Ning?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chris Parker on April 7, 2010 at 10:09am

Mellie,

Do you use Twitter? I follow a couple PLNs on Twitter and have found that most of my educational reading comes from links posted there. I'm sure I found this ning through someone's tweet! People who blog post their links. The really good ones get retweeted and it goes from there. Give it a try and lurk for a while. Wikis, nings and Twitter all work well together. I'm cparker_lmc on Twitter.

Permalink Reply by Mellie on April 8, 2010 at 8:52am

I can't use Twitter or Youtube at school. I can use it from home.

Permalink Reply by Chris Parker on April 8, 2010 at 9:48am

In our district, we have tiered filtering. The teachers have access to YouTube and many other sites, but the kids don't. I'm fighting the Twitter and weblog battle, but I've learned that some of the Twitter gadgets (Tweetdeck, itweet, & others) get though the filter. Just to heighten awareness, whenever I share something I found on Twitter, I add the comment "Found on Twitter" so they know how often it helps me. It's my latest cause!

Permalink Reply by Nicole Rietveld on April 12, 2010 at 9:27pm

I use my Ning almost every day - I love it. I used a wiki the year before last, and it was met with apathy. The Ning is so similar to Facebook, that within 5 minutes, all members of class were able to use it. The students have all created their own home page and have created their own groups. We do a lot of editing, group work, language analysis, crosswords, photostory, comprehension activities. Students (at times) have access to each others work, so they can see concrete examples of high level responses. They also (if the environment is right) proof each and mark samples of work, where suggestions they make are often implemented. I have lots of links to games, clips, music etc.
It also provides information about when (time and date ) they actually submitted work, which is helpful for parent-teacher-interviews.

Permalink Reply by Jean Hribar on June 28, 2010 at 7:12am

Hi Nicole...I'm as new as they come to all this! I'm not on Facebook, I don't Twitter (or is it Tweet?), and like Mellie I don't have access to Twitter, YouTube, etc. at school. I teach 7th grade language arts and just by reading your reply, I'm very anxious to use Ning in my classroom. I have so many questions I don't even know where to begin. Any suggestions on the best way to get started?

Permalink Reply by Kathy Bartkiewicz on June 28, 2010 at 3:07pm

Hi Jean- Like you I feel that I'm as new as they come. I don't do any of the other things either. I am curious but a bit apprehensive. I am interested in ways that folks are using Ning in their classrooms. Our filters don't allow us to access some sites like You Tube with the school computers. How does it work if there isn't enough computers for each child? Or is this work done outside of the school day? I am working with 4th grade students.

Permalink Reply by Jean Hribar on June 30, 2010 at 7:26am

Hi Kathy...Computer access is a concern of mine as well. We have a computer lab that can be signed out, and I have a few computers in my classroom, but given a building of over 1000 kids, the time is limited. I'm trying to come up with some kind of rotating schedule for the students throughout the week - hopefully this spreads out the time I will have to spend responding. I'm also going to try to set up a specific morning to be in early and an afternoon to stay later for students who don't have computer access at home. I just need a starting point!

Permalink Reply by Susan Rio Carson on July 12, 2010 at 8:34pm

This is all new to me, too.
I teach at a Catholic school and the filters are everywhere!
I am confused and have no idea where to begin.
Help!!!!