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.

[Reyna Romero]

Hi! My name is Reyna, I am currently a full time undergraduate student at Salem College. I am a pre-service teacher. My future plans include a double major in Elementary Education and Spanish. Afterwards, I will probably go to Grad. School. I believe that a single person is capable of having a positive influence on others. That’s why I choose education as my major. I hope one day I can influence others and help them achieve their dreams and meet their goals. ; >

[Bob Zenhausern]

I am Bob Zenhausern a retired professor of neuropsychology with a major emphasis on research in special education. I have some unique ways of looking at learning differences ranging from severe learning disability to learning styles. I have a strong research background and can provide support to those who need help in various research projects including dissertations.

[judibea]

Wow---do you offer anyof your classes on Global Classroom---online?

[kayla sullivan]

hey! my name is kayla and i am a freshman at Allen County Scottsville High School

[Ms. Nicelli]

Good afternoon all. I am an instructor at a small, 4-year business school. I'm looking for ways to bring social networking into the educational mix of my courses. We shall see how it goes.

[Elizabeth]

I teach at ASU in Women & Gender Studies and will be teaching a 2-week online course during winter break. I've taught one online course before and I have used Blackboard, which I hate. I have tried using wikis, which the students surprisingly seem to hate. Therefore, I thought I would use Ning as a platform from which to teach. My husband has created an online community related to his job and has been very successful with it, so he has agreed to help me set up my site. Hopefully I can pass on any tips and tricks he uses to members here.

[Gail Rekers]

Hi Elizabeth - I also am just getting started with Ning and am hoping to find ways of using it with students. I teach popular culture and have the topic of women and popular culture only slightly integrated into the subject matter of the course. I hope first that I can find you again (!) and second that I can learn from your educational uses of Ning.

[judibea]

HI I'm "judibea" a School Library Media Specialist (Twitter me at library_SHelf). I have been exploring NINGs, Wikis and also am interested in uses of Voice Thread for engaging students in learning. I am curious as to how those of you who use NINGs and also WIKIs compare or "connect" these online experiences. I wanted to start a NING with a middle school multi-school project but the age factor forced us to go with PBworks (which I do like). But, I thinnk that if you use one you could easily use both.

[Kevin Archer]

Kevin Archer, UK English teacher experimenting with virtual learning environments. Using Ning for this and keen to learn from colleagues. Tweet me @idais.

[David B. Cohen]

Greetings, everyone. I'm an English teacher at Palo Alto High School, and I'm also a Ning network creator and administrator for Accomplished California Teachers, a new teacher leadership network in ... California! I learned about Ning by joining the English Companion network, started up by Jim Burke. I think most of us who have seen the growth of that network would say it's been a stunning success. I also found out about this group through Jim. My own network is not aiming to be anywhere near as large as EC, but I'm hoping we can get a couple hundred members, and a core who will participate regularly and thoughtfully. Looking forward to seeing what I can learn, and maybe contribute, on this group as well.

[Dee]

Hi David my name is Dee, I'm elearning coordinator at a ESL school in Melbourne, Australia, I'm really interested in finding out about using NING in CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning ) class - I was wondering if you have any lesson ideas or suggestions for this, any advice would be greatly appreciated!
I've been using wikis, digital storytelling & blogs quite regularly , all of which have been very successful - ning is a new area for me and it seems to have great potential
Cheers
Dee

[Greg Donoghue]

Hi I'm a small business owner in Melbourne Australia, and have just started postgrad in Educational Neuroscience at Flinders University. While not a qualified teacher, I spend a lot of time teaching, coaching and presenting to various groups, and am fascinated by how people - particularly young people - learn.
Why neuroscience? Simple - it seems to me that learning is purely a brain function - neurons being created, making new connections, so having a better understanding of this science will surely inform the art of teaching (and no doubt, vice versa).
Finally, I'm interested in how these scientific findings of both education and neuroscience research can be used to improve education of adults. In particular, I believe that we need some major paradigm shifts (and quickly) if we are to weather our current ecological storms, and I'm keen to apply neuroEd research to effecting this social change.
Very keen to join discussions on these subjects and make connections with others, as the field is still very new here in Oz.
Thanks