Re: [xmca] ning

[Mike Cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>]

I can see the educational uses for college courses which are not the object
of research. I am raising the question about use of purposes of research
because this is where IRB issues arise. We have been avoiding googlegroups,
facebook, etc., for IRB reasons. Glynda Hull's use of a special
facebook-like medium that is totally incapsulated is a response to these
concerns. They may not be a problem in many places or for many purposes. i
am being cautious.
mike

On Thu, Jun 4, 2009 at 8:34 AM, Jennifer Vadeboncoeur <
vadebonc@interchange.ubc.ca> wrote:

>
> 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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>> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
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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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> xmca@weber.ucsd.edu
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