Spotlight on BLOGS

 

What’s a blog?

 

To get a good sense of what a blog is, visit www.blogger.com .    Click and read through the pages “What’s a Blog?”.   

 

 

How can I get involved?

 

Create an account at www.blogger.com .   To do this, you’ll have to act as if you are creating your own blog.    Be prepared to:

  1. Record all of this information carefully in your notebook.
  2. Come up with a username that no one else has already taken.  This may take you a few tries.
  3. Use a password that you won’t lose or forget.  Don’t forget the tips for creating a good password; use a mix of letters and numbers and a combination of upper and lower case.
  4. Provide an email address.   Use one of the free web-based email accounts rather than one that you reserve for close friends and family.  You may wish to use your Yahoo Mail address.
  5. Come up with a title for your blog.   Think about this. 
    1.  When you build your website at the end of the semester, you’ll be required to link to your blog.  If you already have something in mind for a website topic, you may want to create a blog related to that in some way. 
    2. This is an academic setting in higher education.   Choose your topic and title and post your comments with that carefully in mind.
  6. At the end of this “signup” process, you’ll be provided with a URL for your blog. 

 

 

How can I practice reading and posting to a blog?

 

Go to http://mercerteach.blogspot.com .   This is a blog that I’ve set up for students to use for practice.  

  1. Play around with the navigation. 
  2. Read the purpose of the site and the profile.  
  3. Read (and listen to) any messages that are posted.   
  4. Post your own message.  
    1. NEVER EVER give up any confidential or private information.   Do NOT disclose your full name or phone number or street address.   For our purposes, use your first name and last initial.
    2. This is an academic setting, even though we are in a digital environment.   Correct your spelling, typographical, and grammatical errors before you POST.
    3. Think first.    What do you want to say?  Don’t just write to take up space.   Do you have some experiences related to the topic that are worthy of sharing?   Have you read about some implications of the topic?  
  5. Re-enter the blog and check out the postings.   Do you see yours there?   Do you see the posts of your classmates?

 

What’s the Next Step?

 

Using the account you created, set up your OWN blog.  

 

Again, please keep in mind that this is an ACADEMIC setting, so keep your topics and your writings appropriate.   Proofread!   You may wish to compose your messages in your word processor so that you can run the spell and grammar check before you actually publish anything to your blog.  

 

Also keep in mind that during the last five weeks of the semester we will be working on our own websites.   For that task, I invite each student to choose a topic for his/her website.   I do ask that you send your ideas to me for approval, but the choices are pretty broad.   On that website, you will be required to create a link to your blog.   It might be nice if the blog and the website topics were similar.   

 

When it comes time to create the website, I offer my students these suggestions to help them think of ideas:

 

You do NOT have to make your blog topic MATCH your website topic.   But if you would like to plan with that in mind, the time to consider this is now.  Take a bit of time to think about your ideas and options.  Feel free to speak with me about your ideas.   

 

Contact your workgroup members and other friends and family and ask them to post items to your blog.

 

In order for anyone else to find, read, and contribute to your blog, they must know the URL.   Please post the URL of your blog to your workgroup’s private discussion area.   That way, your group members and I will be able to see the blog.   (That’s how I’ll be able to grade this activity.)   Use email to send the address to any family and friends.