Welcome
Welcome to Advanced Blogging, a way to learn Web 2.0 tools online and in your own time. The goal of this course is to expand on the foundational blogging course you’ve already taken by looking more closely at the “behind the scenes” parts of a blog. The focus will be on what is most useful for educators about these tools and how you can implement it in your job to positively affect learning. You will also be given an opportunity to expand your “Personal Learning Network” by interacting with other people across the district, and with experts around the globe.
The Basics
The course is a three week course with 7 staff development hours being earned upon completetion. Each Wednesday you will be given a new set of tasks to help you learn about advanced blogging features. These should be completed by the following Tuesday. An outline of each week is available in the course syllabus.
Assignments and Time Commitment
We are expecting everyone to spend at least 2 hours a week on the given tasks. The first week you’ll comment on this blog and adjust many of the settings on your blog to complete the assignment. During the second week you will learn about the wonderful world of widgits, jazz up your blog, and share some of your favorites. While a majority of the course requirement includes you working on your blog, we also encourage you to cheer on other members of the class and invite them into your Personal Learning Network (PLN). We also ask that you check into the course at least three times a week. Since this is an online class, the only way we can see you is for you to post a comment or participate in the forum. So no lurking, be an active part of the class!
Communication
Questions can be asked at any point by using the Forum section of the blog. You are encouraged to help answer other people’s questions if you can. All communication should flow through the blog. If you have a question about something, chances are several other people do as well. If you need to contact a facilitator directly, refer to the emails listed on the Course Facilitators page. Please allow 24 to 48 hours for an email response and 72 hours on a weekend.
New this session, we are offering a live chat once a week. This will take place on Monday evenings from 8pm-9pm. You can access the facilitator that’s on duty through a private chat room (no screenname needed!). See the Support page at any time for directions on logging into the chat session.
To get the process of getting to know each other started, please leave a comment to this post introducing yourself. Please let us know:
- Your name
- Your blog’s address- this was created in the last class as a personal reflection blog. If you’ve modified the blogs purpose and are using it for your educational role, then feel free to create a new blog for this
- What your job is
- Some bit of personal info
- What you hope to learn from this course
In case you haven’t noticed, Edublogs.org, the platform we initially recommended for blogging has increased advertising on it’s sites. Words within the blog post are highlighted and link to outside ads, because of this, this course will use the Blogger platform. You get to decide if you’d like to switch platforms, or continue with Edublogs. The examples, ideas, and assignments are universal to blogging.
Music from Playlist.com
