Welcome!

Welcome to our class blog. It is my hope that you will visit here often and post regularly. Your participation is key to the success of this online space.

Why a class blog?
The main objective of our keeping a class blog is to extend our classroom conversations to the larger, ongoing conversations among those interested in issues related to authorship, copyright, and digital media. Sharing your writing with a more public audience, a group of readers who will actually read what you write, respond, and give you feedback, will help you to become a more responsible, and responsive, writer and researcher. Writing in a public space - with readers that include your classmates and beyond - will help you to think more carefully about your writing and the views that you espouse. You’ll see that blogs allow a high level of interactivity – through linking to other web content such as websites, blogs, and online articles to responding to your others’ posts.

Tips for blogging success.
The first requirement for your grade in the class is to write on the blog at least once per week. Your participation can be in the form of either a post or a comment. Your contributions should appear by Saturday of each week, so your classmates have a chance to read and respond before Monday evening’s class. Your posts may be related to any aspect of the course, though on some weeks topics for postings may be suggested. Feel free to post more frequently if you have something to say that extends beyond this minimum requirement.

The second requirement is that you link to someone else's blog at least twice this semester. This can be any blog (not an article or static website) that exists online. Your blog posting should respond to a discussion there and should relate to or be informed by readings, discussion, and activities for class.

Here are some tips for blogging success:

1. Feed the blog. Remember that the success of our class blog depends on its content. The number of people who will read, link to, and contribute to the blog depends on how frequently its authors are adding useful content.
2. Make connections with other web content. Connect your thoughts to and build on what is already being said and explored online. You can make these connections by linking within your posts, or by adding comments on others' blogs.
   
3. Add value to existing content. It’s not enough to just link to other websites and/or summarize materials you’ve been reading. You need to add value to this content by expressing a well-grounded opinion or approaching it from a unique perspective.
4. Respond to comments. In order to establish a true conversation on the blog, you should read and respond to all comments directed at your posts. If readers ask a question or offer either positive feedback or a critique, it is important that you respond thoughtfully on the blog.
   

Now let’s get started with our first week of blogging!