Hi Folks,
We use NING in two large courses in the teacher education program,
one for
elementary and one for secondary teacher candidates. There are
approximately
280-320 students in each course. They meet in a large lecture hall
for one
hour of lecture, followed by two hours of discussion in "small"
break-out
groups of about 30-34 teacher candidates.
We use NING for several purposes: 1) to post writing assignments, for
example responses to weekly inquiry questions, 2) to enable
additional
conversation outside of class, 3) to communicate general
information across
all sections of the course, 4) and most important, to build
community among
the teacher candidates and with the instructors. We use the
"forum," rather
than the blog, and create weekly forums to organize postings.
I am interested in the extent to which this technology, coupled
with the
course structure, enables continued professional relationships
once teacher
candidates complete their degree/certification and begin their first
teaching positions. Many of our teacher candidates teach across
Canada and
the US, and internationally as well.
While NING is quite like other social networking sites, when we
began using
it several years ago it was the only one that allowed us to form
closed
community groups that were protected by an administrator function
that
allowed us control over who could enter. We did not want to use a
completely
open site. Teacher candidates can post pictures, videos, their
teaching
activities and professional contributions, and have conversations
that we
did not want to give public access to. We have continued to use it
because
it also allows us to use a French template for the sections of our
courses
that are conducted in French.
For us, NING is incredibly useful. It is easy to use and continues to
evolve and offer new options as well. So far, so good.
Best - jennifer
Here's one example, although you need to be a member to use it:
http://www.ncte.org/community
Peter Smagorinsky
Professor of English Education and Program Coordinator
The University of Georgia
125 Aderhold Hall
Athens, GA 30602
smago@uga.edu
http://www.coe.uga.edu/lle/faculty/smagorinsky/index.html
-----Original Message-----
From: xmca-bounces@weber.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-
bounces@weber.ucsd.edu] On
Behalf Of Helen Grimmett
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 8:17 PM
To: xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
Subject: [xmca] Re: technology for Classroom use
Hi,
I've recently heard about something called a "ning", which from
what I
can gather seems to be a way to set up your own small scale
networking
site (like a mini facebook) for your own circle of users. It
seems to me
this might be an ideal way for classrooms (or groups of
classrooms or
teachers) to explore this technology and be able to share their work
without worrying about what else they might come into contact
with on
facebook, myspace or youtube etc.
I haven't investigated it fully yet, but am wondering if it might
be the
sort of thing that will be useful for my research project on
professional learning. Perhaps someone else has some more
infromation
about nings?
Helen Grimmett
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--
______________________________
Jennifer A. Vadeboncoeur, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
The University of British Columbia
Faculty of Education
2125 Main Mall
Library Block 272B
Vancouver BC V6T-1Z4
phone: 1.604.822.9099
fax: 1.604.822.3302
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