Ning - A social network

Week 5 Blog Entry

What is Ning?

Ning is a tool that lets you create and join new social networks for your interests and passions. Visit http://www.ning.com/ to start your own or to join a social network. This tool allows you to track the activity on your social networks, keep up with all your friends and discover new social networks-all in one place. There are all different types of social networks that you can join such as education, entertainment, pets and a range of others that may be of interest. It is only possible to join these sites by joining the ning network which is free. To create your own social network you need to give it a name and a web address. There are various features that may be added to your created network such as a Forum, Photos, Videos , Blog , Music and Chat to name a few. This type of social network also has a number of moderation and management tools to ensure only the best and most fitting content is added to your social network. Lastly, the overall appearance of your social network, from the colours and fonts to the order of the tabs and sub-tabs are in your control.

How is Ning used?

Ning is a great tool that opens the lines of communication between people from all parts of the globe with access to the internet.

Ning a valuable tool for the educational context?

I believe Ning could be a valuable tool for educators in the ever changing world of technology. One example this tool could be used for is to open the lines of communication between you and the parents of the students in your class. It could keep parents in the loop of what is happening in their child's education in the classroom. It may also be a way of keeping in touch with parents outside of school hours. However, if the site is used for this purpose the privacy control would need to be changed to only allow the people of interest to this site. If however, there is a breach in netiquette by an unidentified member as a creator of the site this person can be banned from the social network which will remove all of the photos, videos, forum posts, blog posts, comments, and any other content that member has added to the social network. (I love the thought of that idea). By creating an open door policy to this site for parents of the students you teach it may create a partnership and a trusting relationship that may have a positive effect on their own values and attitude towards their child's education.

Does Ning have any limitation to the classroom?

The offerings that this tool has for the classroom and life outside the classroom there is a great potential for far more good to take place in this social networking than any weakness that this tool may possess.

Thanks for reading my thoughts.

Join me again for further developments in my e-learning journey.

Rambling Rose.

References

http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/home.php?p_sid=qfgmfRFj