Thing 22: Nings
Another powerful Web 2.0 tool still in its infancy that has powerful implications for the K-12 educational environment….WOW!! Easy to navigate, comprehensive in scope, incorporating all forms of media – what’s not to like. It was very easy to get “lost” in this tool with hours disappearing as you follow links, read about great classroom teaching ideas as well as current issues and practices (e.g. at what grade level are students allowed to use laptops?….interesting to read. Our district is exploring the nettop – small laptop with Internet connection for our K students).
Exploring both the Classroom 2.0 Ning as well as Ning in Education was enlightening. Both were similar in format so it was very easy to explore and no great learning curve after I had visited the first. I love the Forum part of each – talking to educators who are concerned about the same topics I am and offering great classroom teaching ideas as well as discussing current issues as well as offering help with tools that I’ve recently been introduced to, i.e. Twitter (still wrapping my head around it). I found so many ideas that experienced teachers had used to teach their students (e.g. Visual Vocabulary) – it was like attending a conference and coming back so energized and creative and that “can’t wait to get back to the classroom to try that” feeling. What a resource to have available – knowing I could visit anytime (even in my pajamas and no travelling costs for my school district) and bring that excitement to my classroom daily.
Being a media specialist – I love organization. These sites have that. Media specialists want the materials they own to be used easily and frequently by their patrons – trying to provide multiple ways to access the material. Both sites do this very effectively….allowing you to search by tool, subject and area of interest. Having Groups is also highly effective allowing me to focus on my one area of interest. Why was I not surprised that Joyce V has a ning for media specialists/librarians??? (Does she ever sleep?) Her TeacherLibrarian Ning provides quality information including current issues/topics, teaching ideas as well as thought-provoking discussions that definitely make you think!!!
I definitely can visualize nings being used for my own professional development needs as well as providing wonderful classroom resources on any topic/standard. I didn’t explore (ran out of time) any personal interests or hobbies……that’s on my “To Do” list. And that’s one of the recurring concerns I encountered – time! Every tool has potential….but I need to focus on one or two then add others after I feel like I’ve effectively integrated that tool. Everyone’s life is busy with other reponsibilities and interests and trying to balance all those with professional interests and growth can get overwhelming sometimes.
As with many of the tools we explored, utiling nings in the K-12 environment requires some guidelines for student use. This can be a slow process that involves multiple departments, sometimes the Board of Education. I feel I’m in a fairly progressive county that is good-sized and that we normally can accomplish these types of tasks effectively. But with many of the Web 2.0 tools it also requires educating individuals on their potential use and purpose (which is the approach we’ve used in our district).
I’ve liked the experience of nings – actually, we had one at the last Georgia Media Conference last October. My first impression would be utilizing them for my own professional development and learning.
