elevated into the full role with full responsibilities. 2. Create a mechanism to flag specific words, and put those posts into moderation; And again, with that said, I often hesitate before advocating for technological checks on human behavior -- people learn from mistakes, and without the freedom to choose the wrong path it's more difficult to learn the judgment required to make the correct choice. Hello, Wesley,

At the outset, the communication you lay out is the central piece of managing a community — it definitely requires a human, personal touch.

Some technological wrinkles that can augment the personal touch (and I don’t know whether these are possible in Ning or not):

1. Create a placeholder role for students without rights to comment on profiles; once they have made a small number of posts (say 3-5) in the site, they are elevated into the full role with full responsibilities.

2. Create a mechanism to flag specific words, and put those posts into moderation;

And again, with that said, I often hesitate before advocating for technological checks on human behavior — people learn from mistakes, and without the freedom to choose the wrong path it’s more difficult to learn the judgment required to make the correct choice.

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