Social Studies- Ning


 

 

 

 

 

 

Make “Ning” your            new thing! 

 

~Find out how to incorporate the latest in social networking into your classroom~

 

What is Ning?

            Ning is a social-network based program that allows users to:

 

* Create unique member profiles

* Invite and share information with other members (or classmates)

* Track recent updates and activities

* Upload photos and videos

* Communicate through chat

* Discuss ideas through a discussion forum

* Share blogs  

* Organize events or assignments

 

 

For additional details on all of Ning’s features, check this out:

 

                http://about.ning.com/product/

 

How does Ning work?

 

     Set up a personal classroom network through Ning in just a few easy steps!

 

* Register your own Ning account through:

 

                                  

         https://www.ning.com/main/signup

 

 

* Choose a package that provides the features to best meet your purpose/objective (educational “Ning Mini’s” are provided FREE for educators! More details below)

* Customize the appearance of your site

* Invite classroom members to join

* Set class site guidelines

* Manage your community site by posing discussion questions, updating assignment info, and uploading cool videos and pictures!

* Build a community of learners who are inspired and engaged

 

View this informative tutorial to help get you on your way to setting up a new page: http://help.ning.com/cgi-bin/ning.cfg/php/enduser/workshop.php?p_sid=JnyWvpdk

 

http://techcrunch.com/2007/02/27/ning-demo-video/

Like I said above, Ning sponsors a free Mini Ning subscription for all qualified educators and programs. Teachers, you know you love that free stuff!

 

All you have to do is check out this link for registration details: http://about.ning.com/pearsonsponsorship/

 

Connecting with Ning to promote a community of Social Studies Learners:

 

Teachers around the World are taking advantage of this easy and exciting way to engage learners in the classroom with Ning. Specifically, let’s take a look into how Ning can provide educators with a tool that grabs hold of students to offer a learning opportunity that goes above and beyond! Teachers may build a classroom network page centered around a specific Social Studies unit such as Colorado History, Government, Environmental issues, Geography, cultural diversity, and so much more!

 

Once a topic has been decided, teachers may build a site that caters to students understanding of the given topic by providing an accessible, innovative way for students to communicate about what’s happening in the classroom, ideas that they have developed, and respond to teacher/student guided questions. Students may share their ideas through:

 

                                  

 

 

                                                                                        

        Images             

 

 

Ideas for how to integrate Ning into your Social Studies teaching!

Here is an article written by a teacher that discusses a history unit that integrates Ning:

 

"A big part of one of the history lessons was the Age of Enlightenment. When just reading the history text I thought that the concept might be a bit complex for introductory students and would benefit from having additional information. Therefore, I created the Ning page and tailored it specifically to the narrow topic of Enlightenment. As you can see, I capture attention with a very short welcome and rotating photos (all taken from Flickr). I then stuck videos and forums underneath. In doing so, I feel that I put the biggest "attention grabber" first and then followed with the most important pieces of the site. Along the sides, people can see upcoming events, view profiles for other members, and join groupsAnother way for students to engage in the learning process, is to explore other network’s pages on various topics of interest. Students may be learning about the Civil War, for example, so they can access hundreds of other network pages related to their subject. This allows for a vast amount of exposure to various types of content (i.e. videos, blogs, images, etc." Check out the entire article at: http://www.personal.psu.edu/elc134/blogs/cramer/2009/12/using-ning-in-the-classroom.html

 

Below are some examples of real network pages built by individuals who are passionate about their cause. These pages can easily be integrated into several areas of Social Studies throughout the elementary grades       

 

 

                                             

"We have an educational Ning Network for our American History course. Students sign in as a particular leader of the time (George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson) and discuss the constitution "in character." My network has links to a high school-friendly version of the Constitution with notes, and students can quote directly from it to debate points! I love the interactivity and ease of use."

 

http://education.ning.com/forum/topics/lesson-plans-that-incorporate?xg_source=activity 

 

 

This Ning site provides learners with an amazing source for Geography learning opportunities

http://fungeography.ning.com/?xp_search=geography&xp_search_page=2&xp_search_pos=3

 

 

 

Here is a Ning webpage built by a community of educators: 

                         

 

http://www.classroom20.com/