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.

[Sandra Della Giustina]

Hi friends!
My name is Sandra, developer in NING www.miasterisco.com.ar. A network of citizen journalism for young people.
This is not just a young network for fun another people only , the members of MI * produce journalistic information in text, photos and videos. Implies a commitment on the part of members.
The younger begining participe to our Mi * workshops about Citizen Jornalism, where they learn to use the basic tools and concepts of network journalism. These workshops are free and open to youngsters aged 14 and above.
We have made very successful experiences in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Guayaquil, Ecuador and Argentina.
I invite you to visit our network and see the details of our workshops.

Now, we are planning 2009 Workshops calendar, and trying to get sponsors to be able to put together the schedule of workshops 2009. Our idea is to develop workshops in disadvantaged areas of Latin America and Caribbean. If you can help us with ideas, resources on this topic would be fantastic.

Congratulations for this network dedicated to education.

Greetings from Argentina!

[Steve Hargadon]

Again, Sandra, very nice to have you here! This is such a neat idea, and I'm hoping to keep in touch with you and find ways to support what you're doing.

[Charles Hampton]

My name is Charles Hampton and I am a middle school principal. I established a ning for our school staff. We have used it to discuss issues, make announcements and improve communication. It is also a place to share ideas, information, grant opporutunities, and is our PLC. I have been very excited about the level of activity on the site.

[Steve Hargadon]

Hi, Charles, and welcome! Very impressive that you started a Ning community for your staff. I'm very interested in this particular use of Ning, and hope you'll share more about that experience. Has it helped that as the principal you were the instigator, and is the use of the network what you hoped it would be?

[Carl Lashley]

Hey there. I am a professor in educational leadership who is very interested in how school leaders can use Web 2.0 tools to work with their teachers, staff, and community and to support one another as they go about improving their schools. I have started a couple of Nings--one for people in our area interested in school law (which is my major area) and one for administrators interested in Web 2.0. I am currently in Greensboro, NC but I hail from the mountains in West Virginia.

[Steve Hargadon]

Hi, Carl. Great to have you here. What is the address of your administrator Ning network?

[Antonio Ramos]

Hi everybody from the Canary Island,s Spain
I´m Antonio, en English teacher working in a official Language School in the smal but enchanting island of La Palma ( famous for its clear sky and exceptional spot for international telescopes),
At the moment, I´m using this tool with my all students at my school and I must say it´s becoming a nice surprise to realise the great use of it!.
First, I started creating a ning, almost one year ago, after attending a teacher meeting about WEB 2.O in Tenerife. I guess I´ve been the first one to create it on the islands and my students are using them very frequently.
Now, my colleages decided to create their social networks, and each one of them use them depending on what they really want to teach. For example, Some teachers use it to add posts on their blog and practise listening or watching small videos on You Tube.
Personally, I make use of it to allow my students to get to know them first, then to add music they like, then to send messages or comments about the teaching process. etc. I´m really interesting in developing this tool and would appreciate any comment about using ning in teaching English.
Thanks for opening this discussion
Greeting from the lovely Canary Islands.
Antonio

[Steve Hargadon]

Wow, Antonio! Great work. Very exciting what you are doing. I hope you'll keep us updated.

[Raman Job]

Hi, folks. I work for a teachers' organization representing 15,000 teachers in Manitoba, Canada. I was introduced to nings back in October by Darren Kuropatwa who made a presentation on online tools for teachers at a public relations seminar I put together. He generated tremendous interest among the 39 public relations chairs from our local teacher associations.

I started a ning for these PR chairs so we could keep in touch between seminars and together we're discovering what it can do for us. There's one thing that I'm particularly interested in right now. That's the concept of a pre-conference ning. So I'll be starting a discussion on that topic shortly. If any of you have had experience in this area, I'd love to get your comments.

[David Zuckerman]

No experience, BUT WHAT A GREAT IDEA! I have long believed that the "conference" or "professional development session" the face to face stuff however it is labeled, should take place in the middle between a reaching out for contact and guidance and "getting to know you" by the presenters/organizers before the meeting, and then an effort to conduct meaningful surveys and gather other information after the face to face part. I've been doing emails and sometimes, with some people, follow-up phone calls to their responses. (Not many people respond, but they tend to be more involved "early adopters," gold when you're trying to build social capital through networking. Ning would be perfect for that -- so long as you do not become dispirited if a very few of these very, very busy people you are reaching out to respond.

David

[Raman Job]

Yes, it certainly has my imagination going, David. It would seem like the perfect tool to apply to increasing registration, creating community, and making sure every participant gets the most bang for the buck. We all know that besides conference content, there's huge PD value in teachers talking to teachers. Those connections can be lasting. I wonder, though--because I have nothing to gauge this with--if the Ning in Education and NECC2008 ning participants are atypically active on the nings because of their familiarity with technology. Would a less tech-savvy crowd participating a less technically oriented conference be as prolific in making connections? Guess it remains to be seen. Thanks so much for your thoughts, David.

[Steve Hargadon]

Do check out Classroom 2.0 (www.classroom20.com) if you haven't already, as I built that specifically to be inviting to the less tech-savvy crowd...