Social Networks

Warm Fuzzies to Hart-Ransom Charter School's Ning Network to help relieve stress and make learning fun!


After a fairly unsuccessful attempt at social networking with our school on Facebook in addition to concerns about online safety and privacy, I have decided to create a custom private social site with Ning. I began by looking at the top 3 that are frequently recommended: Edmoto, ShoutEm and Ning.


I liked the fact that Edmodo is designed with education in mind-a way for students and teachers to connect. It is free for educators and has many wonderful ways of organizing and communicating. In our particular situation (homeschool) I work with families as a whole. I do not have a class of 30 students in 1 subject, therefore do not need much of what this site offers, such as posting of assignments and groups. I needed a place where Advisory Teachers, students and parents can intermingle.

I tried ShoutEm. Right away I was intrigued as it is available on the iphone. It appeared fun to personalize, decorate and share. However, for this "digital immigrant" I found it extremely difficult to manage. Did I want Flicker uploads? I had to read a complex page on how to do that. I could not even figure out how to get people signed up. I quickly decided it was not worth the effort.

Finally, I looked at Ning. Based in Palo Alto it seemed to be designed just for me. All the required set up steps were very intuitive. I began with the free 30 day trial, and as an educator will be able to get it for free with Pearson as a sponsor. I set it up currently as an open, public site so this EDIM class can access it without having to be "accepted", but will switch over to private next month. I will only allow current families at our school to have access to keep it a safe site. Ning offers a place to post, share and comment on photos, videos, and blogs. Each member can personalize their profile. There are forums where our families can interact, get tips from those "in the trenches", encourage and help one another. This is something our parents have been requesting for quite some time.

The assignment I gave our students will fit grades K-8. Each year they are required to demonstrate that they have covered the state standards in the Visual and Performing Arts category. Many are confused about what type of sample that would be. I chose 4th grade to be the sample grade for demonstration purposes.

Each student will be required to go to our Ning network and read my blog "Visual and Performing Arts Sample." I put a link to a chart I made in the assignment which will clarify what that category encompasses. My blog gives a brief description of what they are to do.

The goal is to show mastery of one standard in the appropriate grade level "arts" category. It will be shared on the Ning network. They will comment on a classmate's work which will actually fulfill the state standard "Analyze Art Elements and Principles of Design
1.5 Describe and analyze the elements of art".

The objectives are to:

1) Show families what that category encompasses and provide some ideas or an assignment
Example: Visual Arts category includes photos, paintings, mobiles, etc.
How does color affect mood?
2) Do one of the suggested activities (or one similar) from the chart
Example: Do a dance, paint a picture. My sample posted on Ning was a photo collage.
3) Share their own project in Ning -
Example: post a video of a dance or a photo of what you made. Write a blog to describe the difference between jazz and rock music.
4) Critically assess other art. Make a comment on someone else's art sample, keeping it positive
Example: "I like how you used pastel colors to show calm and brights to show excitement."
5) *The most important objective will be for students to begin utilizing this site and learn how to utilize social networking to their advantage. The majority do not currently use any site and will need to know for their future success. Ning is easy to use and by requiring an assessment of others' art they will become more proficient.

In our November HRCS School Newsletter, I will give the suggested assignment. I will provide them with the Ning network private link code for them to become members. It will tell them to look at my blog in Ning for the assignment and look at my sample photo in Ning for an example.

Evaluation will be based less on the quality of the work completed in the "Arts" than their sharing their work with others and commenting and evaluating on art.

Only through a safe social network am I free to encourage my families to interact and share. Students will be motivated to do an assignment when they can show others. I began with the arts as that is the easiest and most similar to what some are already using to share online. Eventually we may ask our 8th grade students to make a GlogsterEdu poster to show they understand the activities leading up to the Civil War (posting the link on Ning) or our 1st graders to contribute to an ongoing story (in a blog) using 5 of their own spelling words. My hope is that parents begin to use the site to network with other parents at our school to build one another up and students will be encouraged to create and demonstrate mastery of a concept in a different format. No doubt students will encourage more use as they will be eager to share. I can't wait to get started!