Our Blog Guidelines

Our Blog Guidelines:

1. Treat the “learnerblog/edublog spaces” as “classroom spaces” — use appropriate language and be sure that anything you write you are proud of and are prepared to take responsibility for!! Your blog exists as a public space on the Internet. When you put something on the Internet, odds are really good that it will ALWAYS stay on the Internet. If you are not careful about what you write, what you write now could come back to haunt you in the future.

2. Never EVER EVER give out or record personal information on your blog.

Please – no last names, phone numbers, home addresses, IM screen names etc. (It is probably not wise to give out your personal email address either). Again, your blog is a public space on the Internet and anyone, anywhere, could be reading it. So….don’t share anything that you don’t want the world to know.

3. Never disrespect anyone or anything in your blog posts. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a person, an organization, or just a general idea. When you write your opinion on a topic, you don’t want someone making a stab at what you are passionate about. So, don’t do it to someone else. Try your best to make sure you’re not going to offend anyone in your posts.

4. Don’t write about other people without permission; if you can’t get their permission, use first names or initials only. Never share someone else’s last name.

5. Always check over your post for spelling errors, grammar errors, and your use of words. (HINT: Try pasting your post in a word processor first and using the spell checker or use an internet spellchecker before posting on your blog.)

6. Make sure things you write about are factual. Link to your sources. But never link to something you haven’t read and understood completely. When you link to something, make sure it is something that you really want to be associated with. If a link contains material that might be in poor taste or make some people uncomfortable, you should probably warn readers by using a parenthetical note or some other word of caution.

7. If you have a personal blog, please do not link to it from our class blog. Doing so may inadvertently reveal information that you don’t want to reveal.

8. Be aware of copyright — especially with sounds and images. Make sure what you use is copyright free !! (Just because you find it on the internet does not mean you are free to use it without permission !!) Remember to use Creative Commons

9. Keep it education-oriented. Stick to tasks set in class. Unless it pertains to the assignment, stay away from discussing plans for the weekend, general rambling, or diary entries about nothing. Chances are your responses to class tasks will usually be far more interesting! You may write all of this on your own blog (of course!)

Posting Comments

In order to preserve your personal privacy and safety it is important that the following procedures are followed when posting.

§  Only use your first name and last initial (joaquin a)

§  Never post any personal information

§  Use your Google account for the e-mail account

When posting comments observe the following protocol:

·         Use proper English

·         Refrain from using text language and shortcuts

·         Respect other opinions and use sentence starters such as, I respectfully disagree, you         make a good point, I support………….

Any profane language or postings that are inappropriate will result in disciplinary action.  These blogs are for academic purposes so please respect our intentions.