With regard to alternatives to FB and Ning, you'll probably need to do a little work, unfortunately. However, BuddyPress (a WordPress plugin) can get you some basic social networking functionality, and I've heard good things about Elgg, though I haven't used it. That said, one of the reasons I went to FB in the first place was to go to where the students already were, and avoid having to spend a lot of time learning about new systems when that wasn't what the course was about. One of my chief complaints about Blackboard is not just that they seem to have clue zero about user experience--I use lots of clunky software--but that students spend a lot of time learning how to use a system that will be of no use to them at all when they graduate. If you are going to learn to use something that is clunky, at least let it be something that is useful to you outside of the university or my own course. All that said, I still don't have a problem with students using commercial systems when they do their work, and drawing on multiple tools--especially when they are already using those tools. In practice, it often raises teachable moments on issues of privacy and intellectual property. I just found Facebook a bit of a bridge too far, especially for students who are not already on the system, and found no good way of tailoring Facebook's privacy model to hold both coursework and personal networks. Best, Alex On Thu, Aug 12, 2010 at 9:04 PM, Wallis, Cara <cwallis@tamu.edu> wrote:
I agree that Blackboard and such are quite clunky. I can't speak to the issue of university policies, but have a related query. I used a Ning site for the last few semesters with a course I taught on culture and technology and had quite a lot of success with it (part of the course involved discussing the privacy issues that students are already dealing with in their use of social media in their own lives outside of school). Now that Ning is starting to charge hefty fees for anything other than the most basic services I'm wondering if there is anything else out there, other than FB, that people would recommend. cara
Cara Wallis Assistant Professor Department of Communication Texas A&M University 979-862-6956
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