Making the Innovation Group
This isn’t my first attempt at establishing an Innovation Group. I tried last year, and didn’t get further than inviting staff to participate. That invitation proved very successful, as colleagues whom I knew were interested responded to the requet, as did those whom I really didn’t expect to show any interest! As the responses came flooding in, even from the relatvely small user base here at the College, it became clear that the idea was a good one that could develop quickly.
Around six months later, and having been unable to seize the opportunity to drive the group forward, I discovered the Ning network; a moderated approach to social networking which presented a perfect opportunity! It was already being used by a group of individuals who all use the PebblePad application to support their continuous professional development.
Social networking has been discussed for several years now in educational circles, with apparently little or no agreement on whether there is a place for it or not. Some users welcome these applications, others despise them. The majority of students appear to fall somewhere in between, with a few sharing the extreme views of staff. Many students, it seems, don’t want the distraction of social networking tools being available for them during the working day. Fair enough. However, there are a growing number of course specifications that actually demand the use of social networks as a part of the course requirements. Clearly not the case for all courses, but opening up a little might lead to a more welcoming approach to social applications from a wider audience.
So, Ning looked promising. In December 2008, I signed up and established the innovation group. Invitations were not initially sent to participants whilst I reviewed the Ning application, but were witheld until I was confident the tool would be beneficial to the ‘innovators’.
ILT Innovation Group 
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