fysingram

Hello Goodbye

The following is a post I wrote for Dean Zumwalt summarizing faculty and student uses of blogs and e-portfolios. This is my last post as the Digital Design Fellow. This has been a WONDERFUL year–thank you to everyone who has worked with me to make this fellowship a success! Emily Grim, ’10 will be the next Fellow. She will become the author of this blog on June 14th.  Welcome Emily!!

When I started as the first Digital Design Fellow, I wasn’t sure where to begin. How was I supposed to encourage students to build a website from scratch and keep up with it? Make it a requirement? Introduce it in classes? Promise everyone that consistent reflection deepens learning and looks great on a resumé and hope they’d buy it? With the help of Emily Gwynn and many others, we took all of these approaches and have some exciting results.

The idea of a class blog or e-portfolio seemed confusing at first. However, thanks to the openness and creativity of several professors and the dedication and enthusiasm typical of Agnes Scott students, after two semesters of experimentation in courses across disciplines, they have become a dynamic teaching and learning tool. I’ve worked with faculty from Studio Art, Art History, Economics, German, History, Psychology, Religious Studies, and Sociology/Anthropology to encourage blogs in 14 courses this academic year. Eleven course blogs are linked to the right sidebar.

The art department has spearheaded the use of blogs in the classroom, requiring that each student in five different studio classes and one interdisciplinary course create an individual blog that documents their making and learning process. Nell Ruby compiles the individual sites on class blogs where she reviews students’ work. (See her favorite example.) Lisa Alembik posts images of drawings students may use for inspiration. Emily Grim has helped the art department launch a student-run blog that talks about art at Agnes Scott and in Atlanta.

One unique take on a class e-portfolio is Gundolf Graml’s German 340 class’s “Afro-Deutsche: Geschichte, Literatur, Kultur,” a site created for high school students about Afro-Germans. The class presented the project at SpARC, stating that there is a sore lack of resources about Afro-German history and culture. They hope their research will contribute to the few resources easily available online.

In an effort to encourage first-years to start their consistent digital reflective practice early, I presented e-portfolios at the ASC 101 sessions in the fall. Several students did indeed believe that consistent digital reflection is a good idea and started sites of their own. First-years are using their blogs to debate major decisions, explore study abroad options, reflect on Agnes Scott events, brainstorm for research papers, critique movies, analyze poetry, and comment on controversial news articles.

I appreciate the openness and excitement faculty and students have demonstrated this year toward blogs and e-portfolios. The launch of this thorough, dynamic, reflective content was possible because of collaborations spanning disciplines and departments. As a proud recent graduate, I’m excited to see that blogs and e-portfolios are becoming yet another avenue for Scotties to find their voice.

Blogging While Abroad

Introducing… (drum roll please)…

Doing a dance-drama with the Sankofa Center for African Dance and Culture, Ghana, May 2009

Handout #2 in the Agnes Scott College Digital Design Fellowship series: Blogging While Abroad! (Click to download PDF).

You all know how much I miss studying abroad, so I had a great time drafting this handout. I used my own experience from studying abroad and blogging, as well as some excellent tips I found on Abroadview.org.

I also used several Scottie blogs as inspiration. These are fantastic examples for anyone getting ready to start your own travel blog.

Lauren Slipek, ’11: Sentiments from South Africa. Lauren does a brilliant job of incorporating photos and video and making consistent, short, fun posts.

Jordan Casteel, ’11: Learning to Fly. Fantastic academic reflections.

Rachel Burger, ’11: Burger’s Beijing Blog. WordPress is banned in China, but Burger’s still posting (via her bf in the U.S.). That deserves serious kudos.

Anna Rogers, ’04: Bananna Travels. GORGEOUS photography!

And, because a post about study abroad cannot be complete without pictures, here are some of my favorites from my own trip to Puerto Madryn, Argentina in July 2008. My dear friend and travel mate Anna Linck is to credit for these images.

Whale watching at the break of dawn. See the whale? We were so close!

Whale watching from the boat. This was taken without zoom!

We had to dress for the occasion.

Wild horses we saw on a bikeride toward a sea lion lookout.

Me and Anna

Anna is currently recovering from a heart transplant, so please pray for a healthy recovery!

Photo Gallery Questions Answered!

Two students have asked me about the gallery option on WordPress. Here’s what I’ve found. All answers are from Random Acts of Photography’s post: Not the Official WordPress.com Gallery FAQ.

How do I delete one image from my gallery?

To delete an image from the Gallery, open the Image Uploader Gallery tab, click on “Show” and then click on the “Delete” link that appears beneath the Description box. You’ll be asked again if you want to delete the image. Click “Continue”. The image is deleted not only from the Gallery, but also from your Media Library.

In all cases, remember to click “Save All Changes” and “Update Gallery Settings”.

Note: with the March 2, 2010 update noted above, it is now possible to exclude an uploaded image from appearing in a Gallery without deleting it by modifying the Gallery shortcode in the HTML Editor. See the bottom of this WordPress.com Support Doc. An example might be [ gallery columns=”2″ size=”medium” exclude=”235, 158″ ]

How do I insert two different galleries into one post?

Galleries are tied to individual Posts or Pages. In order to have more than one Gallery per Post or Page, you need to create a new Post and upload the images you want there. Save the Post, go to your Dashboard’s Manage>>Posts and then hold your mouse over the title of the Post where you inserted the additional Gallery. (Update: you can also find this information via your Media Library.) In your browser’s status bar, you will see the link to edit your Post, which ends in a number. That is the ID number for the Post where the additional Gallery appears and what needs to be inserted in the Gallery shortcode via the HTML Editor. For example, the Gallery just below is coming from a past Post and also demonstrates displaying medium thumbnail size. The shortcode looks like [ gallery id=”119″ size=”medium” ] (without the spaces after and before the brackets).
*This technique is still experimental.

During my testing it became apparent that the additional Gallery must appear in a published Post, otherwise when viewers click on a thumbnail, they get a “Page not found” error. There are also some inherent navigation problems involved. My workaround was to insert a link in the past Post where the additional Gallery was uploaded to the Post where it is displayed. You can see this at work by clicking on one of the above thumbnails.  A note about editing the additional Gallery: It can only be done from the Post or Page where it was uploaded. Quite a lot of work to display an additional Gallery in the same Post.

How can I display an image in the same Post or Page without it being a part of the Gallery?

Any image you upload in the same Post or Page where your Gallery appears will automatically be included in that Gallery. Inserting an image which was uploaded via “Media>Add New” in the Dashboard is not attached to a specific Post or Page and will become attached to the Post or Page where your Gallery appears. This causes the image to be displayed twice, once in the Gallery and again indivdually. The solution is to upload the image to your Media Library from a different, existing Post or Page. Once your images have finished uploading, save your changes and then close the Image Uploader, then go back to the Post or Page where you want to insert the separate image. Click on the “Add Image” button and in the Image Uploader, click on  “Insert in Post” button to insert the individual image in your Post or Page. In order to avoid navigation problems, you should link the image to either “None” or “Image URL”.

This answer is repeated in the Official WordPress Help Forum here.

Other questions? Read the rest of Not the Official WordPress.com Gallery FAQ.

Other answers? Please share!

Springtime at Agnes

Lovely architecture + gorgeous flowers = paradise = Agnes Scott

All photos courtesy of Savannah Sharp, ’10.

Historic Main from front entrance

McCain Library

McCain Library front entrance

CTL Presentation: Recap

Thank you Calvin Burgamy for filming and editing the CTL presentation about blogs and e-portfolios at Agnes Scott on Friday, March 5. Click here to download the full content. Thanks again to everyone who came and joined in!

Click image to see video.

In case you don’t have the time to watch the footage, here are the main ideas.

Tammy Ingram: History

She’s using blogs in upper level seminars this semester. She uses her class blog as a news-feed and a place for student discussion leaders to post thoughts for the week. Other students respond for the current week’s discussion. Students are also encouraged to keep individual blogs where they publish reading journal entries and assignments related to their final research proposals. Connections to readings are not required but strongly encouraged.

sample individual student blog

She lists several benefits of blogging:

• students are able to see their peers’ discussion questions and thoughts before coming to class
• students are taking more responsibility for the content they’re producing because it’s published
• she’s already seeing an improvement in the quality of conversations in the class since using the blog

Question posed: How do we help students comment on one another’s blogs and post more content without making it required?

Nell Ruby: Studio Art

Blogs reinforce lessons she already teaches, including:

• writing helps you figure out what you’re learning
• art is not a God-given talent, but work
• part of being an artist is being vulnerable and public

Each student keeps an individual blog which is linked to the class blog. Students post their process after every class period. She looks for students to make connections between classes inside and outside of studio art.

On the class blog, she is transparent about the assignments (explains why they’re doing this project, why using which media, etc). She also pulls content from student blogs to mimic the public acknowledgment and recognition that’s important in the field of studio art.

She hopes to have upper level class blogs that will become a place for her to develop her writing style for reviews (see the sculpture class blog). A challenge is that blogging is not fluid for her yet; there’s still a learning curve. A surprise is that students who are quiet in class suddenly flourish on their blogs. She has discovered quiet students’ senses of humor.

Benefits of blogging:

• Feedback becomes easier for students to receive
• Blogs are a way to let students shine
• Individual blogs will become portfolios in the advanced stages, leading up to the capstone class for majors that shows students’ work and problem-solving

Julianna Jones, peer educator for the Bible and Liberation

Everyone in the class, including the professor, contributes to one class blog. Julianna uses the blog to post the syllabus, presentation groups, and glossary of terms. Tina (professor) posts comments that students write in class that day. The blog is an extension of discussions in class about controversial issues. Students are required to author 6 posts and comment on 4 others.

Students are encouraged to comment about the reading. So far the comments are going really well—students are avoiding simple comments like “great job” and engaging some disagreement.

Because students are not required to post every week, the biggest challenge is getting students to have enough self-direction to space out their posts. Julianna’s expecting a big rush at the end to complete the posting requirement. Another challenge is that some students are taking the class for their distributional requirement, and aren’t as compelled to engage discussion.

David Lawrence: Communication and Rhetoric, director of the Speaking Center

Why use WordPress?

1. So much functionality! Even with many years’ experience in coding, he can’t do a lot of the functions WordPress offers, like adding a search box.
2. Others can help you build your site. Kelsey Smith, a student aide in the Speaking Center, has a high skill set in technology and has helped build the Speaking Center site.
3. People can comment on your content
4. Others can publish to your site without being administrators.
5. You can change the look/themes with the click of a button. There are lots of look options which are constantly updated and customizable
6. Your site can be used as a blog, a WebSite, and/or an e-portfolio

Audience questions

Q: Are there ways to restrict content on the blogs?

Yes. Comments are moderated, meaning an administrator needs to approve them before they become public. Entire blogs and individual posts can be classified under various privacy settings.

Q: Is there authentication control? Outside of campus?

WordPress blogs can be password protected. You can set who you want to have access.

Q: Can we use WordPress to replace the intranet?

Perhaps. We need to do more research to answer this question.

Q: How do you collect analytical data?

On the Speaking Center site, David can see statistics from his hosting site. WordPress also has statistics.

Q: For those of you using class blogs, are you letting them be open to everyone? Do you have a problem with student privacy issues? Or fair use?

• All the work in the studio art classes is original. Students have the option to make their account private.
• Tammy’s public course blog is separate from individual blogs. Students can choose privacy settings for their own sites. She cautions them to think about copyrighted materials and warns about posting what prospective employers may see. Overall, her philosophy is to let students make their own decisions with a lot of warnings, which are also discussed at the blog orientation sessions Shannon gives.
• It’s almost always fair use to link, rather than copying.
• Using blogs presents a good opportunity to teach about copyrighting on the web.
• There’s an option with blogging to contact the author of material and ask permission to use it.

Q: As we expand this, how can we get the college’s name out there in the best way?

• Tag our photos and links as Agnes Scott College.
• The more we tag, the more our brand becomes expansive, innovative material, that is conceptual rather than visual.
• Add a footer that says Agnes Scott.

Q: How do we encourage students to post?

• Have examples of quality posts
• Count posts for credit
• Give students choices about what they can post about/how many posts/how often
• Ask students’ input by including questions on course evaluations about class blogs
• Avoid making the blog a cumbersome addition to the course
• Use past semester course blogs to inform current semester
• Student motivation to post is connected to interest in the class. Blogging isn’t different from any other type of assignment.
• There is a fear of work being public, but making posts private ends up ultimately reducing one’s motivation to post. Having a personal limit or amount that has to be done per week helps (like one per week).
• Having individual blogs motivates students to post more than just having class blog. However, with more use, class blogs may develop into communal conversation spaces.