Ning – Where Learning Happens

I’ve been part of some networks at Ning for some time. I check it once in a while. There are just fantastic networks there in which learning happens in a blog post, a photo, a reference in a forum, a connection to someone in your area, an exchange of comments. However, I’ve never really considered the power it holds. Ning is a platform that aggregates many of the tools every educator dreamed of in the past to keep communication flowing among participants of a group. And I’m not mentioning only in terms of classroom. I mean educators as learners need to have their sharing space for professional development. So, Ning is empowering. An educator can be part of a variety of networks according to his professional and personal interests and might create a network to connect to his students, as well.In my case, I had been part of other communities, but then I dawned on me that I could create a network to keep the students of an online course I was teaching connected. It was their wish. So, as a surprise of end of term, Ning became the beginning of another stage of our interaction. Plus, I realized that it was an open learning space in which I could invite friends and even former students to be there as they shared their interest in language learning. Another great aspect was that Ning was visually appealing and had features of a social networking that my younger students just love, infinite possibilities to add photos, videos, music, whatever they feel like sharing.
Well, not to mention the fact that I requested an ad-free space. I got a first prompt reply saying that my students were adults. I told them that I had also invited teens for the space, and another quick reply: the ads had been removed! How cool is it to have a learning space with collaborative features which are just an educator’s dream plus the attention and support that every human being wish for in any service?
Thanks Ning Team! Part of my education and my learner’s success will certainly be due to your never-ending support to the educational community.
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