Ning sounds like a great idea. The security and control the application offers sound perfect for the educational environment. I would dive right into setting one up for my class except for two things--no, three things:
1. Our district doesn't allow the use of social networks.
2. Even if they did, at my level (elementary,) students don't have individual log-ins so they couldn't register and participate from within the school network(I don't know if the district settings would allow a student to log in to another site like yahoo and from there log in to Ning, or even if that would be desirable).
3. Many of my students don't have internet access at home so the benefit of Ning would be limited.
As an individual, I can see some uses for a Ning personal network. I can see it being a good way for far-flung families to build an online meeting place. As an educator, I don't know why it would be particularly better than the blogs sites that are already out there. Except that it apparently is really easy for non-experts like myself to set it up.
I joined the Texas School Library Ning and was disappointed to see a bunch of blog posts that were essentially advertisements for products or other blogs.
So, while Ning seems ideal for a classroom/parent network, that is precisely what I can't use it for. And while I can use it for other purposes, it is not as compelling an option.
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