Nings in the Middle School

[Sondra]

We are just starting to experiment with Nings in some middle school classrooms. The first to try it was a 7th Grade English teacher who wisely invited only 21 of his 84 students to join the Ning. These students read a "challenging" novel, The Red Scarf Girl, and used the Ning to discuss it. The teacher is now planning to expand the Ning to include all students in his "cluster". He will assign each student to one of twelve different science fiction novels, and create groups in the Ning to discuss each book. Last year we used blogs for his Science Fiction Genre Study Groups.

The Ning idea is contagious! Now the Social Studies teacher who works with the same "cluster" of 84 students is planning a SS Ning! This cluster is unique in our school because the students are part of a 1:1 pilot program; each leases his own iBook from our school. The students take the iBooks from class to class and may take them home.

We also have a 6th grade teacher who is planning on introducing a Ning within the next few weeks. This will raise interesting issues around access, as these students do not have their own iBooks. We do have mobile carts of 14 iBooks which teachers can schedule for classroom use, and we have two computer labs.

I'm curous as to whether others are using Nings in a middle school classroom, and, if so, for what subject, grade level or project? How have the Nings been received by students and parents? Do you have a permission slip for participation that you are willing to share?

[judibea]

I would suggest having a "netiquette" tab and make certain you review "digital" citizenship with them. In Illinois there is legislation being pushed to require inviting parents to join if you are doing any "online" activity. I will try to locate the specs on that for you. But----reminders about any Internet jargon being used should require "contextural clues" to allow those with less experience in "Internet literacy to not feel alienated---- also to avoid it becoming an IM chit/chat

[Alicia Britt]

Last year I had kids create gmail accounts for this. This year my school is giving each student a gaggle account so that we can assure safety.

[Ashley Sebesan]

Hi Rita,

I have been wondering how to use blogs in the math classroom & I like the idea of posting word problems for them to solve, like you are doing. Do you have any suggestions? A concern that comes to mind is that once one student has answered the problem, there isn't a lot else to be done. I suppose that students could post other ways to solve the problem or create problems of their own. Have you discovered anything that works well for you? I'm hoping to have something up & running for the next school year & am thinking ahead.

Thanks!
~Ashley

[Charles Earl]

This is a useful discussion! My colleagues and I are developing an instructional game to teach 7th and 8th graders the skills and knowledge required to improve their diet and exercise decisions. We've decided to develop it as a social game, and would love to use Ning as a platform, but we do have concerns about COPA and privacy, given that the evaluation of the software will have to conform to NIH guidelines on protection of human subjects. I'm wondering if there are any other reflections on addressing these issues.
We are developing the software in collaboration with the LIFE project at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Charles

[Leslie Carlisle]

I am using it for 6th-8th grade science. Not all students are on yet but they like the photos and videos I post. It is an invite only network so I can control it better. I have not really had a lot of discussions going on yet but I plan to do some science article summaries online as well as link it to my wikispaces for science fair projects.

[Fran Lo]

I really like Nings, but have more than 90 students, and found the whole gmail workaround to be incredibly time-consuming to get around the email issue. Have also tried using one edublog with students commenting, but, again, setting it up was complex. Also, I have many students under 12, and I didn't want to work on one platform with them, and another platform for older students.

This year I've started working with Moodle. This gives me a closed, secure environment, with many tools - threaded discussions, blogs, wiki, etc. It was MUCH easier to set up, and I didn't need student emails or the gmail workaround. That said, it's a very complex environment and takes a lot of experimenting. I've been using http://globalclassroom.us - they provide hosting and have been very supportive.(costs me about $10 a month - I didn't want to completely go it alone). There is a huge Moodle community as well, and a number of good books that have helped me learn. Moodle doesn't provide everything I want (I can watch discussions as they unfold, but can't moderate discussion comments), and the tools provided inside are not as "cool" as standalone products (blogs, wikis). But once I got past the learning curve I have been able to concentrate on teaching and learning.

[Leslie Carlisle]

I'll have to look at the Moodle. I have heard of it but haven't used it. When I set up the Ning site I didn't realize there was an age limit. I only found out after some students couldn't get on. I am still looking for a good solution. I also don't like the ads that show up on the network. I don't have the money (24.95/mo) to get that removed. Our school uses sycamoreeducation.com for our grades, class sites etc but the logins are for parents only and it is cumbersome with documents, photos and videos.