It was exciting to see the students create their blogs last week.
There were lots of questions on how to create certain elements, how they will use their blogs, and if they can post what they want.
Let me preface by saying creating a blog is not as easy as it seems. We use Blogger.com, but there are so many other choices these days. I plan to look into Wordpress this summer, to see if it offers other features we could use. But for this semester, we are sticking to what I’m familiar with.
Anyway, students are required to add certain elements, like a blog description and a blog roll. Besides learning how to accomplish doing these things, they also have to learn how to design their blog, post text and photos, follow other bloggers, and share their posts on Facebook and Twitter. But like anything else, you have to use it to know it, so they have the weekend to get comfortable with their new blogs before I post their URLs.
They will use their blogs to post their mandatory essays and photo assignments. I also encourage them to post anything else they deem interesting or newsworthy, as long as it has to do with photojournalism, photography, media or education. I want them to make their blogs their own.
Inside their course manual is a list of legal and ethical guidelines for using social media. This includes not posting personal information, like phone numbers, and not spreading gossip. This latter comment refers to ensuring that they verify anything they post or repost.
Their URLs are now available in the Page bar at the top of the blog.
Right now their heads are spinning, and it’s fun to watch.
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