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THE COURSE WEBSITE A quick how-to
THE COURSE WEBSITE
A quick how-to
What’s on the website?
This website is a “blog.” A blog is a specific kind of website the organizes frequently updated content from newest to oldest.
Blogs are often used by political commentators or news organizations, but more and more teachers are utitilizing blogs to share information and keep in touch with students.
In this power point, you’ll learn about some of the basic features of the website.
Posts
Posts
When you first load the website, you’ll see a series of posts from me listed from newest to oldest.
These posts are often announcements about class or office hours. Sometimes I’ll share news articles or information about BH that I think might be of interest to you.
In addition to my announcements, each post contains a lot of information that you can use: the date, commenting feature, and categories. We’ll discuss the commenting feature and categories in more detail.
Post information
Categories are a way for me to
organize related posts.
Comments are a way for you to
communicate with me and your fellow
students.
Check the date to be sure that
you’re reading a post from this
semester.
Comments
If you see a post that you have a
question about or that you want to
talk about, click on leave a comment.
Comments, cont’d
When you click on “leave a comment,” you’ll be
taken to a form. Fill out your name (you can just
use your first), email address, and then your comment. Then click “submit comment.”
Comments, cont’d
Once you click “submit
comment,” your comment will appear on the
post.
Comments, cont’d
If a post already has comments, you’ll see the
number of comments listed on the post. Click on the number to read
the comments. Sometimes a fellow
classmate might have asked a question that
you have.
Comments, cont’d
Comments are a useful way for you to ask a specific question without sending an email, and you can use them to just generally add your thoughts to something that I post.
I check for new comments frequently, so don’t hesitate to posts comments and questions. And be sure to read other comments, too.
Remember, this is an English class. So minor language and grammar errors are just fine; however, intentional subverting of language (I nd hlp 2day) is unacceptable.
Categories
Each post is assigned a category, and that
category is listed at the bottom of the post.
Categories
On the right hand side of the page, you’ll see a drop down box under the heading categories.
Click on the little arrow, and a list of categories will appear.
Chose the category you wish to explore by clicking on it.
Categories, cont’d
By clicking on a specific category, a list of posts relating to that category will appear.
Here, the troubleshooting category shows posts about bibliographies, Meebo, and turnitin.com, and you can see the troubleshooting category listed next to each post.
You can then examine a specific post in more detail by clicking on the title.
Categories, cont’d
You will find the categories feature useful if you want to browse announcements related to just your class or read through the posts about BHSU.
Remember, the categories feature will bring up posts from past semesters, so be sure to check the dates as you look at the posts.
Pages
Pages
In addition to posts and announcements, you’ll see a list of pages across the top of the website.
These pages contain information that you’ll need to access on a regular basis for the course.
Pages, cont’d
By clicking on the little house icon, you’ll be
taken back to the homepage that lists all
the posts.
Pages, cont’d
Clicking on 101 or 201 will take you to a page about the
courses. Hovering your mouse over 101 or 201 will display a
list of ancillary pages. Click on the appropriate page to go
there.
Pages, cont’d
Other pages on the website contain
information about email, turnitin.com, etc. Click on the title to go to the
page.
Pages, cont’d
Don’t forget that “Writing Prompts” is the page you’ll want to visit if you are going to miss
class.
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box.net FAQ's
Thanks for Watching
If you have any questions about how to use Box.net on the course website, let me know.
Leave a comment on the appropriate post, send me an email, or chat using Meebo (be sure to check that I’m online).