Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Week 7 (Final Class!)

As promised, today we will be doing the Scavenger Hunt Quiz. You will work on your own to complete the following test. You can take as much time as you need complete the quiz. Please try to answer the questions on your own, if you can't find the answer, move on to the next question.

Click here to begin the Quiz

After you have finished and submitted the quiz, I'd ask everyone to please take the time to fill out this evaluation form. It will help us to improve the course for the next group. Make sure to fill out both part 1 and 2.

Once you have completed the evaluation, log in to your blogger dashboard and create a new post. Include several links as we learned in the last class.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Week 6

Last week, we all succeed in creating our own blogging space and some even got start with their first post

Today we will keep the momentum going on our blogs and beginning adding some multimedia and interactivity to our blogs. Once again we’ll push back our internet scavenger hunt to another date.

To begin with, I’d like to have a discussion together about our blogs so you can share your ideas and get feedback in order to solidify our blog plan. We will go around and each participant will explain what they will write about in their blog.

Take a moment to read this article and reflect on how it applies to your blog. Ignore the bits about making money, that's not the goal of our blogs for now. I’d like everyone to answer the following questions:

  • How will you keep your blog dynamic (what new content can you added on a regular basis?)
  • Who will be interested in reading your blog?
  • What blogs already exist on your topic? How will your blog be different?
After our discussion we will work together to learn how to add links, pictures and video to our blog entries

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Week 4

Okay, today's the day we begin our blogging accounts. You will all follow the instructions from I handed out in week 2 (click the link and follow on your screen if you don't have your copy). We've already explored blogs, so begin at the "Creating Your Own Blog section".

Everyone will work on this task at their own pace. Once your account has been created, it's time to start thinking about content. What is it you will write about on your blog? I've collected some links that will help you get ideas flowing. Take some time and read them over.

101 Posting Ideas to make your blog sizzle

100 Topics I hope your write about

Blogging Inspiration

Alright, I admit, some of those ideas are pretty geeky. But hopefully it got you thinking about what you can do yourself.

By the end of the class I'd like everyone to have 3 blog theme ideas. They can be as general or as specific as you like. Here's my list:

  • Quotes overheard on the Montréal Metro
  • Photos of my bike in progess
  • Records I found at the Salvation Army

As you see, these topics relate to my interests. They can be frequently updated with new content and don't even require all that much time outside of what I do anyway.

Are you still stuck? Yeah, so we all go through writer's block sometimes. Check out this list of the world most popular blogs...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/mar/09/blogs

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Week 3

For today's class, we will continue where we left off the last class by exploring some practical tools for navigating the city. 3 weeks ago (if you can remember that far back), we used Tous Azimut to find the public transportation scheduals to get from one point to another. To begin, we will refresh our memory of that system.

Excercise 1: Tous Azimut refresher

Use Tous Azimut to find the QUICKEST route from the intersection Guy & René-Lévesque to Cinema du Parc (you'll have to do a google search to find the address :)

You need to arrive at the cinema by 19h00. Find a route that DOES NOT USE THE METRO.

Once you have found the answer, post a comment on this page (at the bottom of this article) which states the departure time, the arrival time, and the bus route number.

Excercise 2: Find a Bixi bike

Go to bixi.com, and click Find a Station. Navigate the map using the zoom and arrow tools on the left side to find the station in Parc Lafontaine, next to Hôpital Notre Dame. Click the bixi icon to find details about the station. Again, Post A Comment below indicating the Bikes Available and the Bike Docks Available at this location.


The remainder of the class we will use to explore some local blogs. Follow the links suggested in the Week 2 posting below. Find a blog that sparks your specific interests. After you've read a few posts, look to see if the blog has a blog roll (a list of links to related blogs, usually found in the right hand side of the page). If so, click the links to read more on the subject.

Finally, if you have time, begin researching your blog topic. By next class, I'd like everyone to have one idea of a subject for their blog and three website or blog addresses about that topic.

Also a reminder, we will have our Internet scavenger hunt quiz next week, so practice what we've learned about exploring blogs, using gmail, tout azimut and bixi.com

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Week 2

We'll begin today's class by looking at at a couple very useful internet tools for getting around Montréal.

First, we'll look at the STM's public transportation locator, Tout Azimut.

Next, we'll see if we can find the nearest Bixi bike stand to our home and how many bikes are available there using their Station Locator.

Finally we'll use Map Quest to find the quickest route by car to a particular destination.



In the second half of the class we will continue our exploration of blogs by taking a look at some local Montréal bloggers and make some comments on their posts. Here's a few suggestions. If there's nothing that interests you, do a search using the google blog search at the bottom of the page.


Vu d'ici - One of Montréal’s foremost culture bloggers

Midnight Poutine - Arts, culture and food, prepared daily.


Reading Montréal - Reading Montréal. The City is a book with 100, 000 poems


Spacing Montreal -Understanding the urban landscape.


Montreal City Weblog All things pertinent to your municipality.


Narratives - Literary News and Reviews from the Montréal Gazette.


Exploring South West Montréal- An up-to-date blog on the happenings
and neighborhood politics in South-West Montréal.


Montreal Foodie Reviews, Opinion, Rants and Raves from the Montreal Restaurant, Dining and Food Scene


You can also search key words for blogs on topics that interest you at:

http://blogsearch.google.com

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Week 1

Welcome to our workshop's very own Blog. By the end of this course you too will have your very own blog where you can put all your ideas and creations into cyberspace for the world to hear.





Installing Computer Parts: What Components Are Inside My Computer?

History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.



Homework:

Read the first part of The Download Decade.