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Learning and growing through Ning
Participate in a subject-specific network—or start your own
The term “social networking” provokes a knee-jerk reaction from many people. Facebook and Twitter are still regarded with suspicion by some—and with good reason. The flip side of these sites’ amazing information-sharing capabilities is the potential for users to share inappropriate information. Examples of irresponsible use make great media fodder.
But what more educators are deciding is that applying the principles of social networking to education topics and professional development can be worthwhile. Enter Ning, a website that allows anyone to create his own social network on any topic. Ning is an effective platform for what many technology-driven educators are calling “educational networking”: the application of social networking capabilities (such as photo and video sharing, chats, blogging and message boards) to professional collaboration.
Joining a Ning network
Among the 1.5 million Ning networks you’ll find at www.ning.com are dozens devoted to education topics.
Classroom 2.0 (www.classroom20.com) has more than 31,000 members. The award-winning network bills itself as the “social network for those interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education.” After joining a Ning network, you’ll see a news feed—similar to a Facebook news feed—when you sign in to the site. The news feed will notify you of the latest contributions made to your communities. Those contributions might be discussions, blog posts, online resources or news items.
As a member of a Ning community, you’ll have the opportunity to participate in online learning opportunities. Each Saturday morning, Classroom 2.0 members gather for a “webinar” about technology in the classroom. One recent Saturday, educators from Texas, Colorado, Alaska, Australia and Egypt convened for a presentation by a British educator on the use of pocket video cameras (such as Flip Cams) in the classroom.
The English Companion Ning (http://englishcompanion.ning.com), “where English teachers meet to help each other,” has more than 8,000 members. Within a Ning community are groups related to specific areas; for instance, within the English Companion Ning are groups that discuss adolescent literature, teaching Shakespeare and response to intervention, among other topics.
Starting your own Ning
Starting a Ning network is free and fairly easy, especially if you’re already using social networking sites such as Facebook or MySpace. You could create one where your department, your grade level or your subject area can share resources. Administrators can choose to make their networks public (so anyone can search for them and join) or private (so members must be invited to join).
One thing to note: Although some educators are using Ning to create communities for classroom projects with secondary students, the site’s terms of service do not permit users younger than age 13 in order to comply with the Child Online Protection Act.
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Educational networking: |
Applying the capabilities of social networking sites (such as photo and video sharing, chats, blogging and message boards) to professional collaboration among educators. |
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