tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35172668649851574492025-12-06T04:56:26.420-08:00A blog that discusses moving Writing Across the Curriculum initiatives onto blogs (weblogs) and teaches students how to construct blogs.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-33243463746162104672008-03-25T18:52:00.000-07:002008-03-25T20:00:44.098-07:00

Web 2.0 is all about functionality and user input. There certainly is plenty of data available on the Web, but sometimes it isn't exactly in the format you desire. This is why mashups were born. A mashup draws data (or functionality) from two (or more) different sources and deploys them within a single tool. An example would be drawing location pictures from Google Earth and adding them to house

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-54382266419315913752008-01-26T10:12:00.000-08:002008-01-27T21:06:34.359-08:00

I'm always amazed at the pictures that students will put on blogs or social networking sites. They may be great photos to share with your friends, but if you are identified in the photo, is it worth jeopardizing your chances of being selected for a job? Just in case you need some guidelines about what not to include on your site, here are a couple of suggestions...You may feel passionately about

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-41959327094859852122008-01-26T09:42:00.000-08:002008-01-27T21:08:50.827-08:00

Just as with any other online activity, blogging has risks. Protecting your identity by remaining anonymous is a smart idea. Employers often take a dim view of critical comments made by employees on personal blogs. Some bloggers have even lost their job because of comments made on blogs. The most famous case is probably Ellen Simonetti, a former Delta Airlines attendant, who was fired after Delta

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-80014778852642875462008-01-26T07:55:00.000-08:002008-01-28T19:29:38.372-08:00

There are many blogs that help new bloggers get up to speed on blogging techniques. A few of my favorites are:Blogger Tips and Tricks - Focuses mainly on Blogger.com issuesTips for New Bloggers - Another site with good information for users of BloggerProblogger - A very professional site with great tips about earning money with your blog.Steve Pavalina's Personal Development for Smart People -

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-13573382776297627132007-10-23T23:37:00.000-07:002007-10-27T20:08:12.288-07:00

One of the best known affiliate programs is the Amazon Associates program. This program, which is free to join, allows you to generate links and widgets to showcase Amazon products on your blog and to collect a commission when people follow the links and buy from Amazon.Amazon Associates has a short sign up page that requires you to provide a valid e-mail address, payment information (name,

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-67185716074748850272007-10-23T22:05:00.000-07:002007-10-27T20:13:17.752-07:00

Website users are accustomed to being able to conduct searches to find the information they need. Putting a search box on your blog that enables users to search either your blog or the Internet is a great idea. Offering this feature using Google AdSense for Search makes it a valuable feature to you since clickable ads that can make you money are served up with the search results.To set up AdSense

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-500901853751199272007-10-23T21:02:00.000-07:002007-10-27T20:17:32.614-07:00

Google AdSense provides you with a variety of methods to make cash from your blog readers by serving ads up to your blog automatically. Registering for AdSense is free and requires only filling out a relatively short series of forms. You need to have a valid e-mail address and provide them with a telephone number and payment information. You also will need to give them your blog URL so they can

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-57862840613855888192007-10-23T19:03:00.000-07:002007-10-27T20:22:02.764-07:00

There are numerous ways that a well written blog that attracts a lot of readers (traffic) can make money. The key to attracting readers is generating well written, informative, original posts on a regular basis. So new bloggers really need to concentrate on generating content. But once you have had your blog up and running for a while, you can start to explore various methods of generating

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-91818704622457996062007-10-23T18:18:00.000-07:002007-10-27T20:25:16.502-07:00

You can write the most brilliant blog ever created. And it won't do you a bit of good if no one can find it! You need to find ways to allow potential readers to find your blog. In this post, we'll discuss the first step you should take...getting your blog indexed by search engines.Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an emerging science the goal of which is to increase the number of visitors (

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-87990741880529163542007-10-23T17:42:00.001-07:002007-10-27T20:28:39.815-07:00

In Basic Lesson 7, you saw how easy it was to add page elements to the right hand (or left hand) column of your blog or to add elements at the end of the blog. But what if you want to add an element below the header (such as our Firefox link on this blog) or before your blog posts? As shown below, most standard Blogger templates don't offer the option to add elements in these places.You can

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-20394930744142115022007-10-04T22:53:00.001-07:002007-10-06T21:37:52.759-07:00

In the course of web surfing, you probably run across web sites that readers of your blog might find useful. Adding a list of useful links to your blog is easy. Go to Template tab of your blog and select the Page Elements sub-tab. Click on one of the Add a Page Element links.The Choose a New Page Element dialog box (shown below) is now displayed. Find the element called Link List and click on Add

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-44833238382879786542007-10-04T22:09:00.000-07:002007-10-27T20:34:52.373-07:00

The settings section of your blog is very important as it controls a lot of the functionality by which your readers interface with your blog. As you can see from the image below, the Settings tab is divided into 8 sub-tabs. The default settings on most options will suffice but we will point out a few you should consider changing.The Basic Sub-TabFilling in the Description section on this sub-tab

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-2687186119904405662007-10-03T21:58:00.000-07:002007-10-05T16:21:19.296-07:00

Most people find it easier to search a blog by topic. Fortunately, Blogger has included a feature called labels that make it easy to provide a list of postings by topic.At the bottom of the post window is a section called "Labels for this post". In this box, you can enter any terms you think will help categorize your posts. Labels can contain more than one word. If you are using multiple labels

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-17883259704981785462007-10-03T20:53:00.000-07:002007-10-05T16:22:03.031-07:00

The layout of the default blog is pretty much the same for all of the standard templates provided by Blogger. There are two columns. One contains your posts and the other contains useful elements that provide functionality to your readers. The two default elements that will appear in a basic blog are the Blog Archive and the Author Profile (About Me). In subsequent lessons, we'll discuss other

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-629892392490018922007-10-03T20:28:00.000-07:002007-10-05T16:24:41.885-07:00

YouTube is full of useful videos that you or your students may want to add to a blog. Also, many of our students are posting video at YouTube that they made themselves which might make a great addition to a blog. Fortunately, since Google owns Blogger and YouTube, it is easy to integrate YouTube video into your blog.This is an example of what video looks like when embedded in a blog. Just click

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-15506889268649689912007-10-03T14:46:00.000-07:002007-10-05T16:25:17.809-07:00

A better way to show links in a post is to have them be descriptive Best Sci-Fi Book Review Site rather than just a web address such as www.futurefiction.com. Fortunately, there is an easy way to generate links such as this in Blogger.Type the text you want to turn into a link first such as:Bill's Wonderful Web SiteHighlight the text by left clicking the mouse at the start of the text and then

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-23458749899489788172007-10-03T14:16:00.000-07:002007-10-05T16:25:46.419-07:00

Adding pictures to your posts livens up an otherwise plain blog. To add pictures to a blog, you need to:1) Have the picture you want to add to your blog saved on your hard drive.2) Have the URL of the picture you want to add (assuming it is available on the web somewhere).To add a picture saved on your hard drive, follow these steps:1A) Place the cursor where you want to insert the picture.

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-72351943247116269762007-10-03T13:51:00.000-07:002007-10-05T16:26:20.968-07:00

From the posting section of the blog management tools, you can create new posts and edit previous posts. Creating a new post is very similar to creating an e-mail message.Step 1 - Creating a New Post1A) Enter a title for the post just as you would for the subject of an e-mail.1B) Type the text of your post in the large dialog box. You can apply formatting such as bold or italics by using the "b"

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-17932322389102646372007-10-03T13:01:00.000-07:002007-10-05T16:27:00.187-07:00

Getting a blog up and running on blogger requires less than 10 minutes if you are using Blogger.com. Registering for a Blogger account is free and easy and only requires that you have an e-mail address that already exists. Using your college e-mail address will work fine as Blogger doesn't send out spam or other forms of e-mail solicitation.To register on Blogger.com, just follow these directions

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-40899878452931823832007-10-02T21:01:00.000-07:002007-10-02T21:29:07.485-07:00

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-69287563898199481272007-10-02T18:20:00.000-07:002008-01-26T10:05:31.285-08:00

Here are some links to the blogs that our students at MCCC have created as part of our classes:Fall 2007Simple Electronics ModdingMartial Arts of the WorldSchulzee's Weight Loss CompetitionNew Tech ToysProfessional WrestlingSign of the Times (Current Issues)New Products OverviewStrictly MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)Home Theater and Car AudioMuscle Car MadnessAll About Athletic FootwearPoker's Top

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-41729139515978202142007-10-02T16:12:00.000-07:002007-10-05T16:28:50.282-07:00

There are many blogging tools and web sites that will host blogs. WebCT and Blackboard also feature blogging tools. We don't recommend using WebCT and Blackboard for blogs however, because they defeat the basic purpose of blogging - free access to a blog. If students want to continue working on their blogs after the semester, they should use a blog tool and hosting site that provides 24x7 access

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-82386534361402204772007-10-02T16:00:00.000-07:002007-10-02T20:50:45.969-07:00

Blogs provide several distinct advantages over using word processors or paper and pencil for writing assignments.1) Blogs are Cool - Students expect to use modern technology as part of their educational experience. Out in the business world, they will use technology every day. Shying away from using technology just makes us professors look like we're stuck in the 1960s!2) Students are More

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-30284474717382032522007-10-02T15:44:00.000-07:002007-10-02T21:29:50.819-07:00

When we talk with employers and ask what skill sets they look for in our graduates, the employers in Montgomery County, PA universally say "communication skills." To develop communication skills, students need practice.Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) initiatives have been around since the 1980s and their importance for students is well documented. An excellent resource is The WAC

Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3517266864985157449.post-85419037819308960962007-10-02T15:30:00.000-07:002007-10-15T22:32:13.377-07:00

A Blog (short for weblog) was originally envisioned as a type of web site designed to act as an online journal. Naturally, the web allows easy and frequent updating of a journal and people can easily share their thoughts with the entire Internet community (if they so desire). Blogs are very easy to update at any time as you can even use a cell phone to create and post your blog entries while

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