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.

[Drew Forlano]

Greetings all! I've just set up a social network to exchange ideas and practice language. We will be working with a school in Mexico. I am looking forward to getting the most out of Ning for my students.

[Steve Hargadon]

Hi, Drew! Welcome! Love the language exchange concept. Hope you'll keep us posted. :)

[Kim Major]

Hello! I am a school library media specialist at a public K-8 elementary school just outside of Boston, MA. This is my first year working in Massachusetts. My goal is teach my students how to appropriately use technology in every day life.
My district blocks many of the web 2.0 tools that are frequently used outside of school by students. I'm looking to create lessons that are engaging and have real life applications.

[Steve Hargadon]

Hi, Kim! Just remember that for now you can't have students under the age of 13 using a Ning network... :( This is one of the terms and conditions agreed to when signing up for a Ning account, and conforms to the COPPA legislation. Glad to have you here, though!

[Dave Duarte]

Dave from Cape Town, South Africa here.

I have just (last night) launched www.huddlemind.net, a Ning network for people interested in collaborative learning, new teaching methodologies, and organizational development through education.

I lecture at the University of Cape Town, and direct a course on social-media at it's Graduate School of Business. I also have a number of small businesses including Muti.co.za - which is like Reddit for Africans.

Looking forward to engaging with you all around this interesting subject of Ning in Education!

[Steve Hargadon]

Hi, Dave! Glad to have your creative mind here!

[Katherine Watson]

Hi all, This is Katherine from Saratoga Springs, NY. I had heard about Ning a while back, but I didn't want to join "yet another" networking site, but, I really love Ning! I was looking for a place to discuss education and technology. This seems like the perfect place. I am an instructional technologist as well as a Masters student in a Curriculum development an instruction technology program in NY.

-Katherine

[Sarah McPherson]

Nice to meet you Katherine. I'm from NYIT on Long Island and work with the masters program for instructional technology, It might be fun to compare notes. At which university are you taking the masters? I too am becoming a fan of nings.

[Sarah McPherson]

The International Teaching and Learning Consortium is having a symposium April 9-11 in Orlando. It looks like a great opportunity for school leaders to become steeped in what it takes to prepare students for real-world success in the 21st century. I heard that there are a few seats left. Wednesday April 9, 2008
EDUCATION FOR THE GLOBAL VILLAGE:
IMPLICATIONS OF GLOBALIZATION FOR EDUCATION REFORM with Yong Zhao. Thursday and Friday April 10 and 11 Anne Shaw will present THE 21st CENTURY SCHOOL in-depth. I'm going - it should be very informative!

[Katherine Watson]

I'm at the University at Albany, SUNY. So far I have enjoyed the CDIT (Curriculum development and instructional technology) program. It is a mix of online and face-to-face, but you can complete it totally on line as well. I like being able to go in once in a while, but it is a bit of a commute, so I usually go for the online courses.

Does NYIT offer an online program?

[Sarah McPherson]

Katherine,
Currently our MS in instructional technology has 50% courses online and some of the 50% f2f are hybrid. We are moving to totally online which may be as soon as this coming September. That is the plan as soon as we register the alternate format with the state. We offer the NYSED Ed Tech Spec certification too. With online we can offer the program non-cert outside the state.

Sarah

[Alexis]

Hi everyone I know its been awhile since I posted. I have been busy with my own ning site. We have been helping our teachers,therapists and parents with different ideas for educating autistic children. We are busy putting together games for gestures and pretend play sensory games, as well as ideas to facilitate language, and social interactions .

I love these networks and the personalization for what you can do. I recently found a wiki for kids called dinopedia its great has neat facts and pictures on dinosaurs. I have been looking for a resource on the animals in the zoo, like gorillas. My family and I went to the zoo and saw a gorilla up close. It was really neat to see his features and the intelligence in the eyes. He was as curios about us as we were about him.