Communication on awareNet

There are many different ways of communicating on awareNet: sharing ideas and thoughts (blog), telling news (calendar, blog), giving and receiving information (PM, blog, projects, forums, calendar, chat), discuss different topics and matters (forums, chat), and most importantly creating and representing information and content for everyone (projects).

1 Blog

To write a blog go to "My Pages" in the main menu. Then you click on "Blog" in the sub menu. In the side column of your personal blog home page is a box called "Add New Post". You can open the box by clicking on the "+" and close it by clicking on the dot in the little circle. Type a title for your blog post into the text field and click on the >> button next to it.

On the following page you can enter your text for the blog. You can edit your text body with the little icons above the text box. If you want to change the title of the blog, you can type a different title into the title field. You can also up- or download a picture and add it to the blog using drag and drop. Don't forget to save your text and changes by clicking on the "save" button.

To comment on a blog click on the title of the blog to open the blog. To add the comment, click on the little + in the circle in the "Add A Comment" box. Type your text into the text field and click on the "Post Comment" button.

2 Projects

To start a project, go to "Projects" in the main menu. The project's front page displays several ongoing or finished projects. You can read through existing projects to get an idea what a project could be about and how to create a good project. Have a look if there is already a similar project to the one that you would like to start. It is more interesting and follows the nature of awareNet if you join an existing project with the same topic rather than starting a new one. You can work together with other people in your school, at a different school and even internationally to share ideas and safe work, because you won't have to do the same research again. Further, working in a team with foreign learners is an important skill to learn by your learners, too.

If you can't find an existing project similar to the project you planned, you can start your own project. In the side column of project's home page is a box called "Add New Project". You can open the box by clicking on the "+" and close it by clicking on the dot in the little circle. Type a title for your project into the text field and click on the >> button next to it.

To edit your project you can either open your project from the main project page by clicking on the project title and then on "Edit This Project" in the submenu, or by clicking on the little [edit] link under the abstract of your project on the the main project page. You will only be able to edit your abstract and title. To edit a section of your project, click on the little [edit] link under a specific section of your project. You can change the title, add, edit or delete text, up- and download pictures and drag and drop them into the text box, and edit the text with the little icons on top of the text box. Remember to save your changes by clicking on the "Save Changes" button under the text box.

To structure your project, you can add sections that will appear below your title and abstract. To add a section to your project, type a section title in the little text field in the Sections box in the side column of your project and click on the >> button. Sections can be edited as projects. All section titles will appear in the side column of the project page while editing. You can change the order of the sections by clicking on the little up or down arrows next to the section titles in your Sections box.

You can work on a project together with a group of other awareNet users. To add new members to your project you have to click on "Edit This Project" in the sub menu. In the side column you will find a Project Members box. All current members are listed in that box. By clicking on the little triangle next to "User:" you can select a specific user from a list. Below you can determine if that person will be a member or an administrator of that project. Usually, there is only one administrator per project. They have special rights that regular members don't need, e.g. deleting the project. Regular members can edit the project the same way as administrators.

3 Forums

To start a forum click on "Forums" in the main menu. You will come to the main forums page, where you can see what other forums already exist. Before you start a new forum make sure that there isn't already forum with the same or a similar topic in which you could just add a post, which is quite likely. Read through the other forum introductions first, before you start a new forum. Only when you are sure that your forum is different to all the others you can click on "Create New Forum" in the submenu. A new page will open with several text fields. In the first text field you must write a title to give your forum a name. In the text field below the title field you must select to which school the forum will belong, e.g. your school. In the large text field you can type your text body, i.e. here you describe what your forum will be about. Remember that other users will also start a discussion in your forum, so keep the introduction rather general and don't be too specific. You can edit the text using the icons above the text field. When you have completed filling out al three text fields, you must click on the "Save" button. If you change your mind and don't want to publish your text, click on the "Delete" button.

To start a new discussion in a forum click on the specific forum to which you want to contribute by either clicking on the title of the forum or on the [see all threads >>] link behind the introductionary text. You will get an overview of all the ongoing discussions in that forum that are all about the same forum topic. Before you start a new discussion make sure that there isn't already an ongoing discussion that you could join which is quite likely. Read through the other discussions first, before you start a new discussion. Only when you are sure that your discussion focuses on a different angle of the forum's topic, scroll down and type a title for your new discussion into the text field next to "Title". Then you type your text body into the large text field, i.e. your message or opinion that you want to share with everyone. You can edit the text with the icons above the text field. When you have finished typing your text, click on the "Create Thread >>" button to save your text.

4 Personal Messaging (PM)

To send a PM click on "Inbox" in the main menu. In the main column you will find all messages that have been sent to you. In the side column is listed how many read and unread messages are in your inbox and how many messages you have sent and are now in your outbox. Below that you will find a list of contacts, who are other users that have already sent a message to you or received one from you. Now, you click on "Compose" in the submenu. A new page opens:

Type a title for your message into the first text field. The title should contain a keyword for the text message that you are going to send and helps you and the recipient to sort and find messages easier. Next, you choose the recipient, i.e. the person to whom you want to send the message. In the text field next to "Search" you type the name of the recipient and click on the ">>" button. awareNet will show you a list of possible users. Choose the user you were looking for by clicking on the arrow next to the user, not on the name or thumb. If you accidentally clicked on the wrong person's arrow, remove the recipient by clicking on the "X". If you want to send the message to several users, add more recipients in the same way as you added he first one. Then, you type the text message that you want to send into the large text field. You can edit the text with the little icons above the text field. Finally, you click on the "Send" button. If you change your mind and don't want to send the message click on the "Cancel" button.

To send a message to one of your existing contacts you can click on the [send message] link next to the desired contact in your contact list.

To read a message click on "Inbox" in the main or in the sub menu. All the messages that have been sent to you will be listed in the main column. You are able to find information about the sender, possible additional recipients and about the content, which is indicated by the subject or title of the message. Additionally, you can see when the message was sent and if you have read it already or not. If you click on the subject of the message, the message will open and you will be able to read the text.

To reply to a message open the respective message as described above. Below the message you will find a "Send Reply" button. Click on it. Now, you can compose your reply in the same way as you would compose a regular message (see above), except you don't have to add a title or subject or recipient. However, you can add additional recipients or change the subject if you wish. Then, you click on the "Send Message" button. If you change your mind and don't want to send the message click on the "Cancel" button.

To delete a message open the message as described above. Below the message you will find a "Delete" button. Click and done.

5 Chat

6 Shared Calendar