RSCs – Stimulating and Supporting Innovation in Learning
RSCs – Stimulating and Supporting Innovation in Learning
A social network is a website where users can interact with one another. The most popular are MySpace, facebook and bebo, though there are many others.
Users can create “Profiles”, pages which tell other users a bit about them and display photos and videos that they have taken or enjoyed. Some social networks allow people to put a great deal more depth onto their profile (for example, facebook users can add book reviews, quizzes and hundreds of other gadgets). Some networks also allow users to play games against each other.
A user can add other users to their “friends” list. This normally allows the user greater access to their profile and allows them to post messages to them, either privately or via a public message board. Users can also blog (keep an online diary) and join groups of likeminded people who are not friends as such but share ideas or interests.
Students often already use social networks to communicate, so using one to communicate in class can be a really good idea. Additionally, social networks can be formed to bring together a community of people.
Social Networks also have an important part to play in staff development. Staff can use the network to share good practice and resources as well as for general communication.
As with all web technologies, social networks have their dangers. Some networks, such as FACEBOOK, restrict users to just seeing another user’s photo, unless the other user pre-approves. Others, such as MySpace, have far more open criteria and, while privacy settings now exist, profiles are generally viewable by all.
Yes, it can do so. Another problem is the students willingness to allow a tutor into their private space. Facebook allows users to set up groups, which students can enrole in and see a common page, but they will not be able to see each others pages.
The other solution is to create your own social network. While other products are available, JISC RSC Yorkshire & Humber are aware of several instances of NING being used as a model of best practice in teaching and learning?
Like all social networks, users have a NING account. They must enter their personal details into this account, and can upload a photo or picture. Once they have this, they can join any number of Ning networks. While all NING networks are separate, they must use the sSame photo and account for all of them.
Administrators (eg Teachers) can set up a NING network which members (eg students) can join.
Once in NING, members can customise their profile page, changing colours and background designs, so that it looks good to them.
They can then do the following:
This is a public online diary. It can be used a reflective journal, a commentary on assignments or anything else.
Forums are place to discuss issues. Anyone can start a discussion, and other users post replies, either to the main discussion topic or to the replies of others users.
Groups are set up to allow members to discuss a topic of mutual interest. So, students working on the same project as other students might form groups. Groups also have their own forum.
Go to www.ning.com. You will need to register for an account. Once you have one, ensure you are signed in and click on “Create my own social network”
You will need to think of a name for your network. You will also need to think of a web address that ends .ning.com You then click on “Create My Network”.
Setting Up Your NingThe next page asks you whether you want your network to be public or private. If it is public, it becomes a social network like any other and anyone can join. If you make it private then you can have a say about who comes into it and who doesn’t. You also need to think of a tagline and put a description in. They keywords are important if it is a public network, as people will need to be able to find your NING when searching. You can also make an icon for ther group by uploading a picture or photo. When you’re done, click on NEXT.
On the next page you can decide what components you want you NING users to be able to access. Drag the features onto the page where you want them to be. Some, like the music upload, can only be in one place. Others, like RSS feeds and text boxes, can be in several places. This is what they all do:
Then, click NEXT. The next stage is to pick the theme for your network and upload a log if needed. If you’re an advanced user, you may want to edit the CSS Stylesheets directly later.
Pick a theme and add logs as required. Click NEXT.
When a new user joins your network, they are automatically asked a series of questions. Here, you can choose those questions. You can also choose whether they are shared on the profile page (private if not) and whether they have to answer or not. There are differing types of questions too, like multiple choice, one line answers or longer. Complete and click NEXT.
Now you are ready to launch. Just lick the LAUNCH button.
Welcome to your new NING site. Now you can start customising your page and inviting people.
If you want to change things later, simply log into your NING network and click the “MANAGE” tab at the far right of the menu. Here you can change the settings of your NING and approve or bar members.
You can also moderate forums by going into the forum, where you will be given options to remove members or their comments.
If you don’t want adverts appearing, scroll down after selecting the Manage tab and click “Add Premium Services”. You will be charged for this, but you can select to have adverts removed, your own URL (so www.kevnet.com rather than www.kevnet.ning.com) and various other chargeable services.
The rest is up to you…
