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One of the greatest changes in the world of educational technology has been the growth of Web 2.0 programs and, more recently, the explosion of apps for our handheld devices. There are now literally thousands of programs to choose from, and, of course, many of them are free.
The increased choice, however, also means increased responsibility on the part of teachers to ensure that the programs are useful and appropriate for the age and maturity of the students who may be using them. So, we in the IT world strongly encourage (or perhaps I should say "expect") teachers to thoroughly investigate and test out programs before using them in their classrooms.
But one of the things of which most of us are guilty is not reading the User Agreements that accompany the programs, especially the Web 2.0 programs. All too frequently we just check off that we accept the terms of the agreement without actually reading them. This can be problematic since some programs specify that they cannot be used with students under a certain age, usually thirteen.
Recently, for example, I was asked about the use of Ning (a social networking program) when a teacher found that the service would not register students who were not yet thirteen. A check of Ning's user agreement revealed the following: "The Ning Platform is not directed to children younger than 13 and is offered only to users 13 years of age or older. If you are under 13 years old, please do not use the Ning Platform. Any person who provides their personal information through the Ning Platform represents to us that they are 13 years of age or older."
Clearly we don't want students to lie about their ages; so Ning should not be used unless students are at least thirteen. Some programs do offer an exception if parental permission is provided. The Terms of Use for Prezi, for example, include the following statements: The Prezi Service is intended only for those who are at least 18 years old – or, if the age of majority in your state or province is greater than 18 years, such age of majority in your state or province – or who have obtained the consent of their parent or guardian to use the Prezi Service.
So provided that a teacher has written permission from parents, Prezi can be used in our classrooms, though because the age limit is eighteen, I wouldn't recommend it for Elementary School students.
While the likelihood of being caught is slim and the penalty is likely just the termination of access, the bigger issue is a moral one. We should be encouraging appropriate use of technology and so we should make every effort to comply with user agreements. Please read them before you start using an online program or app with your students.