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Blog Tool in Online@UT
How to Create Student Blogs
Blogs for Students should be created by the instructor. The instructor determines writing permissions for the blogs.
- Group blog - entries are written and viewed by a group of students.
- Individual blog - entries are written by an individual student and viewed by all students in the class.
- Private blog – entries are written by an individual student and viewed only by the instructor and the student.
How can students access their blogs?
The instructor creates blogs in a Content Area (i.e. Course Documents, Assignments, etc.). Students should select that Content Area in the course menu.
Quick Steps: To create a blog in a Content Area
- Select Control Panel.
- Select a Content Area where you want to create a blog.
- Select "Blog" from the drop-down menu in the top right corner, then select "Go" button.
- Type a name for the blog and a short description.
- Select members of the blog. Important: To make the content of the blog visible only to the members of the blog, you will have to create an Adaptive Release rule for the blog based on membership.
- Select other options for the blog.
- Select Gradebook options and text direction. Select "OK".
To make the content of the blog visible only to the members of the blog:
- Select a Content Area where you created a blog.
- Select "Manage" button next to the blog for which you want to set an adaptive release rule based on membership.
- Select Adaptive Release link.
- Under Membership, select a group that should have access to the content of the blog.
- Press "Submit" button.
Step-by-Step:
Step 1: Select Control Panel.
Step 2: Select a Content Area where you want to create a blog.
Step 3: Select “Blog” from the drop-down menu in the top right corner, then select “Go” button.
Step 4: Type a name for the blog and a short description.
Step 5: Select members of the blog and the arrow button. Select "Yes" for Do you want to make the content visible?
Important: To make the content of the blog visible only to the members of the blog, you will have to create an Adaptive Release rule for the blog based on membership.
- To create a group blog, select the name of a group you created. Select "Yes" for Do you want to allow users to view posts by other users? - Blog entries will be written by a group of students.
- To create an individual blog, select the name of an individual. Select "Yes" for Do you want to allow users to view posts by other users? - Blog entries will be written by an individual student. The entire class will view the blog and may comment on the entries.
- To create a private blog, select "All Students". Select “No” for Do you want to allow users to view posts by other users? - Blog entries will be written and viewed by individual students and the instructor.
Step 6: Select other options for the blog.
Do you want to allow students to purge blog entries?
Choose "No" if students are not allowed to permanently delete entries in the blog.
Who do you want to allow to comment on blog entries?
Select "Nobody" to turn off the comments function, "Instructor Only", "Blog Member and Instructor", or "Everyone in Course".
Choose the dates and times for which group members will be allowed to edit the blog.
Use the date ranges to specify when blog members are allowed to edit pages. By default there are no date restrictions placed on editing.
Choose the dates and times for which non-group members will be allowed to view the blog.
Use the date range fields to specify the time range in which all students of the course can view pages. By default there are no date restrictions placed on viewing, if viewing is enabled.
How shall public references to students be displayed?
Use this option to specify how their names will appear on the screen.
Step 7: Select Gradebook options and text direction. Select "OK".
Create Grade Book Entry.
If the blog is being graded, select the "Create a Grade book entry for this blog " and specify options for a Gradebook entry: name, category, points possible, and visibility. A column for the blog will be created in Gradebook automatically.
Choose Primary Text Direction.
If you are building your blog in a language that is read right-to-left, such as Arabic, you can set the primary text direction. If no option is selected, all text in the blog will be displayed left-to-right by default.