Out of the box, the open source portal Posh has administrative controls that make it appropriate for use in a K-12 school setting. An administrator can set the portal so that one must be logged in to view content. In addition, it may be set up so that any feeds must be moderated. By default, visitors cannot register an account. An administrator must create any accounts.
To force a log in to view content, and administrator needs to go to the configuration tab, then select “General Settings.” Simply check the option Portaneo starts with: login screen as indicated below:
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Also of note on this page is the ability to use pseudonyms as opposed to email addresses. This is handy for teachers with students without email addresses.
By default, users can subscribe to any feed that they want. This may not be acceptable for a school setting. This is also easily changed. Again click the Configuration tab when logged in as an admin, then select “Personalize the users’ interface menus.” Simply uncheck “Users can add RSS feeds in their pages” and all feeds that students want to add must be submitted a widget and as such subject to administrative approval.
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As you can see, Posh is simple to secure for use in the K12 school setting. On another note, Posh 2.0 is due to be released this month. I look forward to further refinements to the user interface as well as new features. This tool is definitely appropriate for school use.
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This work by Stephen J O’Connor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
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