What is a Ning??
A Ning is a website that allows you to create and control your own online social network. It is a similar concept to Facebook or MySpace except you can control who the members are, the content and the topic of the network.

So what use would this be in education?
For the students
Excellent to create a controlled collaborative environment for a class, year level or a group of students from different year levels that need to work together or even students from other schools. It would also be useful for a specific project that you might be working on for a set period of time.
For you as a teacher
Thgere are many educational Nings on different topics which you can join to share resources and ideas with educators from around the globe. Not to mention that it might be a safer environment than jumping straight into something like Facebook if you are worried about it.

Features of a Ning
A Ning has blogs, discussion boards Note, photo storage, event promotion, the ability to create groups, the ability to change the theme and the layout of the Ning

To create your own Ning click here

Some examples of Nings

ICT Development Network Ning

Classroom 2.0

Ning in Education

T-Bird Times