Ning as PD follow-up
I am in the midst of helping my building move forward through the use of personal learning networks (mostly RSS feeds for now). I have pitched this idea to my principal as a quasi-PD opportunity and he thinks its great.
I feel like "getting" information (via RSS) is only the first step towards making a lasting change. A logical second step is providing an avenue for educators to discuss/share what they're reading. This is where Ning comes in to play. I have setup a Ning for the staff to use to share resources, discuss ideas, etc. With this "setup" in mind, I have a few questions for the Classroom 2.0 community:
1) Has anyone else tried this sort of approach? If so, how has it been going so far? We're off to a slow start as far as "sharing" goes...I'm guessing this is pretty typical.
2) What do you see as the pros/cons of using Ning as a collaboration tool? (We had tried wikispaces previously, but it was not very user-friendly for the discussions we were looking to take place). What type of changes would you make to Ning if you were able to do so? In other words, what features seem to be missing from Ning that you wish you had...or that discouraged you from using it in the first place?
I feel like "getting" information (via RSS) is only the first step towards making a lasting change. A logical second step is providing an avenue for educators to discuss/share what they're reading. This is where Ning comes in to play. I have setup a Ning for the staff to use to share resources, discuss ideas, etc. With this "setup" in mind, I have a few questions for the Classroom 2.0 community:
1) Has anyone else tried this sort of approach? If so, how has it been going so far? We're off to a slow start as far as "sharing" goes...I'm guessing this is pretty typical.
2) What do you see as the pros/cons of using Ning as a collaboration tool? (We had tried wikispaces previously, but it was not very user-friendly for the discussions we were looking to take place). What type of changes would you make to Ning if you were able to do so? In other words, what features seem to be missing from Ning that you wish you had...or that discouraged you from using it in the first place?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Matt Townsley on -
Your experiences are similar to mine, Mark. Our Ning is up and going, but there isn't a whole lot of activity. I'm hoping others can offer suggestions to get past this plateau. From those I have talked to locally, they claim to not have the time to interact online - too busy planning, grading, etc. Perhaps next school year will be a different situation.
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Permalink Reply by Linda Alexander on -
I organized a NING site for a group of 13 independent schools in Northeast Ohio only last Monday. I went to a terrific workshop session where Alan November spoke (www.novemberlearning.com) and encouraged us to add content that will solicit a "reaction". So, I posted a few youtube videos on the site that are somewhat of a wake-up call to faculty regarding what's on the near horizon. The first video is called the Sixth-Sense, developed through research at MIT, and the other is called Social Media Revolution (excellent). I don't know if this will help anyone, but thought to mention this sort of "startle the audience into a response" kind of approach. Hah! We will see how it goes....
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Permalink Reply by Sean Nash on -
My school... and most recently my school district have been working with online networks via the use of Ning. Rather than boast about the benefits, I'll leave it to you folks to given them a scan and see what you think compared to other online PD efforts in schools. I'd certainly love the feedback.
Sean
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Permalink Reply by Linda Alexander on
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Amazing! Where are you located? I like how each school has its own group, too.
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Permalink Reply by Linda Alexander on
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Oh, no surprise as there is a lot of innovation in the midwest. I used to be in Kansas City. Thanks for sharing.
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Permalink Reply by Sean Nash on
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You think so? That is interesting to me. I can't tell you how many times I have heard comments about innovation happening even in Missouri. I just find that interesting. Until this past year or so, I hadn't even given that a thought.
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Permalink Reply by Linda Alexander on
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There are pockets of innovation everywhere. I use to live in Overland Park and we had some stellar school leaders. I am in Northeast Ohio now and we have some very strong independent schools, which I am involved with as a consortium head. However, I always watch the coasts, both east and west, as the basis of measuring where things are heading. I particularly like the High Tech High system out in San Diego and some of the innovation that is happening in New York City through Joel Klein - the School of One and also a few other novel systems. I try and keep an eye on national and international education trends....
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