Free E-mail for your School (Or your Classroom)
Do you want to put up with some advertising so you can have a safe, kid-friendly E-mail system for your entire classroom?
Then, register for the free service at Gaggle.Net™
Unfortunately, your school has to register for this service, but with over 12,000 schools registered, the process cannot be that difficult to get approved.
Why Kid-Safe E-Mail
Students like E-mail and they will use E-mail to communicate.
And, there are many learning tasks and classroom projects that you can assign. Easy E-mail options include:
Your students can even use their "Kid Safe" accounts from home.
What does "Kid Safe" Mean?
Gaggle.Net™ provides a number of "Kid Safe" benefits, even for the free subscription. These include:
- Pornography Protection
- Virus Protection
- Spam Protection
- E-mail and Text Filtering
- Teacher Controlled Chat Rooms
- Monitored Message Boards
- Access from Any Internet-Connected Computer
- Spell Checking
- Filtered Digital File Storage
- Basic Web Hosting and Classroom Profile Pages
- School and Classroom Calendars
And, don't worry about the advertising. As well as being age appropriate, students respond to it much like they respond to monotone teacher lectures, they tune most of it out.
Is it Really Free?
Gaggle.Net offers three subscription versions, including a truly free (of cost) service. Of course, the free service is what subjects your students to online advertising.
If your school wants to avoid the advertising, your school can pay for the upgraded service and remove the ads.
Your school district can also apply for discounts for this service through the e-Rate program. (See your district's Technology Director concerning district eligibility for this discount. But, don't hold your breath. The federal e-Rate program route will take almost a year before you see benefits. So, you could expect discounts as early as the 2007-08 school year.)
For More Information...
Link to what other teacher have to say about the service.
Link to the Gaggle.Net flyer
Here is a link to the features that Gagele.Net™ offers.
Link to the Gaggle.Net™ sign up page.
