1.0 Credits
2.0 The Moderator
2.1 Designs and Develops
a Topic
2.2
Creates Topic Announcement With KIDFORUM Managers
2.3 Sends Welcome
Letter to Registrants
2.4 Makes Timely
Postings to KIDFORUM-COORD
2.5 Publishes
Current Participation Lists
2.6 Helps
Motivate Youth and Monitor Their Writing
2.7 Assists KIDLINK Newcomers
2.8 Makes an Agenda
for KIDFORUM IRC
2.9 Makes a Final
Report of the Topic
3.0 The Moderator May Also
3.1 Ask How People
Are Using the Topic
3.2 Personally Contact
Participants
3.3 Help Design the
Topic's Web Page
4.0 Moderator Workload
4.1 How Much of my
Time Will it Take?
4.2 How Can I Keep
Track of All This?
5.0 KIDFORUM Philosophy
5.1 Respect for Others
5.2 Reasons to Participate
6.0 For More Information
6.1 KIDFORUM Managers
6.2 KIDFORUM Advisory Team
6.3 KIDFORUM Tips
from Past Moderators
1.0 Credits
The contents of this file were developed primarily by:
Joann Wilson of Gothenburg Nebraska USA, jwilson@genie.esu10.k12.ne.us
with the input of several others: Mary Esborn maesborn@connix.com,
Hafsteinn Karlsson hsteinn@ismennt.is,
Jim Kuhl jkuhl@ocmvm.cnyric.org,
and Lara Stefansdottir lara@ismennt.is.
The product of their discussion has been edited and condensed into
this file by Mark Hunnibell mark@kidlink.ccit.duq.edu.
With the help of the KIDFORUM Advisory Team, this file was updated 96/06/16 by Joann Wilson.
2.0 The Moderator
Following is a brief summary of some of the roles that past moderators
have taken and is a good overview of the type of activities a moderator
can expect to be involved with.
2.1 Designs and Develops a Topic
The topic for KIDFORUM projects should be consistent with the themes
expressed or implied in the Four KIDLINK Questions. It can also come from
answers to the Four KIDLINK Questions. The moderator should try to design
the topic so that it can be adjusted to international curriculum and relatively
easy for teachers worldwide to use it in their classrooms. The moderator
may want to examine the KIDFORUM
Charter or by sending the message:
GET KIDFORUM.CHARTER to: listserv@listserv.nodak.edu
2.2 Creates Topic Announcement With KIDFORUM Managers
The moderator will make a general or specific proposal to the KIDFORUM Advisory Team and may refine the topic idea in public on the KIDFORUM-COORD list, or in private. When the topic is approved, the moderator will need to prepare a brief description of the topic and a formal topic development announcement.
The brief description will be included in the year's schedule of KIDFORUM
topics, first published in July or August. The formal topic development
announcement will be advertised on the KIDLINK list and will be published
in its entirety on the KIDFORUM list two weeks prior to the beginning of
the topic.
Tor Arne Richvoldsen, rich@axp1.pmddata.no
the KIDFORUM Manager, will post the brief description, advertisement, and
formal topic development announcements to the appropriate lists.
2.3 Sends Welcome Letter to Registrants
Moderators are advised to send a short welcome letter to each person who registers for a topic. A welcome template message can be prepared ahead and personalized to send to a teacher as soon as he/she registers. A template message with instructions for registering can be prepared to send to people who send messages about the topic to KIDFORUM, but who have not yet registered.
2.4 Makes Timely Postings to KIDFORUM-COORD
The moderator should send information to KIDFORUM-COORD list during the topic which might include guidance for teachers, help or clarification, a reminder of time lines, a report of an interesting development, a call for suggestions or evaluations, registration updates.
All *adult* coordination messages regarding active topics should be sent to KIDFORUM-COORD, *not* to the KIDFORUM list.
2.5 Publishes Current Participation Lists
While not always necessary, some moderators have made lists of participants available by sending the list to the KIDFORUM-COORD list. Others have just made short announcements that tell where the current participants are from.
2.6 Helps Motivate Youth and Monitor Their Writing
The moderator is the only adult allowed to send messages to KIDFORUM and sometimes words of encouragement or guidance are helpful. The KIDFORUM Project Managers may also send messages to KIDFORUM but this is rarely done.
The wide variety of services and capabilities that KIDLINK offers can be overwhelming to people. The moderator will assist people in getting the most they can from the various services including LISTSERV, Gopher, WWW, and KIDLINK IRC. Some assistance may also be obtained by giving the KIDLINK WIZARD file to the person needing help and allowing them to find a peer to help them, even if that peer is not involved with the topic. Moderators can also refer KIDLINK newcomers to Joann Wilson, jwilson@GENIE.ESU10.K12.NE.US for help.
2.8 Makes an Agenda for KIDFORUM IRC
To meet the goals of the topic and to give structure to KIDFORUM IRC, the moderator will make an agenda for KIDFORUM IRC and will arrange an IRC meeting time agreeable to those who wish to participate. The moderator can refer IRC newcomers to Lely Nunez, lnunez@VARELA.REU.EDU.UY
2.9 Makes a Final Report of the Topic
The moderator should send a report about the topic to the KIDFORUM Manager, Alenka Makuc, after the topic closes. The report could be used in newspaper articles, the KIDLINK Yearbook, and KIDFORUM's web page. The report helps the KIDFORUM Advisory team evaluate how well KIDFORUM goals are being met. It also helps teachers determine if they would like to participate in future topics, and it informs non-KIDLINKERS about the exciting ideas kids share in KIDFORUM.
The report should include quantitative information such as: beginning and ending dates, and how many students, sites/schools and countries participated. It should also include qualitative information such as: a summation of inputs from participants, an evaluation of how well objectives of the topic were met, and personal observations from moderators or participants about the value/success of the topic.
The following things are things that moderators have done in the past
3.1 Ask How People Are Using the Topic
Teachers and others will use topics differently. Gathering information about how a topic is used is an important tool for looking at future topics. A moderator should consider compiling such reports into a special report file about the topic after the topic is over.
3.2 Personally Contact Participants
For some participants, kind words and encouragement help them overcome the obstacles to participation. Moderators have sent personal welcome, encouragement, and thank you messages or certificates to participants. This is an especially important consideration when the participant lives in a location or country that is new to KIDLINK.
3.3 Help Design the Topic's Web Page
If the moderator has ideas about how the topic should be presented on
the KIDFORUM web pages, he/she can work with Tor Arne Richvoldsen, rich@axp1.pmddata.no
Here are some questions you may have about the amount of work involved.
4.1 How Much of my Time Will it Take?
The moderator should expect to invest an average of 1-2 hours per day including both the week before and the week after the run of the topic. Some topics may require more work in advance than others. Some moderators advise against having one's own students participate in a topic and moderating that topic at the same time; others recommend it and have had success delegating some of the moderator's record keeping or dialog promoting tasks to their students.
4.2 How Can I Keep Track of All This?
Because some sites register and never participate, and some sites join without registering, maintaining a local database which includes such categories as Kidforum Item #, student name, location, and message category can help with record keeping. Sorts across such a database can help the moderator determine numbers of messages, students and participating sites.
Some moderators have gone further, assigning a message a code as it
is entered in the database (such as pro, con, review, list, log, evaluation,
dialogue or perhaps even dialogue subject) to help the moderator follow,
steer, and report on the flow of the topic. This kind of detailed analysis
may not be needed for all topics, however.
Here are some thoughts expressed about the philosophy of KIDFORUM.
It is important in a multicultural project to respect other viewpoints, religions, customs, and language ability. The moderator can set guidelines and encourage teachers to monitor their students' writing, especially if the children are new to KIDFORUM. The moderator must also honor the KIDLINK tradition that all languages are acceptable. The moderator can contact Marisa Lucena, mwlucena@inf.puc-rio.br for help with translation.
Although teachers often participate in a KIDFORUM topic because it extends their curriculum goals, KIDFORUM's purpose is to bring classroom groups of students together for global dialogue. The moderator's greatest reward is in knowing he/she is counted among those KIDLINKers using "new technologies of mass communication to help children shape their common futures, locally and globally."
For more information about KIDFORUM Moderation, contact any of the KIDFORUM Project Managers below:
KIDFORUM Manager:
- Tor Arne Richvoldsen, rich@axp1.pmdata.no
Eydehavn School, Arendal, Norway
Tel: +47 370 30370 Fax: +47 370 31744 both at work
KIDFORUM Assistant Manager:
- Brendan Desilets, desilets@prodigy.net
John Glenn Middle School, Bedford, MA, USA 01730
Phone (781) 275-1700
Mary Esborn, maesborn@connix.com
Mariko Fujita, PXF03001@NIFTYSERVE.OR.JP
Lely Nunez, lnunez@VARELA.REU.EDU.UY
Indu Varma, ivarma@NBNET.NB.CA
Joann Wilson, jwilson@GENIE.ESU10.K12.NE.US
6.3 KIDFORUM Tips from Past Moderators
Past KIDFORUM moderators offer these additional tips:
Don't underestimate the intelligence of the kids, the quality of their participation, or ability to do *real* projects. Doing a 'silly' project or one in which the quality expected is low, is a waste of the kids' talents and time.
Lawry de Bivort, debivort@umd5.umd.edu co-moderator / Children's Bill of Rights
One of the moderators should be responsible for collecting all names and e-mail addresses, keeping a record of these, and sending a welcome message to each registrant. The other moderator could organize information sent by the participants in order to make a report at the end of the topic.
Moderators can encourage students in their work themselves or have a group of their students doing so.
Tor Arne Richvoldsen, rich@axpl.pmddata.no co-moderator of Blueprint Earth
Regarding splitting the work between two moderators, it would be a good idea to decide in advance who will do what. Participants do not need to know this. The project should run smoothly as long as the two moderators each know what they have to do and when.
Time lines are very important. It is also important to post time lines from time to time and remind participants of time lines.
Indu Varma, ivarma@nbnet.nb.ca moderator of Blueprint Earth
Consider carefully the combination of moderating and running the project
in your own school. Moderation is considerably easier if you are just doing
the moderating.
Keeping track of people who take part without registering is difficult. Maybe one of the moderators should just keep track of the e-mail traffic and its source. That person could also gently remind adults who write to the KIDFORUM list that the list is for kids only.
This person could also take care of the infrequent inappropriate message.
Mary Esborn, maesborn@connix.com moderator of Festivals, Virtual Vacation and Traveling in the World
Because of technical problems, time constraints, or dwindling enthusiasm of teachers or students, expect that about 20% of the original registrants for a topic will drop out. To encourage commitment to the topic, the KIDFORUM-COORD list could be used to introduce teachers to one another before the topic starts.
Joann Wilson, jwilson@genie.esu10.k12.ne.us moderator of Environment 2093, War & Peace, and Hopeful Headlines
- Information Contact Point:
Kidforum Manager, Tor Arne Richvoldsen, rich@axp1.pmddata.no
Kidforum Web Pages by Tor
Arne Richvoldsen
Updated February 17, 1998.
Copyright © 1998 Kidlink . All rights reserved.