Using Ning to Keep in Touch

Posted on September 15, 2008
Filed under China Trip, Social Networking, ning and tagged china, Collaboration, gariwerd, networking, ning

To keep parents informed of what we are doing while here in Nanjing, I set up the Gariwerd Program ning site. Originally we used it before we left as a place where the kids could get to know each other (they are from 5 different schools) and to ask questions of the staff. The ning was set to private at that stage as it was not being used to share anything other than information that was relevant only to those kids that were preparing for the trip.

Now, though, we are in China and have plenty to share and so I have made the ning public. I made sure there were no surnames used and the kids haven’t listed what schools they are from. I’ve uploaded many videos from our first week here in China to the videos page of the ning. Parents have been watching them and one or two have made comments. We’ve even had a mum and a grandma join the ning to follow the kids along their journey.

Each day here at school we have a access to a computer room. Now that we are settling in to more of a routine after a furious few days of rushing around and getting very tired, the kids will be blogging on the ning site as well. There were a few reasons I didn’t set the kids up with their own individual blogs external to the ning -

parents and other classes would then have to go to several different sites to see what different kids were up to – blogging on the ning site keeps it all in one place
I wasn’t sure what blogging sites were going to be blocked in China and I new that nings weren’t blocked
I wanted to have a place where the kids could connect and read each others blog posts easily. The ning will make a great and easy to access resource for other classes and for the kids while they are here and after they have returned home
It is more collaborative than single blogs, and I really wanted to make sure all the kids voices were heard – and seen!

I know the parents have appreciated being able to see what the kids are doing and once we get them blogging regularly, they will enjoy what the kids are writing too. 6 weeks is a long time to be away, and China is a long way away, so anything that keeps us in touch with home is a good thing – with bonus audio and visual elements!

So, please check out our ning. Follow us on our journey here in China. Check out our videos and see and hear what we are up to. It’s such a pity that video does not pick up smells and we can’t add them to the ning! Well, maybe it’s not…