I think it would be useful to have an optional verified educational user status. Just a small mark / icon with the other details.
Possibly automatic if the registered email address is @xxx.sch.yy or matches a check list.
Ideally, it would be mandatory, but i doubt that would work, i'm pretty sure most would be happy to have it displayed.
nice idea but to what gain?
to exclude those of us not working in education?
:-(
I think it's a bad idea for that reason, some of us don't work in the education sector but can offer some good advice and knowledge.Originally Posted by Domino
Some of us worked in education and moved out :-)
Maybe you can have a little chat room to yourselves where you complain you wish were out of education and in the real world and on a better salary
Although... re-reading, maybe it'd be like a forum badge or something and not quite a massacre of all non-edu membersI think it's a bad idea for that reason, some of us don't work in the education sector but can offer some good advice and knowledge.
Some of us worked in education and moved out :-)
Maybe you can have a little chat room to yourselves where you complain you wish were out of education and in the real world and on a better salary
Not a bad idea, adds some sort of status whilst a reputation is built.
I vote against it. There are times when you want your personal comments and views disassociated from your employer.
Besides which, I really don't want to make it too easy to harvest posts + school and make targetted sales calls.
We've sort of had this discussion before: Registered workers ONLY (schools + companies) forums? Though that thread was proposing going further than marking out the verified users, I think many of the comments there are valid here.
I'm not in favour, personally. I deliberately registered with an account that has nothing to do with my school, and I suspect many, many, others have done the same.
alan-d (14th December 2011)
Ok, it's not about segregation or status. I've read the linked thread and the one linked in that one, and it's not about a separate secure area either.
I'm not suggesting we are associated with our schools or employers, and the idea can be extended to verified supplier too, just that we are verified.
It was merely a means of identifying the type of institution someone is from (if they wish to make it public).
There are many occasions, especially with new joiners when someone posts and it's useful to know if they are at a school, or a techie, or just a lay member, salesman etc. The majority of members are legitimate and upfront anyway so it's not revealing sacred info. One post i agreed with from one of the other threads was this:
In light of recent security issues, there are many users that have created a new account, some publicly and others not. As we expand more, into areas that are outside of education, it's harder and harder to know where people are from. No, it doesn't matter, we're inclusive here, but it can help, in my opinion.
Many people register with a private email address, but we know you are at a school, because you state so in your posts or it is easily inferred. Most people are well known and have a good rep. However, if you don't know someone, rather than have to read the last 50 posts and infer where they are from, i think it's useful to have an optional flag, it's not about holding you responsible or linking to your employer.
We also do have a big issue with spam, though on the whole, with the help of members we keep it under control. This could even help with that, or when you're not sure if someone is associated with a company or offering advice based on experience.
I've added info to my signature, about the system i use, my area and my school. Some of it could be in my profile too. So for me, if i was verified, all it would tell you is i work at an international school. Next time i help someone also at an international, they will know, or a supplier / sponsor that is helping me, will also know, and it helps. I don't want to say it's about rep, but it could help someone weight my posts based on my background.
At the moment my info is not verified, so you have to take my word for it
None of the above is a concrete reason to back up my idea, it was just a thought i had and so i shared it. It's not going to be implemented, unless everyone really got behind it. If you think it could be useful, add something in your sig'If you've ever introduced yourself in the welcome forum, or mentioned what you do in a post, the info is already out there, so what harm can it do?
Discuss...
I like the idea of this as it builds trust. So long as I don't have to give out exact details, just I work for a School \ Local Authority \ 3rd Party \ A giant monkey
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