Archives for the 'Discussion of Readings' Category
Setting Up A LiveJournal, Posting to the Course Community, and Leaving Comments
In order to participate in the online discussion of readings during the course, you’ll need to create a LiveJournal account and use it to make posts and leave comments in the course community. This post offers instructions on how to do all of those things.
Creating A LiveJournal Account
You’ll only need to do this step once.
To create a LiveJournal account:
- Visit the LiveJournal main page.
- Click on the “Create an Account” button.
- Fill in the requested information on the account page. You don’t have to use the same username or password that you use for your Niagara accounts — in fact, it would be better if you didn’t.
- Click on the “Create Account” button.
- Make a note of your username and password.
- Send the instructor an email with your username and password
If you like, you can fill out additional information after you’ve created your account, but you don’t have to do so.
Posting to the Course Community
You’ll need to do these steps every time you want to post to the course community.
To post to the course community:
- Log in to your LiveJournal account (if you’re not logged in already).
- Visit the course community page.
- Click on the post to this community link in the top navigation strip or in the “links” section of the right hand sidebar.
- Enter a subject into the subject box.
- Type (or copy and paste) your post into the entry textbox.
- Click on the “update journal” button at the bottom of the page.
Adding Comments to A Post
To add comments to a post:
- Visit the community page and locate the post on which you would like to comment.
- Click on the link that says “leave a comment” underneath the post.
- Type your comment into the Message: box.
- Click on the “Post Comment” button.
Discussion of Readings: Assignment Description
How do online communities work? One of the best ways to find out is to participate in one. During the course, we’ll be reading at least one article a week about different aspects of online communities and collaborative writing. We’ll use and refer to the readings in-class, but you’ll also be expected to discuss them in an online community. Each week, one or two students will make posts about the readings and content covered in that week’s classes, and also categorize and tag community posts.
How To Get Started
- On the first day of classes, we’ll spend time in class creating LiveJournal accounts and making test posts to the online community. If you miss the first day of class or you don’t finish by the time class is over, be sure to create your journal and make a test post outside of class.
- Choose a week to be the discussion leader and let the instructor know which date you would like by September 13. First come, first served.
- Participate in the online discussion during the first two weeks of class by adding comments to the post for that week. The instructor will be the discussion leader for the first week of readings, to give you time to select a week for leading the discussion and to give you a model for what a discussion post could look like.
When You’re The Discussion Leader
- Read the assigned readings (and anything else that you think might be relevant to the discussion).
- Make a post of at least 300 words which summarizes the reading, provides commentary, and asks questions of the class during the week. For models, see the discussion posts that the instructor or your classmates have made.
- Tag the post with appropriate keywords (we’ll talk about these in class) and add the post to the community memories. We’ll talk about how to do this in class, and you can ask the instructor for help if you’re not sure how to do it.
- Respond to people’s comments during the week when you are the discussion leader. You might ask a question, answer a question, or provide your opinion. Try to avoid “me too!” or “good job!” replies.
When You’re A Discussion Participant
- Respond to discussion posts each week by leaving comments that address the topic. You could make your own comment, or you could reply to an existing comment, or both! You must post at least one comment each week. Ask a question, answer a question, offer an insight or opinion, provide links — it’s up to you.
- Be a respectful and courteous participant in the discussion. Part of the class will be talking about how people establish norms, boundaries, and behaviors in online communities, so it’s up to you to think critically about what the ones for our community are.
Grading
The assignment will be graded on:
- How well you summarize, provide commentary, ask insightful questions, and respond to people’s comments, and pay attention to conventions for Web writing when you are the discussion leader. (100 points)
- How well you respond with clarity, coherence, and insight in your comments on discussion posts throughout the semester. (100 points)
The instructor will send you an email with your discussion leader grade the week after you’ve done the discussion leader portion. If you want to know about your comment grade, you can ask at any point during the semester. You can earn a maximum total of 200 points for this assignment.