Distance Education
Distance Education Tutorials
Using the Blogs Tool
What is a Blog?
A blog is an online journal, in which individuals can write entries, ordered by date, which they can share with others. Members of the site can comment on each others’ entries.
Using a Blog in Teaching
A blog can make a interesting learning diary, with students keeping a journal of what they have learnt, and what they would like to find out more about. Some students find that this can offer a useful opportunity to reflect on their own learning. If they choose, students can restrict individual blog entries so that they are only visible to teaching staff and themselves. Blog entries can also be made visible to all the other students in the site, or to the public.
Blogs can be particularly useful if students are working on individual projects, and you want them to be able to follow what the other students in their group are doing. Students can be asked to blog regularly, and to read each others’ blogs. Students writing dissertations can be asked to blog to keep their research supervisor informed of progress.
Using a Blog in Collaboration Sites
A blog can also be very helpful for researchers working on a collaborative project. Individual researchers can use it as a research diary, jotting down their findings so far, and reading entries by their colleagues.
Alternatively, research participants can be asked to blog about their experiences, providing a secure and permanent record of the research project. Again, people can can restrict individual blog entries so that they are only visible to the site administrators and themselves. By default, all blog entries are visible to the other site participants.
The Blogs Tool in MyCR
The Blogs tool in MyCR works on a site by site basis – entries that people write in one site will not appear in any other sites.
People will not be automatically notified by email about comments on their blogs, or about new entries in other people’s blogs.
Blog entries do not display in the ‘Recent Activity’ tool on the home page of your site.
Blog entries can be searched by the Search tool in MyCR.
Accessing the Blogs Tool
To access the Blogs tool, click Blogs in the tools menu on the left side of the screen. The CLE displays the tool's home page.
On this page, you'll see a list of the blogs that other site participants have created and to which you have access, along with the number of blog entries for each blogger and the date and time of their most recent activity. In addition, MyCR displays as RSS feed icon for each blog.
MyCR also displays the My blog link for access to all of your own blog entries, as well as the date and time of your last activity.
You may return to the home page at any time by clicking the Reset button or by clicking All the blogs in the Blogs menu at the top of the page.
Viewing Blogs of Other Users
To view the blog of another user, follow these steps:
1. If the home page is not displayed, click the Reset button or click All the blogs in the Blogs menu bar at the top of the page.
2. From the Blogger column, click on the appropriate name. MyCR displays that user's blog. You'll see all the blog entries to which you have access, with the most recent entry on top.
3. To see a blog entry in a separate window, click the Permalink link. To view comments left by other users, click on the comments link, which includes the number of comments.
4. Depending on the permissions you've been granted, MyCR may also display a Leave a comment link for each entry. See below for more information on Leaving Comments for Blog Entries.
To return to the Blogs home page, click the Reset button or click All the blogs in the Blogs menu bar at the top of the page.
Leaving Comments for Blog Entries
If the site owner has granted you the appropriate permission, you may leave a comment for a blog entry by another user. To leave a comment, follow these steps:
1. Access the blog for the appropriate user, as explained in steps 1-2 of Viewing Blogs of Other Users.
2. For the appropriate blog entry, click on the Leave a comment link. MyCR displays the existing comments for the entry, along with a box for leaving your own comment:
3. Enter your comment in the box and click Publish comment. Or, click Cancel to leave no comment.
To return to the Blogs home page, click the Reset button or click All the blogs in the Blogs menu bar at the top of the page.
Adding an RSS Feed for a Blog
To add an RSS feed for a blog, follow these steps:
1. If the home page is not displayed, click the Reset button or click All the blogs in the Blogs menu bar at the top of the page.
2. For the appropriate user, click on the RSS icon at the right of the page. MyCR displays a separate window, where you may select an RSS subscription option.
Adding a Blog Entry
To add a blog entry, first click the Reset button. Then, follow these steps:
1. From the Blogs menu bar, click on Add blog entry. The CLE displays the Add a new blog entry page:
2. In the Title box, enter a title for the blog entry. An entry here is required.
3. In the text box, add your content. For information on using the icons and pulldown lists in the text box, see Using the Rich Text Editor. An entry here is required.
4. Specify who may view your blog entry. If you select This entry is publicly viewable, you must still provide the entry’s URL to users.
5. If you want to publish your blog entry, click Publish Entry. If you want to save your work but do not want to publish the entry, click Save Draft. If you do not want to save your work, click Cancel.
To view your new blog entry, access the home page and click the My blog link. MyCR will display the entry first, as the latest blog entry.
Editing a Blog Entry
To edit a blog entry, follow these steps:
1. If the home page is not displayed, click the Reset button or click All the blogs in the Blogs menu bar at the top of the page.
2. Click the My blog link.
3. For the appropriate blog entry, click the Edit entry link. MyCR displays the Edit a blog entry page.
4. Make all appropriate changes to the entry’s content and/or settings, as described in steps 2-5 in Adding a Blog Entry.
Removing a Blog Entry
To remove a blog entry, follow these steps:
1. If the home page is not displayed, click the Reset button or click All the blogs in the Blogs menu bar at the top of the page.
2. Click the My blog link.
3. For the appropriate blog entry, click the Remove entry link. In the dialogue box that appears, click OK. Or, if you do not want to remove the entry, click Cancel.
Note: If you remove a blog entry, you may not reverse this action.
Creating or Editing your Blog Profile
To create or edit your blog profile, first click the Reset button. Then, follow these steps:
1. Click My blog settings in the Blogs menu bar. MyCR displays the following page:
3. Add content in the text box. For information on using the icons and pulldown lists in the text box, see Using the Rich Text Editor.
4. If you want to save your work, click Change settings. If you do not want to save your work, click Cancel. In either case, MyCR displays the home page.
Setting User Permissions
If you are a site owner, you may specify how site participants use the Blogs tool by setting user permissions.
To set permissions, click on Permissions in the Blogs menu bar. MyCR displays the Permissions page.
Select the appropriate permissions for each user role. You have the following options for each role:
| Permission | Description |
|---|---|
| .create | Users are allowed to create a blog. Typically granted to the instructor, student, and teaching assistant roles. |
| entry.write | Users are allowed to add blog entries. Typically granted to the instructor, student, and teaching assistant roles. |
| entry.write.any | Users are allowed to edit the blog entries of other users. Typically granted to the instructor role only. |
| entry.read | Users are allowed to view all blog entries for which other users in the site have provided access. Typically granted to all roles. |
| entry.read.any | Users are allowed to view all blog entries of other users in the site, regardless of how those users have limited access to their entries. Typically granted to the instructor role only. |
| comments.add | Users are allowed to leave comments for blog entries they view. Typically granted to all roles. |
| comments.remove.any | Users are allowed to remove the comments left by other users. Typically granted to the instructor role only. |
To clear all permissions, click the Clear all link. To undo changes you've made and remain on the Permissions page, click the Undo changes link.
If you want to save your changes, click Save. If you do not want to save your changes, click Cancel. In either case, MyCR displays the home page.
