When we talked about Nings in class, I thought that it was really neat that you could create your own social network. Right after we talked about it, I decided I had to set one up and get started. So, I have set up a Ning for my school's Instrumental Music program. I have been thinking about different ways that I can use this to facilitate communication with the parents and students at my school.
Typically, at the beginning of the year, I send home an information sheet with all of my students. I collect parents' email addresses and remain in contact with them throughout the year. I create different mailing lists for my different ensembles, and it seems to work out pretty well. When I heard about Ning, I thought that this would be even better! With the Ning there are all sorts of features that you can add and remove to create exactly what you want. Here is a picture of my Ning-
You may notice that it has a similar layout to a Facebook/MySpace page. There is a section on my Ning for posting photos and videos which would come in handy for the concert. There is also a section to post a blog or comments. You can add many features; for example, a calendar! This would really help my program's organization. Students could check their Ning before bedtime or in the morning before they left for school to see if they had practice.
What I really like is the communication and how you can get information out quickly. Another wonderful feature is the ease in which I can control this. The down side is the advertisements but they go away if you are willing to pay instead of using the free site
Does anyone have a Ning? Any other ways to use it in the classroom that are not just for correspondence?
