tfws13 module 1 blogging assignment

Assignment Overview

For this assignment, students will be broken into groups based on similar professional interests to run a collaborative theme-based blog hosted by WordPress.com. The goal of the assignment will be for you to begin to share your thoughts on how a particular Web 2.0-related issue is having and/or will have an impact on your future professional field. Through your writings you will begin the process of creating a professional online identity and work toward the final assignment, in which the ideas composed in your blog posts will play a role.

Assignment Specifics

Each group will complete the following:

  • choose the Web 2.0-related topic based on those listed on the first day of the module
  • discuss that theme in terms of your future professional interests
  • name the blog in way that makes it clear what the theme of the blog will be
  • choose a layout theme for your blog
  • learn several WordPress blog features (how to create posts, add links, add widgets, add images, and so forth)
  • write an about page that describes each author of the blog professionally and the kinds of posts that readers can expect
  • create a blogroll that links to each of the other course module blogs and no fewer than 10 influential blogs in your professional field (this will take doing some research, and I suggest using some of the blog search engines listed on this Mashable post).
  • add the Twitter feeds from each of your blog authors using the WordPress Twitter widget

Each individual in the group will complete the following:

  • starting Week 2, post at least 2 posts per week per individual (if there are 4 people in the group, that’s at least 8 per week total)
    1. 1 post should locate the readings in terms of your professional interests and the Web 2.0-related theme you have chosen.
    2. 1 should be informed by texts that you find online and discussed in terms of your professional interests and the Web 2.0-related theme you have chosen
  • For Week 1 there will be 1 post due (based on #1 in the list above)
  • posts can be of any length, but the more nuanced your discussions the better your blog will be (my recommendation is no less than equivalent to 500 words)
  • posts can and should include images and/or videos, and MUST include links in your posts where necessary; the more links you have the better your posts will be

You may be asked to post drafts of the final project to your blog, as well.

Starting week 2, each student in the module will also be required to complete the following per week:

  • reply to at least 2 blog posts, one from your group and from another group’s blog.

Your replies should contain sentences and further the author’s ideas. Just writing “wow–I totally agree” is not enough. Engage the ideas. They should be 50 – 100 words long.

WordPress has a very good Support page, and I encourage you to spend some time with it, especially the sections for Getting Started, Creating Content, Manage My Profile, and Customize My Site. Please check these areas before emailing BW with questions.

Assessment and Other Stuff

Your blog posts will be assessed in terms of how well they start discussion, how well the ideas from the course texts are incorporated (yes, quote and paraphrase), how well they incorporate multimedia (images, videos, and so on), and how well they show you thinking critically about the Web 2.0-related issue you’ve chosen in terms of the module texts and your future professional field.

So that I am able to assess your blog posts and responses, please keep a log in a Word or GoogleDocs document that contains for each post:

  • the date
  • the post title
  • the post URL

For each comment, log the following:

  • the date
  • the title of the post you respond the
  • the post URL
  • the full text of your comment

Please create sections for the Posts Log and the Comments Log so I can more easily tell which is which.

By the end of the module each student will have at least:

  • 7 weekly blog posts (plus any additional required for homework assignments or the final project)
  • 6 weekly comments

Start and End Dates

Module 1
1/31: First blog post due (only one due this week and no reply due)
2/5 – 2/21: Compose 2 posts and 2 comments each week for these 3 weeks

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