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.

[Matthew]

Yeah we use Fronter at the moment and this is very limiting.
I agree with you about the age and maturity of the learners. I think it has got the potential to be abused but i think with the right focused teaching it could work.

[Steve Hargadon]

Matthew:

I'm traveling quite a bit at the moment, but when I get back, we'll be doing some "talk-casts" on how to use Ning. These are call-in shows, and you can see the start of this series at http://www.classroom20wiki.com/LIVE+Conversations. There are a couple recordings there already that may help--the one called "Using Ning in Education" might be good.

You'll get other good help here, and look for a 'beginner Ning" session in a few weeks.

Cheers,

Steve

[Steve Wright]

Super-quick hi, no time to post properly now but am using ning to support our new distance PhD:

http://csalt.lancs.ac.uk/csalt/tel_docprog.htm

Look forward to meeting other people using and researching social networking in education - this looks like a great place to start! Also using Moodle as VLE - looking at Sakai as well and iHelp...

Work as learning Technologist at Lancaster University, UK.

[Steve Hargadon]

Welcome, Steve! Glad to have you here.

[Chrissy]

Hi my name is Chrissy Milazzo and I am from Matteson, IL. I am a first year computer teacher. I teach in a project based lab PreK-8th and enrichment for 3rd-8th. I just attended ICE Conference which was spectacular. I am hoping to expand my students into using internet social interaction in the classroom. Unfortunately I need experience myself, so I have just started networking out.

[Steve Hargadon]

Hi, Chrissy. Welcome! I thought the IL-TCE conference was fascinating--so much on Web 2.0. Hope this site helps you get going.

Steve

[Phil Collins]

I am Phil Collins, Assistant Superintendent for Student Achievement in Glenview School District 34. Glenview is a northern suburb of Chicago, IL. I recently started a Ning network with my Middle School Task Force.

[Steve Hargadon]

Great, Phil. Let us know how your network goes. I'm very interested in professional development and administrative Ning networks. I believe they can do a lot--will look for your feedback. Were you at IL-TCE?

[Phil Collins]

The middle school task force ning is more of a discussion tool for the committee that allows the community to follow the discussion if they'd like. I was at IL-TCE and attended one of your sessions. Your session was very helpful and helped jump start a few ideas for me.

[Steve Hargadon]

Glad to hear it. Will look forward to updates.

[Julia Osteen]

Julia Osteen here from Norcross, GA. I am just beginning to work with setting up my own environments in Ning. My first project is to set up a Ning site for our teachers to use. I would love any suggestions as I get started.

[Steve Hargadon]

Hi, Julia!

We're going to be doing more of these, but check out my series at http://www.classroom20wiki.com/LIVE+Conversations. There are a couple recordings there already that may help, especially the one called "Using Ning in Education," where after a short bit (as I recall), I actually go through setting up a network and you can follow along. More to come soon!

Steve