Blogging at Murdoch University: what, how and naked hamsters

Blogging at Murdoch University What, why and naked hamsters Kathryn Greenhill July 2008 Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Preconceptions
Blogs are
Blather
about ...

Blogs are also Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Blogging is often about
Reading
Commenting
Linking
Answering comments
Writing
Embedding from other sources
Communicating with other bloggers using other web media

...so blogging takes .... Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

What will you exchange ? Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Outline
1. What’s a blog?
1.1 Elements of a typical blog
1.2 How people find blogs
1.3 How people read blogs
2. Why blog?
2.1 Context – changes to scholarly communication
2.2 How people use blogs
2.3 Blog hosting options
3. Murdoch Blogs
3.1 Pilot project
3.2 Why Creative Commons?
3.3 How to get a blog
3.4 Customising how your blog works
3.5 Customising how your blog looks
4. Decisions to make about your blog

These slides are available
On my blog:
http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat
On Slideshare.net
Search for user: edtechkat

1. WHAT’S A BLOG ? Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

What’s a blog ?
“ .... a website
Wikipedia entry, Blog (Accessed 7 July 2008 - http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blog&oldid=223455162 ) Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

What’s a blog ?
“ .... a website, usually maintained by an individual,

What’s a blog ?
“ .... a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video.

What’s a blog ?
“ .... a website, usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.”

What’s a blog ?
“ .... a website

Evolution of the term
Web log
=
Weblog
19 December 1997 Jorn Barger
=
“ We blog”
April/May 1999 Peter Merholz
=
Blog

1.2 ELEMENTS OF A TYPICAL BLOG Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

About mashups Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Mash ups Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Elements of a typical blog Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

A blog is not a series of web pages Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

A blog is a database. Each entry is a record. Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

1.2 HOW PEOPLE FIND BLOGS Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Technorati Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Google blog search Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Directories / lists/ “best of” Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Social Bookmarking sites Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Reading key blogs Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Links from other blogs Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Blogrolls Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

1.3 HOW PEOPLE READ BLOGS Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Visit the site Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

On different devices Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

and... Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

RSS Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

RSS in Plain English http://thecommoncraftshow.blip.tv/file/205570/ The Commoncraft show. Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

RSS is flexible too... Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

What does it mean when my blog has an RSS feed?
Content pushed
Easy to subscribe
Don’t know who is subscribed
Re-purposing
“ Publish” = RSS (even if you change it later)
Findability

2. WHY BLOG? Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

2.1 The context: changing scholarship Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Source: Johnny Lee: Wii Remote hacks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgKCrGvShZs Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

(Re)Create (RE)IMAGINE (Re)Do (Re)Examine (Re)Imagine (Re)Experience (Re)Make (Re)Define (Re)Introduce (Re)Engineer (Re)Start (Re)Present (Re)Explore (Re)Deploy (Re)State (Re)Store (Re)Apply ( Re)Attribute (Re)Build (Re)Affirm (Re)Born (Re)Connect (Re)Act (Re)Form (Re)Turn (Re)Confirm (Re)Allocate (Re)Configure (Re)Arrange (Re)Incorporate (Re)Conceive (Re)Converge (Re)Appraise (Re)Invent (Re)Cast (Re)Establish (Re)Constitute (Re)Adapt (Re)Iterate) (Re)Consider (Re)Learn (Re)Educate (Re)Assess ( Re)Align (Re)Compose (Re)Search (Re)Act (Re)Adjust (Re)Join ( Re)Construct (Re)Awaken Source: Disruptive Scholarship: An Idea Whose Time Has Come http://www.public.iastate.edu/~gerrymck/IPC2008-DC.ppt Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

What do these things mean... Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

When we have hundreds of free copies ... Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

And everyone can be a publisher and broadcaster ... Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Publish
Privacy
Copyright
Intellectual property
Scholarly debate
Authority
Plagiarism
Collaboration
Community of Practice

2.2 HOW PEOPLE USE BLOGS Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Conference site
http://datamining.it.uts.edu.au/conferences/wi08/?page_id=17

Curriculum vitae
http://www.fionabradley.com/

e-book
http://castleofotranto.blogspot.com/

Library catalogue
http://about.scriblio.net/

Instead of powerpoint
http://presentingblogs.wordpress.com/

Dictionary
http://moneyterms.co.uk/

UWM blogs
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
http://umwblogs.org/wiki/index.php/Ten_ideas_for_using_UMW_Blogs

Aggregated class blog
http://asianamericanlit.umwblogs.org/

A literary journal
http://groundedjournal.elsweb.org/home/

Italian language mashups
http://ilmashup.umwblogs.org/

Hear poetry
http://ecaudio.umwblogs.org/

Why would you blog ?
Online “home”
Clarify thoughts
See progress through time.
Connect
Communicate
Converse
Claim ideas first
Part of network effect
Human voice

2. 3 BLOG HOSTING OPTIONS Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Blog hosting options
Free third party “readymade” site (eg. blogger, myspace, wordpress or edublogs )
Buy third party web hosting only then install and maintain your own blog site
Hosted, maintained and administered by Murdoch University

Why NOT have a blog hosted by Murdoch University ?
Blog is not just for study / work
Ownership
Take with you when you leave
“ Personal branding”
“ Throw away” site
Data does not need to be secure
Customise look and features intricately

Why have a blog hosted by Murdoch University ?
Required for work / study
Guaranteed secure data – ethics or business
Intellectual property belongs to university
murdoch.edu.au web address
Students access without using up internet QUOTA
Don’t have skill or time to evaluate third party hosting

Access via intranet only
Authentication via LDAP
Integration with other university systems
Not based on a specific Course Unit and the very basic facility of the LMS is not sufficient
Concerns about advertisements appearing on the blog
Why have a blog hosted by Murdoch University ? Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

3. MURDOCH BLOGS Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

3.1 PILOT PROJECT Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Pilot project
Funded by Learning Technologies Steering Group
Kathryn Greenhill, Library/ITS – project management
Chris Quinn, ITS – technical management
Michael Pugliese, TLC – themes
Low maintenance and support
Monday 28 July to end of Semester 2
Evaluation then decide on continuation

Blogs in the pilot project
Library
External Students blog (info from library) – Amanda Heptinstall
Special Collections – Grant Stone
Library desk blog - Jean McKay
Emerging Technologies Specialist blog - Kathryn Greenhill
Rockingham Library experimental blog. - Deb Hamblin / Pim McCreedy
Communicate with our users blog - Jean McKay / Margaret Jones
Library Director - Margaret Jones
Education
Libby Lee (Education)
Penny Coutas (Education)
Lindy Norris (Education)
Peter Wright (Education/ Arts)
Other
Joint blog for University Emerging Technology Group - Rob Phillips /Kathryn Greenhill
Learning Technologies Steering Group blog - Kathryn Greenhill and LTSG
Media, Culture and Communications, Silvia Rosenstreich
Simon Order, Media Lecturer, Murdoch Dubai
ITS Incident Management Team
Learning Management System update / upgrade info - Chris Quinn and Zig Tan
First Year Experience Co-ordinator - Pamela Martin-Lynch
Monster Resource Hungry Example Multi Media blog - Kathryn Greenhill

Blog address
http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/[whatyouchoose]

Software Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Why WordPress MU ?
Open Source
Extremely flexible
Widely used
Best of breed
Lots of user guides

How do Murdoch blogs work ? Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

One author ... Many blogs Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

One blog ... Many authors Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Getting a blog
Agree to legal terms and conditions
Select license
Add authors
Name blog (can be changed)
Select URL (cannot be changed)

3.2 CREATIVE COMMONS Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Image of CC

Why Creative Commons?
About sharing
About distribution
Your naked hamster will be stolen anyhow

Overriding Creative Commons
Choose different license on theme
Add attribution to individual post

CUSTOMISING YOUR BLOG Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Do not *have* to change anything Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Customising your blog
3.3 The way your blog works
(making your hamster do tricks)
3.4 The way your blog looks
(dressing your hamster)

Options
Plugins
Themes
Widgets

Dashboard Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Options Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Plugins Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

With toys
your hamster
can do tricks

With plugins
your blog
can do more

Plugins switched on for all blogs
More privacy options
WYSIWYG print
Anarchy media player
Allow embedded videos
Akismet

Plugins you can choose to switch on Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Plugin - Add RSS Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Plugin – Add Firestats Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Plugin – Photo dropper Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Plugin – Sociable Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Plugin – Spam Karma 2 Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Plugin – Subscribe to Comments Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Plugin – Wordpress video plugin Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

(dressing your hamster)

Themes Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Themes
Over 80 themes to chose from

Murdoch corporate Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Murdoch ripped Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Murdoch plain Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Features of Themes Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Customisable header images Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Sidebar(s) Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Widgets Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Decisions to make about your blog
Define purpose
Define success
Time
Audience
Conversation
Comments

Decisions to make about your blog
Voice
Image on header
Schedule
Name / tagline
Would you read your own blog?
Your privacy, others’ privacy

The correct way to blog Kathryn Greenhill http://blogs.murdoch.edu.au/edtechkat

Image credits
All images or screenshots not credited below created by me.
Other images below downloaded from Flickr.com, unless otherwise specified
SLIDE 1 Undressed Hamster from the site : http://www.missoandfriends.com/misso/create/petdressup/index.php
SLIDE 4 Jelly Sandwich Heart (Blood Sugar Low?) http://flickr.com/photos/fornal/363700193/ Uploaded on January 21, 2007 by Bob.Fornal
SLIDE 5 Baby red http://flickr.com/photos/fofurasfelinas/9357496/ Uploaded on April 14, 2005 by fofurasfelinas
SLIDE 6 tight curve http://flickr.com/photos/enigmatic/361525280/in/photostream/ Uploaded on January 18, 2007 by Bashed
SLIDE7 XML is colorful http://flickr.com/photos/willpate/63813414/ Uploaded on November 16, 2005 by Will Pate
SLIDE 9 Great Flexibility ! http://flickr.com/photos/khalid-almasoud/474399662/ Uploaded on April 27, 2007 by khalid almasoud
SLIDE 12 Time Warp http://www.flickr.com/photos/kt/314372109/ Uploaded to Flickr on December 5, 2006 by The Rocketeer
SLIDE 78 California Dreamin‘http://flickr.com/photos/telstar/97068276/ Uploaded on February 8, 2006 by Telstar Logistics
SLIDE 79 DSCN2141 http://flickr.com/photos/lukem/63031189/ Uploaded on November 14, 2005 by caled
SLIDE 80 Studying http://flickr.com/photos/hettiemcfarlane/2548897187/ Uploaded on June 4, 2008 by Hettie McFarlane
SLIDE 81 Coffee Break http://flickr.com/photos/rooreynolds/509145604/ Uploaded on May 22, 2007 by Roo Reynolds

Image credits
All images or screenshots not credited below created by me.
Other images below downloaded from Flickr.com, unless otherwise specified
SLIDE 129 littlest sanitation worker http://www.flickr.com/photos/barretthall/2122350041/ Uploaded on December 20, 2007 by popofatticus
SLIDE 132 Power Plug http://flickr.com/photos/ppdigital/2058130092/ Uploaded on November 24, 2007 by Darren Hester
SLIDE 224 Water On My Hands http://www.flickr.com/photos/paseodelsur/111784308/ Uploaded to Flickr on March 13, 2006 by carlosluis

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Blogging at Murdoch University: what, how and naked hamsters

by Emerging Technologies Specialist on Jul 16, 2008

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