Blog post and commenting on our course site (200 points in total)
To interact with the course content on a deeper level and to practice blogging skills, you will be assigned to write a blog post on a course topic and post it to our course site. You will receive a notification email at the beginning of our course about your posting privileges to our course site. You can sign up for a specific topic, and you will post your blog entry by Monday night during your assigned week. All class members will comment on these blog posts by Friday night.
Blog post description (100 points)
For every weekly unit, our course site lists several links to additional in-depth readings mostly published by web design and user experience professionals. You can find these links under the “Additional Resources” heading in the right side bar for each weekly unit. When it is your turn to post, you will explore these links and create a summary of these resources for your class mates. Also, you will explore additional sources related to your topic and include links to these sources in your blog post. The summary of the resources should make up about half of your blog post and the exploration of additional resources should comprise the other half. The point value possible for this single blog post is 100 points depending on how well it fulfills each of the following criteria (see Blog on Course Site Evaluation here).
You can sign up to become Weekly Blogger for a specific week using this Sign-Up Sheet.
Blog post requirements
Your blog post will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Provides effective summary of the weekly resources with embedded links
- Includes explanation of and links to your additional resources
- Starts with a descriptive title that connects to an overarching, well-defined theme
- Illustrates a clear understanding of audience and purpose
- Is written in a style appropriate for a professional blog post in our content area
- Uses content-specific vocabulary correctly
- Applies effective structure for blog posts with headings, subheadings, lists, and short paragraphs
- Incorporates and links to their original source relevant images such as screenshots and photographs with Creative Commons license
- Has a word count between 1000-2000 words.
Blog commenting description (100 points)
Each week, you will read the assigned weekly blog post(s) by your classmate(s) and place a comment for one blog post on our course site. Some weeks there will only be one post, other weeks there will be several posts. While you should read all posts for the week, you will only need to comment on one post per week. In your comment, highlight what you appreciate about this blog post, what you find interesting and what additional topics your have explored as you engaged with your classmate’s blog post. Always connect your discussion of the topic to the assigned readings of that specific week by using the terminology within these readings. The goal here is to become website professionals who are taking charge of their own professional development by following current topics and posting professional blogs. Use this opportunity to find articles and posts related to the weekly topic on the web that you find interesting or that you think connects well with your career goals. The total point value possible for all blog comments you posted during the course is 100 points depending on how well all of your comments fulfill each of the following criteria.
Blog commenting requirements
Your bog commenting activity throughout the semester will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Connects effectively to the weekly blog post while explaining what you found valuable about the post
- Uses the terminology of the weekly topic also applied in the assigned readings
- Summarizes an article/post you found in connection with this topic and includes links to this post
- Explains how this additional topic connects to the original and also why you are interested in this topic
- Illustrates a clear understanding of audience and purpose
- Is written in a style appropriate for a professional blog comment
- Uses content-specific vocabulary correctly
- Has a word count of 100-200 words.