Social networking group is a kind of social software that people and share and exchanges ideas on specific interest or professionals. Ning is a good example of this.
Ning allows people to create their own free social networking site around any topics, complete with personal profiles, photos, videos, links, groups discussions, blogs and so on. Besides, a Ning site is totally contained. All the posting and sharing happens under the same roof. And the creator can decided who the participants are.
I think it is a great environment for both educators and learners. For learners, Ning provides them an opportunity to test out their writing skills in a communicative way by comments and interaction in between. Also, it can be a great place for students to present their works which could be a learning collection and resources on the Web. Take St. Joe H20 for example, it’s a Ning set by Sean Nash for his Marine Biology students. He not only built various conversations on the related subjects but also he invites experts to have dialogue with students, which activates the learning. According to Sean, the site becomes a living community and connects former and future students as well as a growing list of experts in the field. Therefore, the site enlarges the domain of learning. Also, by sharing pictures and video clips with peers and commenting and reflecting, the site forms a learning community that students believe they are belong to. Seam further addressed “Now my students never really “leave” our program; they are all just a click away from future interactions in a way that moves us together forward as a learning community” which impresses me a lot. I think the Ning not only enables students to learn deeper and wider, it also inspire students’ interest in learning, which is hard to achieve by a one-way communication between textbook, teacher and students.
For educators, Ning is equally useful because teaching resources are widely spread and easily attained; among them EFL CLASSROOM 2.0 is my favorite. There are forums that people discuss topics related to English teaching. People share all kind of teaching strategies and activities. People also share worksheets and ppt, which is so helpful. People also ask questions related to English learning and teaching and other members would reply. I feel excited to see this website because it’s so great to share and learn from English teachers from all over the world.
1 comment:
You seem to have found two very useful and active Ning groups!
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