getting started

--definitely recommended to tinker around with a blog of your own before using it in a classroom space.

1) go to www.blogger.com (if you don't already have a google account, you will be prompted to create one), www.wordpress.com, or www.livejournal.com. Remember or write down your sign-in name and password. Blogger and Wordpress seem to work the best for classroom spaces. Also, most blogger blogs allow only blogger or google account-registered users to comment, so if students need to comment on one another, they should probably be all or none on blogger or wordpress. The important thing is to be consistent. Livejournal gives access to only one post at a time without easy links to or labels of others, and is a bit more journal-like.

2) follow the on-site instructions to create a blog to your liking, customize the layout, etc.

3) on blogger, the "dashboard" is your starting place, and the green plus sign is where you create a new post. all three systems have very clear instructions and help files.

4) begin posting, and share your blog address (for this blog, it's the one which appears in the browser bar, http://jsger.blogspot.com) with others.

adding an image

To add an image: click on the small picture in the posting menu, load your image from the source or from your chosen weblink, choose the size and alignment, and fertig. You can add text above, below, or to either side of the image.



pretty cute, no?
Also, you can choose languages for your blog (under the "formatting" tab), so you can have your entire template in German if you wish.

blogging & German lit.

some examples of literary/academic blogs:

http://oneinten.blogspot.com/

http://marcelproust.blogspot.com/index.html

http://long18th.wordpress.com/

http://www.printculture.com/

blogging & pedagogy sources

Here are a few links to resources about blogging and pedagogy, developed by a group at UW:
http://community.uwblogs.org/index.php?blog=10

a few other blogs used in connection with classes (examples of wordpress blogs, used very successfully, and with additional resources about blogging):
http://com460.wordpress.com/
http://com300.wordpress.com/

articles:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/remediation_genre.html
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/moving_to_the_public.html


more collections of articles:
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/blogosphere/

consolidating blogs & RSS feeds

One can simply add links linking to different blogs when you have found a blog address you wish to link to, but if you want recent posts listed along with the blog, you need to do a bit more.

To consolidate the blogs and recent posts, you need to have the RSS feed for each blog.
A RSS feed basically enables your blog to run over to another blog in cyberspace and take any new posts, then listing the new posts in a different place, such as your own blog.

The RSS feed for blogger blogs is the blog's homepage followed by "atom.xml" (it's different from Livejournal's RSS feed, however)

So the RSS feed for this blog would be: http://jsger.blogspot.com/atom.xml

To link to others' blogs on your blog, go to the "Template" tab and choose the option: "Add a page element", then choose "add feed." Type the feed in, and then choose the title and how many posts from each feed you'd like to show at once.

other options:
Using Google services: google spreadsheets, can also share online journals, put all RSS feeds on Google & view all new blog entries on a single page. (consult Tim Coombs for more)

citing blogs

When you take up thoughts presented in other blogs in your own blog posts, you have two options for citing them (remember, a blog is intellectual property, and stealing ideas without citing them is like stealing any other sort of property): you can link to other blog posts when referring to them on your own blog by opening a new window with the original post in it, and then copying the link to your post, and/or by writing, for example, "H. Tilghman asked in her "Snowy Weather Forecasted" post of Jan. 9th" if...."

When you write formal papers, please follow the following guidelines to cite blog entries:http://kairosnews.org/node/3542

And for citing other electronic resources, look here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/09/

feedback re: Vienna blogs

-- most students really enjoyed blogging and said it really helped them learn, but suggested doing 1 rather than 2 posts per week

posting multimedia: youtube

(esp. useful for classes involving film, music, etc.; here is the Vienna 1900 material)

--go to www.youtube.com
--find the video you'd like to import
--copy the "embed" information (under where the URL is posted) (*the "post to blog" option on youtube can be very flukey, doesn't always work)
--click on the "edit Html" tab on the compose form
--paste the "embed" information
--click on the "compose" tab again
--add any info, publish post, voila.

(below is a scene from Svankmajer's Faust)

as a part of a class

* You need to create/have a google account to set up a blog on Blogger. The system (www.blogger.com) prompts you to do this & gives you directions if you haven't already got one.

Basic how-to's:
http://js1900.blogspot.com/2006/12/blog-journals.html

Creating the (safe) space:
--offer students option of anonymity/pseudonyms, first or last name only, etc.
--create ground rules re: blog etiquitte, no critiquing one another's work publicly-- focus discussion on content & topics instead
--keep other channels of communication open-- email, office hrs, etc. in case of problems

Eliciting posts:
--discussion questions & topics rath. than completely open-ended
--options for choosing which questions to address
--make grading criteria/expectations very explicit

Getting students to engage with one another's blogs:
--put them into small groups, or have a group of students be co-authors of a single blog
--as a part of the grade

etc.:
--discuss blog & e-resource citation practices
--have everyone use the same system, ie blogger or livejournal

public/private:
-- under blog options, you can choose to only allow specific people whose email addresses you've authorized and who you've invited to view and comment on your blog

pros & cons

pros:
--easy to include multimedia/links to online resources, powerpoint presentations, etc.
--open forum, students learn from one another
--students are published, engage in discussion with one another, have a product they can continue with after the class has ended, or as they travel
--compliments in-class discussion
--"slow motion" teaching
--always possible to edit, hide, or delete a post
--space for students to be very creative
--can publicize work with course material to a very wide audience, opens to a much wider community (ie, one student received replies to a question about the Seattle Opera from Seattle Opera representatives. Also, a google or google blog search for the term "Vienna 1900" now brings up a number of the blogs for the Vienna 1900 course).
--generally very user-friendly
--other applications: distance learning
--free

cons:
--very public (unless you elect to only allow invited individuals to see/comment on your blog: work with the "privacy settings" to create different degrees of openness)
-- can't critique posts quite as comprehensively
--lots of spelling/grammar mistakes
--(if used to replace journals) posts are shorter than many typical journal entries
--difficult to grade

other things to know:
--can de-center the class from the classroom