Introductions

[Steve Hargadon]

Welcome! Please introduce yourself, let us know who you are and where you are from, and, if you are already using Ning in an educational setting, how you are using it.

[Colleen Young]

Hi, Colleen Young here, I teach Mathematics at a school near London, We use Moodle as our virtual learning environment.
I am a member of several Ning groups myself, I have also set up a Ning for my Further Maths group as I would like to see what the students think of it and we can compare with Moodle.

[Renee Curtis]

Hi ! My name is Renee Curtis. I am in my 6th year of teaching Kindergarten in a rural community. I had never heard of this site until it became an assignment for an online class. I'm still not sure how to maneuver around the site. Any areas that are most interesting? How can this site help me as an early learner educator?

[Dr. Ronald G. Shapiro]

Hi Renee,
I see someone has applied to form a group for Kindergarten Teachers. If that was you, great start. As soon as your group gets approved I would go to the Members page and do a search on Kindergarten. I would invite the 7 people who come up on the list to join the group. I would also do a search in the upper right corner on Kindergarten to see what articles come up. I tried it and several did. You might also try some variations on Kindergarten to see if you find more people/names.
You can also start discussions in either your group or on the main page....
I think you'll also find that some Kindergarten teachers may have their own ning. You might join that also.
You'll be a pro at this soon.
In may ways this NING is like a sandbox to test out ideas and learn about NING. You may then decide if you want to build your own NING for use in communicating with colleagues or parents or???
Welcome, good luck, and let me know if I can be of further help.
Ron

[Jeff Dionne]

Hi, I'm Jeff, an American teaching EFL in Tokyo at a private girls jr/sr high school. I'm using Ning to get ideas, I've gotten a lot out of the EFL Classroom 2.0 group.

I've also built a non-Ning network, and I want to talk to teachers about it. It's called "PikiFriends". The purpose of the network is to provide secondary schools with a free tool for students and teachers to connect - the focus is on the EFL/ESL population. I could have used Ning for this (I think Ning is great!), but I developed many safety and user-friendly features which Ning couldn't provide, as well as other platforms out there. So I hope it's OK if I introduce my software and see if other teachers want to connect their secondary school students to mine. I've got around 250 of my high school students on it now. It just released a few weeks ago and we're looking for new members (my students can't wait to connect with peers from other cultures). The release is a beta version - it's working very well, just a few minor bugs here and there.

I sincerely hope to make learning English as a second language more fun for secondary students - as it is now in Asia, they are forced to study grammar and take proficiency tests so much that they usually get very turned off. I think we teachers have to work hard to connect learning English to something meaningful within the students' lives, and making real friendships is a fine beginning. PikiFriends gives them a free and very cool interface to do that with.

I agree with Steve's mantra that web 2.0 is the future of education, great to be here on this forum, and it's a very exciting time to be involved with education technology!

[sruthi-the rhythm :)]

Hiiii, I am Sruthi Nair from India.. I am final year Computer Science student..I like listening to music, painting,etc.. I am very creative,honest,shy,emotional and liberal.. :) I am here to hopefully find some people who might share there experiences regarding their education,career interests and other options they can suggest me to do(I'm just not able to study these days..need some motivation)..I am also looking forward to seek a job this year..but im not really confident about it.. I guess i lack alot of knowledge regarding the corporate world and need to learn and understand more.. Hopefully i might find something here..thanks! :)

[Rachel Clarke]

I'm Rachel, an elementary school principal in North Carolina-
Just checking Ning out for the first time!

[Angela Andersen]

Hello everyone,
My name is Angela, and I am teaching a high school course called Media and Culture in Canada. I have set up a ning for the class and the students are beginning to join. Many students are not receiving the confirmation email from ning (after several days!), and when they try to reapply, they are told that their email address is already in use.
Besides working through technical difficulties such as this, I hope to use this site as an exhibition of learning in a variety of topics, including visual storytelling through photoshop and comic life, blogs, and discussions on various topics related to teens and media analysis.
My background is visual art, and my approach to media is to encourage its use as a tool for personal expression and visual communication.
I am looking for vids and resources to put on our ning in the following topics: Internet safety and security, girls and media messages, female role models, service, leadership, the environment (specifically: water).
thanks for taking the time to read this, looking forward to digital connections!
Angela

[Vincent paul]

I am the Director of community health, housing and social education (CHHASE) Organization. I am concerned on the betterment of the poor and needy as it is my childhood vision. I am experienced in the service by serving in cyclone relief committee of Guntur Diocese, Andhra Pradesh, INDIA.I believe and work forward with the greater hope that a day would soon come, when there is no class distinction of rich and poor. I am striving hard to eradicate child labor. It is my dream from my childhood and seeks help to the underprivileged children and their families to come up and send their children to school. Your help will given them vision and future. "SERVICE TO MANKIND IS SERVICE TO GOD".

[Michelle Heintze]

Hi,
I'm Michelle and I'm a Middle Years Teacher in Victoria, Australia.

I'm using Ning in my Indonesian classes as a place to use the langauage outside the classroom...

Selamat kerja semua orang....

[Swapnil Sharma]

hello
My name is Swapnil Sharma .I hail from indian state Uttar Pradesh.I am an MBA from Kolkatta.After comlpeting my MBA i joined company "GODREJ"(one the renowned and trusted name in India)I worked there for 3 years and then i shifted to Nawab city of India at Lucknow in one the educational institute Called"MAHARANA PRATAP GROUP OF INSTITUTE"as an administrative head and Head of Department (HOD)of MBA
I joined at ning as i wanna to know that how people work inthere respectiv field to bring excellence in thir work
Hoping for good forum for exchange of knowledge

Regards
Swapnil

[Vincent paul]

Hi Swapnil,
I am from chennai and newly joined ning.I was in Kanpur, and visited lucknow many times during my stay at kanpur.Visit my blog : Religious leaders vs child labor.
Thank you

[Aimee Smith]

Hi! I am Aimee Smith, laptop training coach at Cullman City Schools in Cullman, Alabama. We are a 1:1 laptop initiative district and are trying to be innovative about using technology in classes in meaningful ways. We are creating a group of students that will help provide input and help us explore the tools that may be available to us. I will be using Ning to communicate with that group of students and to explore more in-depth usage of Ning in individual classes. So excited!!!