There has been one positive step forward for me from recent training I've given on elearning - I can now see the application of social networking for literacy or numeracy learners. A colleague tipped me off about Ning, which is a service which allows you to set up online social networks. A participant at one of the sessions thought that social networking was the Web 2.0 tool for her Entry Level learners, because many used or were interested in MySpace, but she was anxious about the open nature of most networks.
Ning was right for her because you set up a private network for free and enrol your learners on it. They can then link with each other, post photographs, make comments and blog posts. The Ning site can act as the social centre of your course or group and you can introduce as much educational content as you wish. I can easily see the application of this with younger FE learners.
Anyone interested can check out Classroom 2.0, which is a network for educators running on Ning, mainly from the schools sector in the US inevitably. It does show the power of the platform, and you can learn a lot about the practical applications of Web 2.0 if you follow the links and discussions.
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Yep, I'm still a big ning fan Chris! I can't see anything wrong with it, particularly as an extension to moodle, providing some ownership (homepage) promoting multimedia (free and easy movie, audio and image uploads) and social networking/discussion in a managed environment. It's a winner!
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