Ning, Ning

I'm excited about Kathryn Koontz' Ning project about which I read in the Teaching with Technology discussion on Jim Burke's English Companion Ning. Koontz's 6th graders are studying the government and becoming historical figures George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and the like on the Ning. Students are developing their own historical voices. I wonder what kind of computer access Koontz has? Koontz' observation about the engaging power of teaching with technology sticks with me:

The best part of this project is that it has dissolved the kind of competitive learning that can happen in schools. Let me clarify, rather the subtle form of Social Darwinism that happens in education: the fit, the ones that know how to play the school game, succeed, and the rest, well, they often become the fodder for faculty room talk or worse. This was truly a project where everyone could shine. I also saw the spirit of community rise in our classroom. Tech savvy kids helped others who had less computer experience; better writers were willing to work with beginning writers, helping them craft clearer biographies; and most of all, these kids were having fun learning. A classroom of diverse learners truly became "We, the People."

I don't want my students become faculty room fodder. I can't Ning in my own district. Can you?