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.

[Tara O'Toole]

My name is Tara O'Toole. I am a math teacher at Spring-Ford High School in Royersford, PA. I teach algebra II and geometry. My ning address is [e-mail]. I am new to ning, so I am trying to learn the ins and outs of it.

[Lucas King]

Lucas King in 20 words or less:
Engineer. Entrepreneur. Educator.
Games. Simulations. Cognitive science. Natural strengths.
Self-discovery + Simulated Experiential Learning + Success Models = New way to do school.

[jprosko]

Hi. I’m Jacob Roskovensky, District Library Media Specialist for the Shiloh CUSD#1 of Hume IL. I am working on my masters in Instructional Media. I am trying to see where PLNs can fit into our district and get a couple faculty members to jump on board.

[Mrs. Wasemann]

This is my sixth year teaching. This is my 4th year teaching 8th grade American History at my School McKeel Academy of Technology in Lakeland Florida. My school is a charter k-12 program made up of three “schools” with one of them expanding into a duplicate program. I ‘m located at the big McKeel 6-12. We have two elementary McKeel’s located near by in town. The south campus is expanding to a k-7 program by next year and a k-12 program in 2-3 years. In a couple of years homecoming will be very interesting with McKeel Downtown and McKeel Southside. I’m also currently in my third year of a Federal Turning Points in American History Grant program. My school currently for technology consists of smartboards, our website and a new student technology cluster of robotics, imedia and web design. Now my school is putting its focus on its teachers becoming 21st century. Because of this, I recently started my masters in Instructional Media through Wilkes University and Discovery Education. That is how I joined this PLN.

[Mike Gwaltney]

I'm Mike Gwaltney in Los Angeles, CA, 90004. I teach at Marlborough School, a private independent day-school for girls. I teach History and Social Science. I am the "techy" teacher, equipped with Smart Boards, tablet PC, blogs, twitter, etc. I'm intrigued by and hope to increase my use of Web 2.0 technologies in my teaching.

[jim Sweetman]

Hi, my name is Jim Sweetman and I am an educational consultant based in the United Kingdom. I'm interested in the potential of online learning in all of its various forms and I currently deliver training for the National College for School leadership in the UK. I also publish a new online magazine about education which is unusual in that I intend it to be free at the point of delivery with no subscriptions! You can find that here.

I am also interested in using Second Life as a training tool for teachers and learners.

[Jenny]

Hi,
My name is Jennifer. I am from CESA5 in Portage, Wisconsin. I just created a Ning to use with a teacher group to test out how it could work in place of Moodle.

[Carolyn Browne]

I'm Carolyn from Northlake and Oak Park, Illinois, USA, and a migrant from the world of publishing to the amazing sphere of public education. I began by teaching five sections of political science to sophamores and added United States History and Global Studies as the years progressed. Currently I'm a full time media specialist and am relishing the opportunity to watch and learn from other teachers, as well as explore the world of Web2. I participate in Nings, use Shelfari to keep track of my reading, and try other tools as they are presented (or requested). It certainly is a brave new world!

[Cikgu Haling]

Haling from Taiping, Malaysia. I have started my Ning with a class of of students for Science. I will be expanding it to other students from other class and ultimately will be opened for all students. Borderless learning.

[Lynn Pinder]

My name is Lynn Pinder. I hail from Baltimore, MD. I have 10-plus years of experience teaching Adult Basic Education (ABE), Pre-GED, and GED classes. I enjoy using Ning - both personally and professionally. In both capacities, I have found Ning to be extremely useful in building networks and resources.

[Kevin Cloud]

Hi, everybody. I hope that I have an interesting proposal in this shaky financial times. I work for a foundation in Las Vegas, NV that is providing FREE enrichment programs for public school students. Our first program is a summer institute-this summer. We are very web 2.0, tech integration, and project oriented--I would guess that many of you are as well. We will have all of the bells and whistles, low student-teacher ratios, great facilities (see at adsrm.org), tons of tech, with tech and admin support, the best colleagues and engaged peers. The pay's not bad either. We want the best of the best math, science and English/Social Science teachers but you should have a significant background in technology. The program is in Las Vegas, but we will get you out here and find a place for you to live if the fit is right. You can contact me through NING if you are interested.

(Steve--sorry if this is against posting protocol, but I am not trying to sell anything so I thought it would be ok.)

[Nathalie]

Hello
Just join in Ning in Education and looking forward to participate.
Mum of 3 boys I am very interested on the impact of games in our kids life. I recently developed a site to speak about new games and how games can help and support children on their learning journey. Technology brings in new way to the education system, it makes it more fun and more interactive.
Always looking for new site or games to help stimulate learning and improve education.
Looking forward to discuss and comment.