Moodle vs Ning

A question was asked earlier this week by a staff member here at Unitec.

Why use Ning over Moodle? Is there an expectation on the staff to use Ning with the students as well

The context:

We are trying to implement a strategy and it will be done through a community of practice approach.

Response to the question:

There is no expectation for staff to use Ning or similar platforms with their students however we have found staff using LMS (Blackboard/Moodle and others) take a blended approach (Moodle and Ning) this allows a for a formal space for core course content, showcasing, and assessment on Moodle and Ning allows for development, group work, sharing and co-construction (informal space).

Why we chose Ning on this occasion:

The whole notion behind a Community of Practice is equality, shared, flexibility, respect, collaboration, communication, co-construction ......... keeping this in mind Ning was chosen over Moodle. Moodle is more hierarchical and this is not in keeping with the notion of community of practice.

The current Ning site (unitec-ccs.ning.com) will feature a blended approach (with Moodle) as we move into the workshops early next year.