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

Blogging at Murdoch University: what, how and naked hamsters

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