Archive for the “Technology08” Category
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 I know you were sad that I was not able to post a Friday Challenge for you last week, but the wireless Internet at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City, Nebraska, was a bit sketchy. The upside of my trip was the beauty of the location as you can see in the photo.
At any rate, our task today is to explore rss. The Richardson book has a chapter on this very topic so after today’s session revisit and reread that section. Here’s our plan:
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RSS - Concept
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- First, we’ll view the video from Commoncraft concerning rss - RSS in Plain English.
- Next, read the Seven Things You Should Know About RSS
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RSS - Method
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- For our work, we will be using the rss newsreader program supported by Google - called Google Reader.
- Visit http://reader.google.com and login with your google account information (the same information you use to login to gmail).
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- Once logged in, click on the ADD SUBSCRIPTION link to subscribe to different internet sources.
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- You will want to subscribe to the following (you can highlight these addresses, copy them, and paste them):
- http://muwp1.org/si/?feed=rss2 (Summer Institute weblog)
- http://amandaraehensley.wordpress.com/feed (Amanda)
- http://bthboster.wordpress.com/feed (Beth)
- http://dustee03.wordpress.com/feed(Dustee)
- http://el4419.wordpress.com/feed (Eliot)
- http://wfordprice.wordpress.com/feed (Ford)
- http://hthomas.wordpress.com/feed (Heather)
- http://hildegard51.wordpress.com/feed (Hildegard)
- http://iannolte.wordpress.com/feed (Ian)
- http://jennifermach7.wordpress.com/feed (Jennifer M)
- http://stockard02.wordpress.com/feed (Jennifer S)
- http://jstapleto.wordpress.com/feed (Jennifer St)
- http://adaward.wordpress.com/feed (Judy)
- http://jusmith36.wordpress.com/feed (Julie)
- http://klmccomas.net/klm1/feed (Karen)
- http://kshaffer.wordpress.com/feed (Kathy)
- http://marthur10.wordpress.com/feed (Mary)
- http://melanierockwell22.wordpress.com/feed (Mel)
- http://wayoutinwayco.wordpress.com/feed (Patsy)
- http://murphderson.edublogs.org/feed (Peggy)
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E-Anthology
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- Go to http://nwp.org and login (we created this account earlier).
- Click on the GO TO THE 2008 E-ANTHOLOGY link.
- Read about each available forum for publishing (Guestbook, Classroom Matters, A Day in the Life, Open Mic).
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- Before Wednesday, please post to the Guestbook and post a piece in Open Mic.
- Who wants to post a Day in the Life?
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Wiki
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We’d like to start creating a list of resources and thought we could use the wiki to host that list. As you are researching/searching, please post resources that you think others might be interested in on our wiki resource page (you can get to the wiki by using the link on the SI blog page titled “MUWP Wiki”).
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Work Flow
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The tools we are learning to use become more functional with regular use. You will gain familiarity and fluency with them and will learn to use them to help you do your work. This requires a different way of working than you are used to, but new habits are not impossible to adopt. Last week I suggested that you get into the habit of checking the Summer Institute weblog every day. Now that you have subscribed to that weblog in your reader, you only need to check your reader everyday.
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Hello All!
Sorry I’m not there with you today but I’m at home with a rampaging headache, sore throat, and ear ache. So, we get to find the beauty of technology in the context of learners, teachers, and writers being at different places and working together. Here’s what I’d like you to do today:
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SI Blog
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Start at the Summer Institute weblog (you should start every day at this site). Notice that we have a new featured blogger - Amanda (upper right hand corner of the weblog). Our featured bloggers will change about every day - so keep your eyes on that spot.
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Online Learning
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Notice the new section in the middle column titled Tutorials. You will watch these superb videos that take complicated ideas and make them simple. Watch the video on google docs first, now that you’ve been using google docs you will like watching this one for a second idea about how to use that tool (the first idea is a place to write your blog postings).
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Blog Editing Tips
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| So far, most of you have posted to your blog only through Google docs. Sometimes, however, it’s necessary to post directly into the weblog. One of those times is when you want to create a page and not a post.
Pages and posts are textually similar but functionally different. Textually, they are generally narrative in style and can include images. Functionally, posts appear on your main blog page in the order they are posted. Pages, on the other hand, exist in your weblog but don’t appear on the main blog page. Readers access these through links that may automatically appear or that you create. How these links are managed is sometimes dependent upon the theme you have chosen for your weblog. |
Editing Toolbar
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| When you are editing a post or page from within your weblog, you will see an editing toolbar (see below) just like you do when you are editing in a word processor, such as google docs or Microsoft Word. If you do not see two rows of buttons in your toolbar, click on the button circled below to enable the second row. |
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| As you are writing, feel free to press the save button (to the right of the text entry window and shown in the image below), although you will notice that files are periodically backed up even if you do not click the save button. When you are finished, click on the PUBLISH button. |
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Professional Bio
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- Go to your weblog and login.
- Click on the “dashboard” link.
- Click on the “manage” link.
- Click on the “pages” link.
- Find the item titled About and click on the “edit” link to the right.
- Enter your professional, yet friendly, bio.
- When finished, click the “save” button.
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Wiki
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| Visit our experimental wiki at http://muwp.pbwiki.com (there are two things I would like you to do today). |
Create Your Own Page
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Within this wiki, because I have invited you to participate, you can create your own pages.
Click on the LOGIN link in the upper right hand corner of the wiki at http://muwp.pbwiki.com
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Enter the term (one word, lower case, no quotation marks) “goherd” as your invite key.
Include your name (first name is fine) and your email address.
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| Click on the CREATE A NEW PAGE link. |
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| Use your first name and last name as the name of your page (if you want to create additional pages with other names, feel free to do so).
Choose a template if you wish.
Feel free to play with your page. Type something profound or silly or provocative.
Don’t forget to save.
Later, I’ll teach you how to add your page to the list of other pages in the sidebar. If you want to try it yourself, just start by editing the sidebar. Don’t worry, you really can’t mess anything up (everything is fixable - even lost text).
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Recap
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| By the end of today, you will have: |
- committed to a daily habit of checking the Summer Institute weblog first
- noticed that Amanda is the featured blogger today
- watched a youtube video about google docs
- watched a youtube video about wikis
- updated the “About” page in your blog to include your professional bio (you can edit these any time you wish)
- created a page at our MUWP SI wiki
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| Nice work! |
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To the right is a challenge I found on Scott McLeod’s weblog in April of 2007. Beginning today, and over the weekend, complete Stage 1 and Stage 2 (and in that order, please).
Stage 1
- Assume that you believe the answer to the question below is “no.” In writing, explain why (this will ultimately be posted on your weblog, so you may want to simply put it there first).
- Assume that you believe the answer to the question below is “yes.” In writing, explain why (this will ultimately be posted on your weblog, so you may want to simply put it there first).
Stage 2
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Read the Introduction from David Warlick’s book.
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Now, decide how you would like to answer the question (make a choice) and explain. If you believe the answer is “no” then you will want to develop your “no” response written in Stage 1. If you believe the answer is “yes” then you will want to develop your “yes” response written in Stage 1 (this developed response will ultimately go into your weblog).
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Preparing your blog to serve as your E-Portfolio requires a few preparatory steps. First, we will make a Table of Contents page (to be populated next week). Then we will make a setup change to your blog so that your Table of Contents is the first thing visitors see when they visit your blog. Finally, we’ll learn how to make links on our Table of Contents so we can link directly to our writings from the Table of Contents.
Create a Table of Contents
- Open two browser tabs.
- One tab will be T1 and the other will be T2.
- In T1, login to your own weblog and go to the dashboard.
- Click on WRITE.
- Click on WRITE PAGE. (This is critical that you create a page and not a post.)
- Title this page as TABLE OF CONTENTS.
- Enter the information for your Table of Contents (i.e., put in the titles of your pieces, use category headings if you’d like).
- Click on PUBLISH.
Pin TOC to Blog Front Page
- In the dashboard, click on the SETTINGS link (upper right hand corner).
- Click on the sub-menu titled READING.
- In the Front Page Displays section, check the STATIC PAGE option.
- In the drop-down, select TABLE OF CONTENTS.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the SAVE CHANGES button.
Adding Links to the Table of Contents
- In T1, go to your dashboard.
- Click on MANAGE.
- Click on PAGES.
- Click on the TABLE OF CONTENTS page (the title of the page).
- In T2, go to your dashboard (login if necessary).
- Click on MANAGE.
- Click on PAGES (if your pieces were created as pages). Alternately, click on POSTS (if your pieces were created as posts).
- Find the first item on your TOC. Right click over the STATUS link associated with this item (probably says “published”).
- Select COPY SHORTCUT.
- In T1 (the Table of Contents page you are editing), highlight the title of the first piece.
- Click on the CHAIN LINK icon in the formatting bar.
- In the pop-up window, highlight the text in the Link URL field (shows http:// ). Press ctrl-V to paste in the address for the first piece.
- In the TARGET field, select OPEN LINK IN NEW WINDOW.
- Leave the TITLE field blank.
- Click on the INSERT button.
- Repeat for each piece.
- Click the SAVE button when finished.
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