Review by Polly Conway, Common Sense Education | Updated November 2013

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Ning.com

Name: Ning.com
Item: Ning.com
Rating: 3
Author: Polly Conway

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Customizable social networking tool has classroom potential

Subjects & skills

Grades This grade range is a recommendation by Common Sense Education and not the developer/publisher.

9–12

Great for:

Social Media

Common Sense says (See details)

Teachers say (1 Review)

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Teachers could choose features that pertain best to their classes.

You can invite members with a private link or through other social networks.

Pros: Ning makes it as simple as possible to create a fully-functional, slick and customized social network.

Cons: As the service isn't set up specifically for educational use, there could be privacy and safety concerns.

Bottom Line: A simple, streamlined way to create your own social network for use in the classroom and beyond.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Creating a social network for a classroom could be a great way to open new doors of communication while also reinforcing the tenets of positive digital citizenship. Kids are used to the format, so a network like this could potentially be very useful, as long as kids are kept on track; undoubtedly, this will involve some teacher moderation.

Assignments could include blog posts, with a graded component for writing comments. Alternately, students could contribute photos for science or humanities-based curricula. As not all kids have the same access at home, you may want to devote some class time to keeping the network active.

What Is It?

Ning is a website that allows anyone to create and grow a personalized social network. Users sign up with an email, password, and enter a credit card number for a 2-week free trial (various packages can be purchased at the end of the trial). All networks are given a name, which becomes part of a custom URL.

Depending on the needs at hand, there are a lot of features that can be added to a network. Forums could be used to field questions or foster a discussion; a blog could feature content, or teachers could send out a newsletter anytime. Privacy controls are available to make networks public or private, and more than one administrator can moderate a network. Design-wise, Ning uses a drag-and-drop interface that makes design easy; those who want to get fancy can also add Javascript or CSS to the pre-built pages.

Is It Good for Learning?

Teachers may find that Ning gives them lots of freedom while still keeping the platform simple. It's very easy to make a Ning site look snazzy, which could be a way to help engage students. While likely not an undertaking for for every teacher, with some work and organization, a Ning network would be an interesting experiment in creating social networks for your classes. With the option to create groups and subgroups within a network, there's an opportunity for some solid communication between everyone in your classroom community.

However, you'll want to be sure to talk to your students (and their parents) about appropriate online behavior and positive digital citizenship; keep a close eye on all student-posted information. With some help, kids can learn how to communicate their ideas online, and get involved in healthy debates on classroom subjects. It can also be a great way for students to pose questions, either for you or the rest of the class.

Rating Details

Overall Rating

Engagement Is the product stimulating, entertaining, and engrossing? Will kids want to return?

Design is modern and highly customizable; kids should find the network engaging. Depending on the setup, they'll also find it fun to communicate with other students in an online forum.

Pedagogy Is learning content seamlessly baked-in, and do kids build conceptual understanding? Is the product adaptable and empowering? Will skills transfer?

Whether communicating with each other, or to designing their own network, kids can learn skills that transfer easily to future endeavors.

Support Does the product take into account learners of varying abilities, skill levels, and learning styles? Does it address both struggling and advanced students?

There's a 6-minute intro video as well as a live chat option for those who need help. Plus, a detailed FAQ answers any questions you might have.

Common Sense Reviewer

Polly Conway Classroom teacher

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Featured review by
Szymon M. , Classroom teacher

Classroom teacher

Grand Valley State University
Allendale, United States

A private social network

Ning is a nitch product, which is aiming at private collaboration. While the teacher, or creator of the Ning site, has to pay a monthly fee (starting at $25), the participation of the students is free. This allows for protecting the privacy of the content and the privacy of the students. To some teachers this may be worth the $300 annual fee, especially if they do not have a school provided Learning Management System. Most LMS vendors today support similar features to Ning. I also found that closing the Ning account is not straight forward. There is no way to close the account online. I submitted a help desk ticket as instructor, which generated a response, that I need to email the help desk from the email listed on the Ning account. Once I did this I received no further confirmation. To open the account I was asked to establish a Paypal subscription. I was not able to cancel it through Paypal. The account didn't get closed until I called the phone number at Ning customer service.

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