Students expand technology in the classroom

Students in Matt Barton’s English 403 class are taking technology in the classroom to new heights. 

For them, class is no longer about PowerPoint presentations or Html Web sites. 
Instead,  Barton’s students are making use of one of the fastest growing fields in technology: networking Web sites.

Ning, the Web site of choice for Barton’s class, is one of the most visited networking sites available, not far behind others such as Facebook and Twitter. 

It is centered on specific groups rather than individual profiles, unlike many of its competitors.  Because of this, many of its features are different than other networking Web sites.

“Ning is different than Facebook because it is more specific,” said Lisa Kozlowski, a senior in Barton’s course. “You can choose your area of interest and create a page like a group that specifically likes one thing.”

Kozlowski said she had created a group with the same name on a different networking Web site but it had less options than Ning

“There is no friend feature,” said Derek Spoden, a fifth year student working with Kozlowski. “Once you get into a group, you have access to the information and profiles of all other members.”

Spoden and Kozlowski are members of the team that created a Ning group focusing of Wii Fit in Barton’s class.

Each week, Barton requires updates to the pages of each group, including 300 words of blog posts, comments or forums as well as three podcasts and videos throughout the semester.

“We have a group where we write blog posts talking about the basics of the Wii Fit, the different games involved, and then we compare it to other games,”  Kozlowski said.

Jennifer Spies, a senior majoring in Rhetorical and Applied Writing, has also created a Ning page for Barton’s project.  She is in a group with four other students, and their page titled “See the World” focuses on travel.

“It is mainly aimed at college students and their travel experiences, since we have all been there,” Spies said.

“We, as a group, are trying to focus on trying to get people to travel, trying to see more of just where they are right now,” said senior Cassie Leoni, a creative writing major who works with Spies on the project.

Stephanie Graziano, a senior also with a creative writing major, is working on the travel page as well. 

She said she thinks it is a great place for travel observations, tips and questions, and she hopes that by incorporating multiple different types of media, the word will spread about Ning and their travel Web site.

Everyone asked said that Barton’s project has significantly expanded their knowledge of networking and media, and that the newly acquired skills will be great assets for the future.

“Learning these different forms of media will help us once we are out of school,” Kozlowski said. “I am planning on going into teaching. I have to keep up with these things in order to meet students’ needs.”

“This project will keep going beyond the classroom.  You can do more with it than just get a grade,” Spoden said.

“I am applying for a Social Media and Marketing internship right now so it has really helped me decide to move forward,” Spies said. “It shows us how this technology isn’t just for communicating with our friends, but how businesses can use it and how it can be used more professionally beyond basic communication.”

Other Ning-based Web sites created in Professor Barton’s class include topics such as fan fiction, the scholarship of comic books, virtual reality, free software and music in the area.