Social Networking Tools

I'm happy to be a part of classroom 2.0. Overall Ning is a great social networking tool for teachers, students, and administrators.  When I was the director of admissions at an online college I used ning frequently to connect with students who had just enrolled at the college.  I am currently a graduate student at Western Oregon University Studying Education: Information Technology.

I have used both Facebook and Ning to connect with students, and both have their advantages and disadvantages.  Overall I think Ning creates a sense of community and has less distractions compared to Facebook.  Ning also allows users to post a blog directly from the site, while Facebook does not have a blogging platform (although it is easy to post links from outside blogs on the users Facebook page).

Another benefit for educators and administrators is that Ning allows site administrators to chose which members and content to allow or ban.