Loose Lips
I am hearing the song “Loose Lips” by Kimya Dawson.
Ok… I’m taking it back about Ning. I got my issue of “Learning and Leading with Technology” yesterday in the mail. To my surprise, there was a little advertisement for “Network on NECC Ning” on page 7. Apparently there is a social network specifically set up to allow networking for people who attended the NECC called “NECC 2008, The Community Network“.
I wasn’t able to go this year, but I do value the opportunity to network with those folks that were there. I checked out the groups. I looked at some of the posts. The topics were relevant to my instructional technology planning life. So, I signed myself up.
The signup process was really quick. Once you are in, it is easy to post discussions, blog, add images and video. I haven’t tried creating groups yet. But, I started thinking… Why was I so ready to sign up for this and not the Ning in Education site? I suspect it is because the NECC 2008 network is more focused. Yes, it is a network of educators, but it is a network of educators with a particular focus. Perhaps this is telling of “satellite” social networks:
I have my own social, social network. This is the main one where I communicate with my friends and family. Other non-social, social networks need to be more focused on things that are directly related to what I need (although not too focused). My hypothesis is that there is a certain level of specific-ness and general-ness needs to be present to be desirable and viable. The ultimate question is, what is that ultimate level?
Another thought that I have is: can I make a Ning site for my school? How complicated would that be? I don’t have to host it… How does it compare to Moodle? Can we develop apps for it? Ok, I will admit it. I’m a little more interested in it now that I have seen the NECC 2008 site.
