Comments on: Alternatives To Ning?

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 20:22:40 +0000

i heard about ning shutting down their free accounts.. i saw on webs.com that they offer the same things as ning, and have even more cool options.. i have a webs.com account- theyve been around for awhile now, and you can build a free social network website in a few minutes..

it’s definitely worth checking out:
http://www.webs.com

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 20:35:54 +0000

Hi Larry – you might also consider IGLOO Software for your free social network. It will address all of your criteria and more. And if you check out the success stories page, i’m sure you’ll be happy to see other educational institutions have used the platform…from projects as diverse as the Global Youth Forum to PolicyNet (a global academic network spearheaded by Princeton).

When you sign up for a free community, you can start from scratch or choose from a selection of preconfigured templates. One of which is an eLearning community which comes preset with areas for course materials, lesson plans, online discussions and resources.

Each community is a 100% secure, branded solution that comes complete with document management and collaboration capabilities (wikis, blogs, forums, instant messaging & other Web 2.0 functionality). Check it out & let me know what you think.

By: Qlubb

Qlubb — Fri, 09 May 2008 10:41:27 +0000

We, here at Qlubb, really are trying to build a simple collaboration tool for classroom and real-world groups. As busy, multi-tasking parrents, we found that we just don’t have the time and patience to learn or register for yet ANOTHER system. And yet, we really believe in the importance of parent participation in a classroom.

So thus, the birth of Qlubb – an easy, intuitive way for real-world groups (e.g., playgroups, classroom parents) to come together to coordinate activities and communicate.

Thanks for including us in your list.

By: EFL Geek

EFL Geek — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:28:48 +0000

vox.com is pretty good

By: LyndaK

LyndaK — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 22:32:34 +0000

Hi Larry, it’s a shame you can’t use ning. Is there not a way to get it unblocked? I’m using it for a museum social networking group as an alternative to Facebook and it’s proving to be fantastic. I was even able to upload a podcast I did of visitors’ responses to our new Dinosaurs exhibition. Facebook may even be an option but most people who have joined my ning did so because they didn’t like the very “public” nature of FB. I used to also use a wiki but found that a bit frustrating and hard to use. I guess, as others have stated above it’s a matter of working out what you really need.

By: Cedric

Cedric — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:51:10 +0000

Hi Larry,
thanks a lot for mentioning webjam.com
If you have any question about it feel free to contact us.
Cheers,
Cédric

By: Lilian

Lilian — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 06:18:33 +0000

We actually use Qlubb for our parent group – and though it doesn’t have some of the features you mentioned above (such as embedded videos, slideshow), it was a perfect fit for our classroom since we have a lot of events and, as a result, need substantial parent involvement.
I think, as with all solutions, it depends on the organization’s individual needs. For us, the online sign-up sheet and reminders were critical; while photo/video sharing was not.

By: Larry Ferlazzo

Larry Ferlazzo — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:09:22 +0000

James,

That would be great! I’ll talk to the other teachers and get back to you.

Larry

By: James

James — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 23:07:17 +0000

Heya Larry,

What would be great would be a list of core features that you require from the site… perhaps we might be able to further develop some of them at Edublogs!