PrintSites at Penn State
This assignment associated with this lesson will require you to post to the Course Blog. The information below is to serve as an orientation to the Sites at Penn State.
Please note that this course requires you to maintain a web presence. You will be engaging in discussions, etc., that will appear on the Internet. You may also be asked to participate in online activities that are widely accessible to everyone, including those outside of Penn State.
Using Sites at Penn State
Sites at Penn State is a powerful web publishing platform that will allow you to quickly create and publish online.
Watch this informative video by Common Craft that explains the whats and hows of blogs.
In this course, you are not expected to personalize and maintain your own blog space; because of the number of students in the class, we will be using the course blog instead of personal blog spaces. BUT, just because you don't have to create your own doesn't mean you can't. If you would like to personalize your web space - please do so! Just remember that you may need it for future course work in the program AND that once your work/comments/opinions are published to the Internet, the world to see can see it.
- Read through the Sites at Penn State web page.
- Click here to access the course blog.
- Subscribe to the Blog feeds if you'd like to be notified when a classmate posts: The easiest way to keep track of the conversations occurring on our Course Blog, is to subscribe,
- When visiting a blog, look for the RSS icon RSS feed icon or a link to click on to “subscribe to RSS posts." When you're on the blog tab of the Course Blog site, you'll see that there are two RSS feeds subscription options, one is for blog entries and the other is for comments. You should elect to subscribe to both.
- When you click on the link or icon, you will be given one or more subscription options.
- Select your application of choice (such as Firefox Live Bookmarks), and subscribe to the blog.
- Don’t forget where you save your “bookmark” – you will want to click on it frequently to keep up with the latest posts on the course blog or personal blog you are following.
- Try searching the Tags using PSU Voices
- Students can search for specific blog tags across all blogs published at Penn State by using PSU Voices (link is external). Try searching for your own (or a classmate's) blog.
You will also want to browse through:
Personal Blogs
If you want to create your own blog space, then you will want to follow the directions found on the Sites at Penn State under Creating a New Site. If you have created your own personal blog, make sure that your web space is available by checking your Penn State URL. Go to sites.psu.edu/userid, where userid is your Penn State access account user ID. If this comes up 'Not Found,' something has gone astray and you will need to contact the World Campus HelpDesk.
If there is something that you would like to see or do on your website, but can't find out how to do it, please contact the World Campus HelpDesk.
A Note About Blog Postings...
A blog is a great asynchronous way for us to have a discussion as a class. However, your submissions are to be presented no differently than a written paper or other type of written assessment. Your blog postings in this course are part of a series of assessments on which you will be graded, and in order to ensure you're getting the most points possible, you should consider the following:
A blog posting is not a text message. Your blog posting should be well-written, edited, and punctuated. While it's common for us to write blog postings as they come to us, off the cuff, that doesn't mean that you should just type it out, hit submit, and walk away. You need to edit a post, just like you would a paper, before you submit it.Your posts are a reflection of you. Most, if not all, of what you post to the Course Blog will challenge you to support your opinion on an issue with facts, making the postings somewhat subjective in nature. Your postings and comments on classmates' postings are an opportunity for you to illustrate professionalism in academic discussion. Take pride in the work you do for this class (and all your classes!).
Keep it professional. The subject matter of our course is, in some ways, controversial and may spark lively discussions and debates. That's fine - in fact, that's good! But, it is important to do so in a way that is professional and appropriate. Arguments are more compelling when they're made with facts rather than emotion, so be prepared to back up your position!