Since May 2007, I've been teaching week-long social media and online community immersion programs for Edelman's mid-level consultants, in addition to shorter form seminars for clients.
As various classes worked together in developing a final project, they've sometimes selected social-network-creator Ning as the platform to try out ideas. It's flexible and has most of all the right moving parts:
- Social networking
- Groups
- Forums
- Blogs
- Video/Music
- Network Updates
- RSS (mostly)
In Fall 2008, I'll be teaching an undergrad class at a local college. (More news on that front as it develops.) I plan on using Ning there as well.
Ning allows you to have a completely open network, or a private one. In terms of what I'd select for my undergrad students, I keep vacillating between the two.
In terms of remaining open:
- Certainly provides a real-world experience, and you won't be too happy in PR these days unless you can handle some level of exposure.
- Though I did pretty darn well in my undergrad studies, I'm not entirely sure I'd have wanted my instructor requiring that my academic progression be spilled out there for all to see.
Just putting it out there to explore the pros and cons.
Save on Del.icio.us
Digg this
Google Bookmarks
My Yahoo
Facebook
Subscribe
Posts
Comments (4)
Back in the day of the "one-room university" I would not have wanted my homework from the McGuffy Reader out in the open.
But I would have loved an easier way to demonstrate my expertise entering the job market. And I would love to look back now without having to sift through a crate of memories I lugged around for, ahem, a few years.
So I think the academics are onto something. But I like that Ning offers your classes privacy. It would seem to address the reticence people have to experiment while Google is watching. Newbies seem to want to try social media out without making a mistake.
Posted by Kevin Dugan | March 25, 2008 6:23 AM
Posted on March 25, 2008 06:23
Hey, Kevin,
Thanks for stopping by... As I continue to explore Ning's possibilities, one thing I've been considering is that there are two levels of "public" network on the service:
1) Everything open to everybody.
2) Only the first page is open to visitors.
Seems to strike an interesting balance.
Posted by Phil Gomes | March 25, 2008 3:19 PM
Posted on March 25, 2008 15:19
I helped teach a graduate class last year, and there was tremendous resistance to using blogs within that group. It ran the gamut from privacy concerns to running afoul of corporate policies where students were employed.
While you may not have the same demographics in an undergraduate class, you should ask your students. We tried very hard to expose them to available content creation and social networking tools while respecting their preferences.
I think people are getting much savvier about their on-line exposure. However, if your students don't ask about privacy options, then it may be a teachable moment for you.
Posted by Tammy Green | March 25, 2008 4:14 PM
Posted on March 25, 2008 16:14
Ning is good. If you can put it into your blog or start a group up. However if you already have an RSS for your website, its just another pain your users have to deal with.
Plus that goes along with, if you start a Ning community for your website you have to find a way to get your viewers to go over there. And it is hard enough for me to get them change an RSS feed.
I'm not hating on Ning it is awesome..I just haven't found the "niche" to bring my website and Ning. Although I have seen good websites use it. I think "ask ninja" and "Epic Fu" used it when it first came out, then switched over to get their own community software.
I'm glad to see the graduate class and undergrad college and universities are starting to realize the importance of some of the epic changes that are being made over the internet.
What do your students think of it?
Posted by Nick Schmidt | March 26, 2008 1:06 AM
Posted on March 26, 2008 01:06