Ning or Wiki?

[David Truss]

Every Grade 10 in our school will be researching a Social Charity in the lower mainland (in their Planning10 class). A good presentation that suggests the greatest need will earn the charity $5,000 - here is some more information.

Not all teachers involved are comfortable with technology, but all classes have at access to computers at least twice a week. The classes are semestered for the first time this year, and so we will have two rounds of semi-finals (lots of ideas about how to do this- but wondering about the day-to-day stuff here).

This isn't so much of a showcase site as it is a 'behind the scenes communication tool', so the idea of a private Ning site does seem appealing.

I was originally planning on having groups work on a wiki, like I did with my Science Alive wiki, with each group getting their own page. But I spent all of 15 minutes today and created a Ning Network to share with the other teachers. 2 of the 3 others this term have already signed up, and we are discussing it tomorrow morning.

I have my own ideas of the +/- for Ning vs a Wiki for this kind of project... other opinions would be helpful!

Thanks,
Dave

[Todd Finley]

I love the charity idea. Great service learning idea. Ning seems better set up to create ongoing conversations. Wikis seem designed more to showcase content.

[David Truss]

I did choose Ning in the end... this discussion is from back in October. Because it was already October I just went ahead and created a private network so that I didn't have to go through parent permission and I could just launch it. As it turned out, I used if for much more than just a project communication tool.
I wrote about some experiences here:
http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/halloween-scavenger-hunt-on-ning
and also here:
http://pairadimes.davidtruss.com/and-finally-i-will-leave-you-with-...
If I were still in the classroom I would use Ning again!

[Susan]

Hi David,
I'd like to say thanks for the link to the Toskan Foundation site, an excellent example of creating an authentic learning opportunity for students while also fostering a sense of responsibility, and commitment to the community.

Thoroughly enjoyed the "I will leave you with" post on your blog!

I tend to agree with you on the Ning v Wiki question. Having just finished studying on a PD course where a wiki was the chosen tool of communication and work, I can honestly say that the experience was far from satisfying! Keeping up with the changes and the discussions going on in a wiki is not a simple feat. Another thing I noticed was that by the end of the year I still couldn't put names to faces!
Ning with a Wiki function would be excellent, ie a place for communication and learning and a place for creating shared documents and as Todd mentions, to showcase content.
There are a couple of workrounds for that ie: embedding google docs into a Ning, or simply linking to a wiki. I just managed to create a page which incorporates my ning navigation and a wiki on the same page so the wiki looks as though it is part of the Ning, and the move from one to the other seems part of the same parcel. Shame I can't link my wiki sign in to my Ning sign in.

Hopefully the guys at Ning will come up with a better solution.

[David Truss]

Ning with a wiki... brilliant idea Susan,

Hopefully someone at Ning is reading this thread.

With options like these for tabs along the top, it wouldn't be hard to add 'wiki':
Main Invite My Page Members Events Forum Gadgets Groups Notes Pages Photos Videos 'Wiki'

[Danielle Heaton]

It definitely wouldn't! I've seen other Ning sites with wikis. They can be very powerful!