This class will be utilizing the blogging form in two ways. Throughout the semester, the entire class will participate in a forum blog, and will have the opportunity to begin a personal blog.

 

Questions – When developing questions to open a thread, keep in mind the following types of questions:
• The open-ended philosophical kind that shows the complexity of an issue; or that engages the experience of reading.
• The critical, evaluative kind that challenges underlying assumptions of a position taken in the text/idea; argues against the position; or questions the premises or conclusions of the position.
• The kind that seeks to understand an issue more deeply or to clarify statements or concepts.
• Avoid empirical questions that seek only a factually-based answer. These types of questions do not lead to discussion.
  
Forum etiquette – The forum blogging experience is considered an extension of the classroom. Please avoid “flaming” (blatant disregard for respect; personal attacks; etc.) at all times -- disagreements are to be expected; however, they should be handled in a philosophical and academic manner.

Stay Focused! – Often writing on one subject leads the writer to think about another unrelated topic. If you find yourself going astray, consider ruminating about those tangents in your personal blog; while you are logged on the forum, try to remain on the topic(s) at hand.

• Go to http://www.blogger.com
• In the upper right corner of the page, enter the login name and password given to you. For the duration of the course, please do not change these, so our technical administrator can maintain the pages easily.

• Blog Name – Clicking on this link will take you to the “Edit Posts” page for that particular blog. From here, you can view all posts that you have written in reverse chronological order. (see Posting)
• New Post (green cross) – This link leads you to a WYSIWYG editor – a form that allows you to type in the same manner as a simple word processing program. (see Posting)
• Change Settings (blue cog) – Clicking on this icon takes you to your settings options. From here, you can change many attributes that will affect your blog. (See Settings)

Create – The text that you enter in the “title” box will appear on your blog page in a heading style (usually larger, bolded, etc.). If you put a web address in the “link” box, a reader who clicks on your title from your blog page will be directed to that specific web address.

When you have completed your writing, you have the choice of saving your post as a draft or publishing it. If you are on a computer terminal that has an unreliable internet connection, it is advisable to copy the body of text into the clipboard before submitting your blog for publishing or for saving. In case of any connection disruption, you can then paste your saved text into any word-processing file.

Edit Posts – This is a full list of all entries that have been posted in a blog's history. From here, the post author has the ability to edit or delete any post. This page offers members and administrators of a blog an easy way of reading all posts from within the administrative area. Be sure to edit or delete your first Welcome post!

• Links – When referring to another web page, wrap this code around the word(s) that you want highlighted as a hotlink. The “webaddress” must include http:// before the www of your address. Don’t forget the quotation marks.

• Bold Font – Strengthens the pixilation of the word(s) you want modified.

• Italicized Font – Emphasizes the word(s) you want modified with italics.

• Indented, Justified Paragraph – Use this when you are directly quoting a lengthy section of what someone has said or written. It indents both left and right margins of the selected text to create a box-like appearance.