Brian+Healy

=My challenge:= My "Big Idea" is to enhance communication, engagement and discussion among students related to class topics. I also hope to extend the learning environment to students interested in further investigating business topics explored in the classroom. I have established a Ning to meet these goals. Students were availed the opportunity to view a video and read recent business articles from news sources. Through use of discussion threads (discussion forum) and blogs, comments could be posted regarding their experiences with the resources and in response to my guiding questions related to the materials.

= = =Description of the challenge and link:= Please click the link below to visit my Ning for HHS Business. Use the e-mail address **healz71@hotmail.com** and the password **guest** to sign-in. http://hhsbusiness.ning.com/main/authorization/signIn?target=http%3A%2F%2Fhhsbusiness.ning.com%2F You may visit the discussion forums, blogs, etc. to view the postings and to access the materials that have been added to the ning so far. Enjoy!

= = =Personal reflection on the process of developing the challenge, learning and implementing the new technology:= I think the possibility of raising the overall quality level of academic discussion is viable using technology tools (Web 2.0 tools) such as Ning. Some students are better equipped to make quality contributions to academic discussions after they have had appropriate processing time to digest resources and other comments. Also, having the ability to make comments from outside of the classroom environment is sometimes desirable for students that are uncomfortable speaking up in the classroom. As a whole, the entire learning community for the class or Ning group can reap the benefits of the additional participants and the higher quality of the discussion points that are made using this valuable tool.

My difficulty in offering the Ning group was not in the setup and presentation of the material. I actually found it to be relatively easy to use due to my previous experience using Blackboard.com (as a student and as a teacher) and facebook.com. What was challenging, was motivating students to join the Ning group I set up and then getting them to actually use it. When I required students to join the group and make postings, they did only the minimum requested in most cases. I found students to be open and in some cases, intrigued by the idea of using a Ning as part of our class. However, it would be easier to establish this as a regular tool to use early in a semester or term course instead of trying to integrate it two-thirds of the way through the course. = = =Impact on student learning:= While my results would not seem convincing that this particular "experiment" in use of Web 2.0 tools has significantly impacted student learning, I am sure this would be a valuable tool in future.