1. How do I Create a Blog?

1. Log in.

To login to Blogs@Baruch, visit the B@B homepage or click here. Use your Baruch ID  and password (the ones you use to login to computers in a lab or to DegreeWorks or to your Baruch email) to login to the system.

2. Create a site.

Once logged into Blogs@Baruch, click on the “Create a Whole New Site” button under the “Your Profile” button in the sidebar on the far right of the page.

Give your site a name and a title. The name cannot be changed and will appear in your site’s URL. The title can be changed in case you decide to change it for some reason but please pick one you like and stick with it.

Click on “Create Site” to finish. (The default privacy setting is open — it makes your blog available to search engines and publishes site activity such as posts and comments to the public Blogs@Baruch activity stream. You can change it if you wish, but you may get a richer experience using your site for this course if you leave it as is. You can read more about privacy concerns here.

2. Ok, I now have a site. How do I use it?

Click here to access a thorough, illustrated guide to using the blog – including how to create new posts, how to comment, how to add images to a post, and how to update your profile.

3. Ok, ok. I know how to use it, but what am I supposed to do with it?

You will use your blog for regular reflections and for a variety of assignments. As noted on the syllabus, your regular use of this blog counts towards your participation grade (as does commenting on your classmates’ blogs.).  Prompts will be posted over the course of the semester.

You should also read and comment substantively on others’ posts. The more you comment, the more enriching and livelier the blogging experience will be. I am not going to require you to comment a specific number of times but will suggest that you should try to comment at least two or three times a week. If you are someone who tends not to speak much during class discussion, posting and commenting frequently is a great way to make up for that and ensure that your participation grade does not suffer. I’ll say more about commenting in class.

Remember that your posts are not term papers. They should be more exploratory and open ended (not to mention shorter). Your posts’ goals are to 1) enable you and your readers to play around with new and interesting ideas and 2) to generate conversation rather than present a finished, polished argument. I don’t expect you to have all the answers, but to move towards finding them. Don’t be afraid to ask your readers questions.

Generally speaking, a blog is a kind of online journal or diary. Blog posts are usually less formal and more conversational than the sort of academic writing you are typically asked to do. There is more room for creativity and experimentation here than in the typical academic paper in no small part due to the fact that you can easily incorporate various media — still images, video, or audio.

Your audience and purpose are different here as well. You’re writing not for a professor to whom you hope to demonstrate mastery of your subject matter, but sharing ideas with a broader audience — your “readership” — who, in this case consists of your classmates, me, and whoever happens to visit your site and read your posts. Keep in mind that your writing to your blog is public — don’t be surprised if you get a comment form someone not enrolled in this class.

Try to have fun with your posts and comments. Keep in mind that your site is your space. How it develops over the course of the term is up to you.

4. I have some other questions about this blog.

Not a problem. Leave a comment below and you’ll get an answer.