Ning is a relatively new technology available for discussion groups, and Gifted Education 2.0 has been formed for gifted education. When I first viewed the site, I was skeptical because one needs to join before discussion threads can be accessed. I didn’t want to give out any information that might cause me to increase the spam on my email or cause me to be associated with something I would later regret. After viewing the other members’ profiles, I gained some confidence by seeing some highly recognizable names in the field of gifted education. It’s been about three weeks since I joined, and I haven’t felt any negative repercussions.

 

It’s free to join Gifted Education 2.0. Ning makes its money from ads by Google that you see along the righthand side of the page.

 

There are some very interesting discussions going on at this site, but it takes a bit of investigating and playing around to understand how it all works. Having some skills in technology also is helpful.

 

Start out by clicking on either “Forums” or “Groups” at the top of the page. Remember that almost everything you see is layered. In other words, if you click on “Forums,” then “Book Discussions,” you are only seeing the opening page of that discussion. Click on “Novels for Book Discussions” and scroll down the page. You will see extensive postings on this topic with teacher suggestions.

 

• topics where advice or feedback are requested;
• tech tools;
• science, technology, engineering, and mathematics;
• conferences and workshops;
• news items;
• creativity;
• preschoolers;
• parenting;
• elementary education;
• middle school education; and
• high school education.

Remember. This technology is in its infancy. Add your own discussion groups or reply to existing postings and watch it grow.