Sept. 20 agenda
From the email I sent to the students …
Unfortunately, I must cancel class tonight for family reasons. I never, ever cancel classes, but I’m backed into a corner.
This does not mean that I do not expect two additional blog posts for next week. I do. More on this later.
Also, you were assigned the task of setting up RSS feeds for your area of interest and any other sites you find interesting. Alicia, you were out last week, and I had planned to catch you up in Thursday’s class. Since I will not be there, I’ll make the assignment here, which will serve as a refresher for the others.
You need to set up an RSS account. Use a free Web-based reader — Google Reader (http://google.com/reader), Bloglines (http://bloglines.com), or NewsGator (http://newsgator.com. There are tons of RSS readers out there — Web-based, browser-based, and desktop-based — but I prefer that you use a Web reader so we can share information and discuss your feeds in class.
You are to look for blogs or Web sites (that have RSS feeds) in your areas of interest. For example, John with art, Alex with photography, and so on. I encourage you also to look for feeds — think of them as sources of information and research — for your other classes and interests.
Since class is cancelled, I expect you to come to the front of the classroom next week and call up your RSS feeds in Google Reader, Bloglines, or NewsGator and discuss what you’ve found, how they are helping you with your project and/or other classes and interests, and your general impressions of the RSS experience.
If anybody does not understand RSS, please call me or send me an email. Send me a note if you need the cell number, as I do not want to publish this on the Web.
Now, back to your blogging …
I’ve taken it slow this semester on purpose, giving you an opportunity to ease into blogging, writing, and so on. Many of you — but certainly not all of you — have not posted to your blogs during the week(s). The semester is well underway and I expect you to post to your blogs, even experimentally, in the areas of interest we’ve discussed in class. Failure to do so will hurt your final grade.
I’ve taken a road of discussion and conversation with you regarding blogging and the subjects we’ve talked about. With such a small class, I didn’t think you’d want to hear me “lecture” for two-plus hours. The downside of this approach is that I often talk about the subjects quickly and do not provide slides or class materials for you to review. If any of you are struggling, don’t understand something, want to go back and review a topic, please let me know.
Again, sorry for the inconvenience, but it’s unavoidable.
Dan.
Hello world! Delete Me!
Whenever you start a WordPress blog, you get this first post: Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!
First thing. Delete it. Now. Nothing says Newbie more than this post, especially if you start blogging and you leave this entry.
