Leading Learning Conference :: Forum

If you're interested in the power of Facebook, but wary of the negative press that it appears to attract, I can recommend NING as an entry-point for 'creating your own social network'.  The network can be open and public or private and by invitation only. Initial browsing suggests that a number of US EDUs are using it for Alumni networks.

The free version has Google Ads, but for a monthly fee you can place your own or drop all ads.

Of course, I've been very impressed with the networking aspects of Commun-IT. I'm off to check what's under the hood. 

Background info can be found in the cover story of this month's Fast Company magazine...

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/125/nings-infinite-ambition.html

Commun-IT is based on Elgg, an open source php application framework for social network sites (disclaimer - I contribute code to the Elgg project, so I am a bit biased towards it :-)

One of the things that drew me to Elgg was its education focus. Dave and Ben (the UK based team that started Elgg as part of a PHD thesis on e-portfolios) have always been supportive of it as an education platform.

Wired Article on Social Networks in School , including Elgg

There was a great article recently in Leading and Learning Magazine (the ISTE quarterly) on how a California district is using Elgg with teachers and students...

http://www.commun-it.org/community/timh/weblog/912.html