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.

[Javed Alam]

Hi every one I am Javed. I am professor of Civil Engineering.

I am interested in Online teaching and learning and the use of Information communication technology(ICT) to enhance and augment the instructional process.

I am developing an online Master's program in Structural Engineering and currently working on developing different online courses to support this program. I recently completed one online course in the area of Engineering Computations called "Computational Tools for Engineers". This semester I am working on the online course "Information Technology Tools for Engineers". There are several other courses that are at various stages of development.

The course "Information Technology Tools for Engineers" is in the area of Information Communication Technology in which Engineering graduates learn to efficiently use the Internet for gathering, sharing and creating digital information. The course also covers topics related to social book marking and social networking along with the tools for real time communication.

I started teaching the course with a class Yahoo group but moved it to the Ning in the middle of the semester because Yahoo group was becoming unreliable. So far Ning has worked well. There are few things I miss from Yahoo group such as a simple data base application where tabular information can be organized and I have compensated for it by using the MS Excel. Also, a quick poll/assessment set up. I have found few alternatives to compensate for that too. It is just that people have to leave Ning to use these two tools. It would have been nice if all the tools were available under the same interface.

I am practicing what I call "Open Professor" model. That is that the class is open to any interested visitors/guests. They can participate in the course discussion use all the course material. Only difference between them and the students who are enrolled for credit is that they decide their own level of participation and they will not receive any performance appraisal from me unless they request for it but they will not receive any course grade.

You are all welcomed to visit the course at

http://infotechtools.ning.com


join.

regards Alam

[Steve Hargadon]

Great to have you here, and great to hear about all that you are doing! I wonder if the addition of wiki functionality in the next few weeks from Ning will solve some of your needs. Will wait and see.

Please keep us posted on how it's going!

[Gerald Ardito]

Alam,

I just signed up for your course.
I am really looking forward to participating.

Gerald

[Javed Alam]

Gerald

Thanks for signing for the course. We are starting 12th week of the semester from monday and we have about 5 more weeks to go.

Feel free to participate in the discussions. We are running the following three topics in parallel

1. Social network software Facebook, ning, Linkedin,ponwce, friendfeed
2. Digital content creation in a collaborative environment
3. Use of Social book marking tools for collaborative filtering

The course is mostly hands on with some reading material.

As I said earlier feel free to ask and visit different section of web site to get an idea.

If you are looking for some particular area that is not covered let me know. I am purposely avoiding programming and server software because this course is tailored for Engineering graduates.

[Gerald Ardito]

Thanks so much. I am looking forward to diving in.
I am curious about how the course has gone for you so far.

[Javed Alam]

I think very good. I am learning a lot myself by teaching it.

It does need lot of time. It is almost like being a 24/7 teacher.

regards

[Jane Lowe]

Hi everyone
I am a Year 4 teacher from Bull Creek in Western Australia. Bull Creek is a suburb of Perth and is about 10 kilometres south of the city centre. Our school has about 300 students from K - 7.
I started blogging with my class halfway through last year and have introduced my new class to blogging. We have also used wikipages for one collaborative project and have another that will be starting after our 2 week vacation.
My use of Nings at this point has been to connect with other teachers. Some of the Nings that I use regularly are Voices of the World and Projects by Jen.
I have not looked at using a Ning with my students yet but am happy to find out whether that would be a useful addition to my class teaching and learning. I notice in an earlier comment that they can be set up to be invitation only. I guess there is still a lot I need to learn!!

[Steve Hargadon]

Welcome, Jane! Hope you find some good ideas here.

[Bob Caro]

I spent many years as an electrical engineer in many industries. I've only been teaching for four years, and I started as a sixth-grade Math teacher. My middle school was selected to begin a seven-year engineering academy program. It starts with this year's sixth graders, and will continue through their high school years. New students will be added to the program each year, as they enter the sixth grade.

My students are sixth graders, and I am teaching them an introduction to technology and a sort of pe-pre-engineering. The course itself is called Gateway to Technology, and is a middle school engineering course developed by the Project Lead the Way organization. It was designed as an elective for Gifted/Talented eighth graders, with 90 minute class periods. Since my students are General Population sixth graders and our classes are 48 minutes, I have had to adapt the course a little here and there. My classroom is a new one, with 24 student computers, just installed last summer. I've got a lot of flexibility and control over the curriculum itself.

The same students will be taking a seventh-grade version of the course next year, in another new classroom of new computers. I would really like to implement some Web 2.0 applications into their curriculum, and get the students collaborating on projects, and creating their own content.

[Gerald Ardito]

I am also new to teaching. I am currently completing my third year as a middle school science teacher.
I have been using Web 2.0 tools with my 7th and 8th graders. If I can be of any help, please let me know.

[Steve Hargadon]

Welcome, Bob. I see you're on Classroom 2.0 as well. Hope we can help.

[Todd Finley]

I'm using Ning for a job search committee and want to form a Ning group of all English Education Majors at East Carolina University.