Wiki History
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).
What is a Blog?A blog (a contraction of the term "weblog") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketches (sketchblog), videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Micro-blogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.) 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.
What is a Project?A Project on awareNet is also called collaborative content. It means that a person or a group of people can work together on the same project online, but have the possibility to work individually at different times from any computer with Internet access. The topic of the project can be chosen freely, but must not be offending, aggressive, or discriminating. The project can consist of text and pictures. In the future, audio and video files can be used as well. Projects are meant to be educational for the project members as well as for future researchers. They will be stored in the awareNet's database for other users to read and learn. 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. Click on the project that interests you to get access to the full project. In the side column you will see the members of that project. If you want to join that specific project, click on "ask" in the box "Ask To Join The Project". The box will open and present a text box with the following text: "Message to Project Admins: Hi! I'd like to join your project. I think it's interesting and would like to participate.", followed by your name. If you like you can edit the text, but you don't have to. Then, you click on the "Make Request" button to send your request to join the project. If you don't want to join the project, you click on the "Hide Form" button. The project administrator has to first confirm your request before you will be a member of the project. His decision will be sent to you in "My Feed", your notifications. 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.
What is a Forum?A Forum is a place to discuss different topics and matters in public. The topic of the forum is decided by the initiator of the forum. Every user can join any discussion forum on awareNet and add their opinion. Even if you do not join a forum, you can still read the posts. It is therefore important to keep in mind that opinions expressed in a forum will be made public to everyone. Avoid being too specific for others to understand what you are talking about. Explain yourself well. Do not offend, threaten, or lie. Don't repeat yourself or others. Refer to other posts. Make an interesting contribution! Often, you don't need to start a new forum, if you want to start a discussion. The topic that you might want to discuss is very likely the topic of an ongoing discussion. If you click on "Forums" in the main menu you will get an overview of all the ongoing discussions and different forums. Browse through the forums to see if others are already discussing your topic. If you find a forum with your topic you can join the forum by simply clicking on the title of the discussion. Then, you can read through the discussion posts and see who the authors are and from which school they come. At the bottom of the discussion you can send a reply. To send a reply click on the "+" in the "Reply" box. The box will open and show you a text field. You can type any text into the text field and edit it with the icons above the text field. Remember to be careful with judgments or aggressive comments towards other people. Do not discriminate other people, don't be offensive or lie! If others find your comment offensive it will be removed. When you have finished typing your text click on the "Add Reply" button. To start a forum click on "Forums" in the main menu.
|
