Tool Review
Elgg is a great open source social networking platform. I think of Elgg as a social shell. Within that shell you can house content and social interactions. Now, if you’re into learning and technologies this brief description should start your wheels turning .
What would you do with such a tool?
Features …
*Blogs
Every member can have their own blog housed within the site. Privacy settings for individual blog posts can be changed by the blog owner. For example some postings can be kept private or accessible only to friends. Other posts can be open to everyone on the site.
*Social Bookmarking
Bookmarking allows site members to bring outside resources to the attention of group members. Bookmarking supports tagging of articles found. (This feature does not integrated with Diigo or Delicious, but the bookmarking feature does create a site – or, course – resource that is learner generated).
*Groups
Within an Elgg site the Administrator can create all the groups (greater control over the site), or the Administrator can enable group members to form their own groups (thus passing a measure of control to members). Or, (the possibilities!) an Administrator can start with control of group formation and as time progresses (…community and learning occur) the Administrator can pass off control allowing others members to form groups.
*Discussion Capablities
The discussions are not threaded, rather discussion posts appear one after another (similar to a twitter stream). Discussion capabilities can be added to every page.
*Document Sharing
Within each group documents can be shared. Both Word and PDF formats are supported.
*Wikis
Similar to documents, each group within the Elgg shell has the ability to form wiki pages. This enables group members to actively creating content. Access to each wiki can be limited by the group owner or wiki creator. Members can be allowed read only access, or read /write access to wiki pages.
*Individual Profiles
One has to have this feature to be considered a social site. But, worthy of mentioning, every member has an individual Profile that can be personalized. The degree of personalization permitted site members is up to the site Administrator to set.
My two cents….
As a user the Elgg site interface is, in my opinion, better than Ning because the interface is less cluttered. There is also more you can bring into an Elgg shell, like bookmarking. This makes it a social space that can be used more effectively for learning. Elgg has enough flexibility to be considered as an alternative to a Moodle. Though there are other feature trade offs to consider in making this comparisons, such as tracking (always depends on the specifics of the situation). As an Administrator, the Elgg site is similar to WordPress with plug ins and limited theme customization available. However, I myself did not find it quite as easy to implement as WordPress. The Elgg community is a helpful place to go. The company is planning to offer a turn-key version soon. I would imagine this option will be a popular for those not wishing to delve too much into the technical. It would be nice if there were an educational pricing structure.
Jane Hart has started an Elgg consultancy business. If you are looking for safe learning environment, or a live Elgg site to check out, her SoLearn (as in Social Learning) site is a great place to start. The screen shot of the group format included in this post is from the SoLearn site.
Using Social Media in Education web-resources.