Hi Dana and welcome. I made a tutorial type video on "what is this thing called ning" if you would liketo watch it. Might help explain a bit for you. If you go to the search bar on the side, you can search for wikis and other online tools, and all the previous discussions on those tools come up. If you would like to start your own discussion, you can click on the link to discussions and add one of your own. Then, watch the responses come in. Make friends, watch the front page and you will soon get the gist of ning. It is fabulous for developing a strong personal learning network.

Hi Dana,

With your studies in Education Technology, I recommend you take a look at Wiziq's virtual classroom and authorstream's power point presentation platform. Both are web based platforms, have a bunch of features and free basic service. Here’s a public class recording you might find of interest.