Facilitating a network

I am hoping to establish a network between those leading programmes in which medical students have the opportunity for contact early in the course with patients in their own homes or in the community. I think we will benefit from sharing motivations, materials and ideas on assessment. So I am wondering how I could support this. We could simply have an email list. Or a google group. Or a NING.

What would you use?

EDIT: This is to be a network with my peers- fellow medical educators- not with students.

Networks... can they be designed?

Are useful networks really only emergent? Can we design them? And how does a network emerge?
The NING communities I mentioned last month are not really emerging. Medical Education Evolution hasn't had a post for months. Is it because the function isn't clear enough?

I still haven't really found an online network of medical educators. But maybe it will find me first!

Gonna get myself connected....

Since last week I have joined two NING communities. I found Medical Education Evolution through Deirdre Bonnycastle's blog. This is a very interesting concept- radical people in medical education. But I guess it isn't as busy as I might have hoped. Still I will keep checking in and see how it develops.

Next, I was invited to join the IVIMEDS NING community. This is just in it's infancy but it will be interesting to see how it takes off too. It seems that NING is where it's at.... for now!