Blogging

=Blogs=

"A **blog** (a contraction of the term //**weblog**//) is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning //to maintain or add content to a blog//." @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging

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=Example Blog Assignment:=

Create a blog at Blogger [[]]. Once you have your blog created, you need to click on "Design" in the upper right corner of your blog page. Click on the "Design" tab. This opens a page labeled "Add and Arrange Page Elements." You should see a link called "Add a Gadget." Click on that link and a new window "Add a Gadget" should open. Scroll down until you find "Subscription Links" and click on the + sign to the right. Click on the Orange "SAVE" button to save this action. To go back to your blog, click on "View Blog" above the page layout.

You should now see two new buttons on your blog: 1. __Posts__, and 2. __All Comments__. You are now ready to share your blog with your classmates. Using Blackboard, send an email to everyone in the class that gives them the URL for your blog.

Next you need to subscribe to the comments posted to your blog. Click on "All Comments" and a pull-down menu appears. Select "Add to Google" to add this RSS feed to your Google Reader account. By doing this, you are notified when someone posts a comment to one of your blog posts.

Finally, you need to subscribe to all the other blogs by classmates. Once you receive the links via email, go to each blog and subscribe to the blog posts by selecting "Posts" from each page. By doing this, you are notified when someone posts to their own blog.

After you establish your blog and begin reading your RSS Feeds, you need to use them as the basis of your Blog and __enter at least three [3] blog posts a week for the duration of this class__. After the first class, when everyone establishes RSS feeds to their blogs, you will track posts by others in the class and post replies to others' posts. While there is no minimum number of times you need to post comments to other blogs, it is expected that you regularly read and respond to a number of posts by others in the class. It is critical that you not only post to your own blog, but also interact with other ideas written by your colleagues.