So I have to admit, I’m not the most technological person around. In fact, I’m pretty thrilled that I know how to pay bills online and manage this blog. Wow! That’s a step! For this posting, I’d like to enlist some help from one of our friends; Sean Nash from Benton High School in St. Joseph, MO.
Sean has masterminded an incredible website that serves as a networking tool for the teachers in his high school. Check it out at: http://virtualsouthside.ning.com/. When I first saw the site, I started thinking about all of the untapped technologies that are out there to support coaching. And Sean has gracefully agreed to teach us a few things about how he went about this process including: how he went about setting it up, as well as what benefits and challenges he has found when using this sort of technology. Sean, take it away…
As always, anyone with other ideas, chime in as well.
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2 comments:
Wow... where to begin?
In reality like most things, the time, energy and forethought you put into the creation of a social networking site like those at Ning.com, the better things will play out once your site goes online for use.
Step number one is the easiest: go to www.ning.com and register for a free site. Pick a URL (address name) that describes your institution, project, etc. as well as you can imagine. Beyond that, everything else is changeable as you play with the site and tweak it to your needs.
Ask yourself a few crucial questions: What is my aim for using a networking site such as this? What is the mission/vision of the project? How tech-comfy are your prospective members? How will you develop your members to be savvy enough to use the site? One of the principle goals of Virtual Southside in this first year is to bring our staff into the world of digital communication on the Internet.
In my opinion, and the opinions of many good minds as well, it is simply not acceptable in 2008 for teachers to claim to be "technologically illiterate." In 2008, that equates to being fundamentally illiterate in the media of choice of the coming generations. Step #2 will be to implement this new comfort level with technology to deliver lessons in our classrooms where technology in integral and not peripheral. You owe it to yourselves to check out the latest NETS (National Educational Technology Standards) for students, teachers and even administrators. (Sorry- can’t seem to hotlink in the comments section here: http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS)
Benefits thus far:
Ning feels like Facebook in practice, but is also flavored with the content of your course if you do it right. Customization is key. If you’ve never actually used Facebook or MySpace, then you owe yourself some immersion into Internet social networking- if for no other reason than to come to understand a bit about the most popular mode of communication of our current high school students. Ning is a afe way to do this. You control nearly everything. If you don’t want your site open to the world like mine for teachers, you can make it password-protected and private. This is a benefit the younger your students. Notice how I seem to be skipping back and forth from using this tool for staff development to student development. For a look at a student site, try http://stjoeh2o.ning.com.
The bigger your school, the bigger the benefit you will see. Ning can help build community as a foundation for the collaborative needs of your school.
Everyone is a publisher on Ning. You get to decide what is most prominent on your site. Will you be delivering blogging as a new genre of connective writing? If so, your blog will take place front and center. Will you use blogging more as a reflective tool alone? In this case, the blog will likely be less formal and may even take a backseat to the discussion forum, where staff and coaches can toss questions, ideas, and inspiration back and forth in a more accessible way.
Ning is an amazing tool for marketing your initiatives, whatever they might be. You can link to virtually anything on the web, you can upload self-created content for sharing, you can showcase video, music, etc.
I am excited about what this site has become. Remember, it has only been up and running since the beginning of June, and the last three months have been the lonely summer. I am anxious to see what the new year will bring.
In reality, this post characterizes one tool that can be used for coaching. The way I see it, this is in no way a replacement for the core skills and values instilled in my (most from Diane’s inspiration to be honest) as a coach. This is a communication piece. It is a high-powered virtual apparatus that makes true “anytime learning” possible.
The challenge:
To this point, there is really only one big challenge to this approach… and that is time. I have always enjoyed working tons of hours on projects that challenge my creativity and intuition. However, this one is making me feel rewarded, yet mortal.
Even with the appropriate forethought, study and conscientious work up front, managing your own social networking site in an educational venue today takes nurturing. Even though you have set everything up correctly, an educational leader who acts as an absentee-landlord on the site will likely not inspire people to continue to contribute. Whether you try social networking as a tool within your work with teachers or students, you should always strive to provide timely, appropriate, and heartfelt feedback, much as you would in any other educational endeavor.
In the end, if your site doesn't provide a compelling service for its members, they simply won't visit. And really... can you blame them?
Please feel free to shoot comments or questions in this direction. Diane doesn’t realize it, but the simple act of inviting my participation in her blog encourages my own personal reflection in my work. We should all strive to be exactly that to one another. The web is an amazing way for all of us to be linked in a way that we can touch one another’s lives in ways that couldn’t have been imagined five or ten years ago.
Sean
This is both helpful and inspiring! Thank you Sean. I am beginning to see all kinds of possibilities to use social networking to continue those important conversations and encourage reflection. I also appreciate the nuts and bolts aspect to your post. I really feel like I could figure this stuff out now. I will keep watching your site to see how it evolves.
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