Thing # 22 - Nings

I joined the Texas School Librarian Ning and explored some of their postings. They seemed to be tallking about things I was interested in and concerned about, however, I was dismayed to find that while there was a high school group, a middle school group, and even 2 Harry Potter groups, there was no elementary school librarian group. I will have to see what I can do to rectify that situation.

I have to admit, when I first heard about nings and that they were a social networking group, I was not excited about learning about them. I don't care for sites such as my space, etc. But, I was pleaseantly surprised to find that nings were focused on a specific interest. As a result, people aren't hiding behind pseudonyms and facades to protect themselves. Instead, they are genuinely interested in networking and collaborating with each other. I am going to try and start 2 new nings, one for me professionally among educational diagnosticians, and another personally specifically for canpeong and kayaking instructors. I haven't decided yet if it will be specifically for one craft (then I would need two) or even for a specific venue (whiewater as opposed to flatwater as opposed to sea kayaking).. All I know at this point is that such collaboration could be very valuable. I am looking forward to developing a ning just for Red CRoss instructors as well.

I am going to encourage my teachers to join the Ning for Teachers, but first I have to convince the district to unblock it. INterseting that the librarian site is not blocked, but the teacher one is. They are both social networking sites!