Anita Alkhas, Associate Professor of French, UW-Milwaukee
Mingyu Sun, Director, Language Resource Center, UW-Milwaukee

As our students become increasingly comfortable in online learning environments, their expectations regarding technology also rise. In this presentation, we will look at how the social network platform Ning has been used this semester in place of D2L in two undergraduate language courses and a graduate course, as well as how Ning has been used for a UWM-sponsored outreach organization (Southeast Wisconsin Academic Alliance in French). We will discuss the advantages Ning offers – for example, ease of set-up, an engaging interface, greater flexibility and interactivity for instructors and students alike – as well as the capabilities that Ning does not (yet) offer.