Ning
May 4, 2008 by Intrepidteacher
As we move forward with this project, we will see that we are all on different levels technologically speaking. I hope that by using a variety of different tools any student, who comes to the Intrepid Classroom, will feel more and more comfortable using Web 2.0.
We are assuming that most students who regularly visit this site already have a blog and are familiar with its usage. If this is not the case, please don’t be shy, leave some comments and someone will help you get started.
I have been trying to organize the best tools for us to use: Wikis, Google Docs, so we can get to know each other, share ideas, videos, music, and any other things we may need to exchange. After much thought, I think a Ning is a great place to start. I will continue to use this blog as home base for posting lessons, longer pieces, links and more, but it may be a good idea to establish our resources on the Ning as well.
For those of you who don’t know a Ning is
Ning is an online platform for users to create their own social websites and social networks. Ning means “peace” in Chinese.Ning hopes to compete with large social sites like MySpace and Facebook, by appealing to users who want to create networks around specific interests or have limited technical skills. The unique feature of Ning is that anyone can create their own custom social network for a particular topic or need, catering to specific audiences.
Basically a Ning is like a closed/smaller version of Facebook. I have created one for us here, so please stop by and sign up. It is pretty straightforward. In the interest of security, if you are not in high school and not familiar with social networks, please do not post a picture of yourself. Otherwise it should be quite simple. If you have any questions either leave them as comments here, or try and figure it on your own.
See you on the Ning. I will try and post another music lesson soon.
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Wow! I never knew nor heard about Ning ever in my lifetime! Based on prior experiences with Facebook, I’m assuming that Ning is more of a social site than an educational learning center? If it were to be true, would it help me learn more about technology, something that I truly want to learn more about? Either way, I find Ning to be a new introduction to a social site or educational, that I am waiting to unravel its mysteries.
Wow is right, crazykid! This is really a great idea. When I read a little more about Ning, I could not quite figure it out. I could not link education and Facebook together. How does that work, how do they involve eachother? Or should I just go find out myself and join? Another question, is Ning another way for us to get known and for us to connect/link with other people around the world? I have never heard of anything like this. I always believed that education and social networks ran on two totally different systems that never crossed eachother. Considering that Facebook is blocked from Smartfilter for being a social network, I suppose this had something to do with it. I cannot stress enough that Ning is a fantastic idea, but how exactly did you come up with this name? I know, from what you said, that Ning means ‘peace’ in Chinese. But why Ning? Why Peace?
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Ning is blocked for being a social network too…..
It’s no fun that I can’t go on the Ning at school! It seems like a great space for our purposes though.
Youtube’s blocked as well….. there are lots of video hosting sites, and Youtube is best. There’s also Teachertube…
Wikis aren’t blocked!
Thanks for reading my blog! I hope it’s alright if I join Ning, well, I already did. It just looks so fun and inviting, I could not resist.
What’s on Teachertube? I mean, I know it is videos for teachers and educational purposes, but is it interesting? I’ve never really looked around.
Intrepid Teacher, I might need some help or pointers getting started on Ning. I cannot really figure it out, not yet at least.
I don’t look at Teachertube either, and I don’t think it’s all that interesting, but we could make it interesting!