I liked the concept of the Ning. It is great to use the idea of social networking in a common interest area to spark conversation and collaboration in interest areas. I went to the Education Ning and the page is plain and uninviting. The site is cluttered and busy. The user doesn't know where to start. It looks way to much like a busy website, there were so many links and text on the page that I didn't spend much time at all on the site. I don't know that I would visit daily, even if there is valuable information there.
The Ning for Teachers was much more visually appealing. There were still links and lots of text, but it was organized much better. I would possibly visit this Ning.
The key, I guess, for this type of site would have to be making it fun and valuable so that people keep coming back. This could be a great avenue for teachers to collaborate on ideas for their classrooms and connect them with teachers they would never have come in contact with.
Yes, it could serve as a great place for professional learning communities but ning is going to paid subscriptions.
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