Quick Start Guides

Creating an Blog

Creating a Journal

Editor Tips and Tricks

Understanding the Text Editor

Subscribing to a Podcast

Creating a Podcast Episode

Managing a Podcast

Subscribing to a Blog

Enabling RSS Feeds

Searching for Blog Entries

Viewing and Adding Comments to a Wiki

Viewing and Adding Comments to a Blog

Contributing to a Blog

Monitoring Participation

Viewing Wiki History

Contributing to a Wiki

Creating a Wiki

Quick Start Guides

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 20:24:26 GMT

Quick Start Guides provide an overview of each of the Campus Pack applications along with navigation and step-by-step instructions.

Teams LX

Journal LX

Viewing and Adding Comments to a Blog (PDF)

Podcast LX

Other

The above Quick Start Guides have been formatted as PDF files. If you would like the Microsoft Word versions of these guides so you can customize the information and steps, send an email to support@learningobjects.com. We would be happy to send you the files.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:03:16 GMT

A blog is a web site that is designed to be frequently updated by a student. Entries in a blog are usually displayed in reverse-chronological order.

There are two type of blogs:

A private blog can have one or more members. Each member can only see his/her own work. The instructor can see all entries created by any member.

An individual or group blog can have one or more members. Entries can be viewed and commented on by members and non-members.

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame.
Click the Edit View link located at the top right of the page.
In the Select field, select Blog.
Click the Go button.

Blog Information

Enter the name of the blog in the Name field.
Enter the description of the blog in the Description field if applicable.
If you want students to access the blog, select Yes as the Make the blog available option.
Select the Group Blog option.
Select the Enable an RSS feed option if applicable.

Member Settings

Select the Blog members option.
If the Specific groups and course members option has been selected, select groups from the Course Groups box and/or from the individual students from the Individual Course Members box.
Click to move the group or member to the Selected Members box.
Select the Allow students to permanently delete blog entries checkbox if applicable.
Select the Allow members to export their blog entries checkbox if applicable.
Select the View Comments checkbox if applicable.
If this option has been assigned, select the Write Comments checkbox to allow members to add comments.
If you want to allow edits during a specific timeframe, select the appropriate Allow Edits After and Allow Edits Until options.
Click the OK button to continue.

Non-Member Settings

Select the Allow non-members to view the blog checkbox.
If you want to allow viewing access a specific timeframe, select the appropriate Display After and Display Until options.
Select the View Comments checkbox if applicable.
If this option has been assigned, select the Write Comments checkbox to allow non-members to add comments.
Click the OK button to finish.
Click the OK button to continue.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:44:58 GMT

A blog is a web site that is designed to be frequently updated by instructors or by one or more students. Entries in a blog are usually displayed in reverse-chronological order.

There are two type of blogs:

A private journal can have one or more members. Each member can only see his/her own work. The instructor can see all entries created by any member.
An individual or group blog can have one or more members. Entries can be viewed and commented on by members and non-members.

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame.
Click the Edit View link located at the top right of the page.
In the Select field, select Blog.
Click the Go button.

Blog Information

Enter the name of the journal in the Name field.
Enter the description of the journal in the Description field if applicable.
If you want students to access the journal, select Yes as the Make the blog available option.
Select the Private Journal option.
Select Yes as the Allow blog members to view
Instructor’s entries option.

Member Settings

Select the Blog members option.
If the Specific groups and course members option has been selected, select groups from the Course Groups box and/or from the individual students from the Individual Course Members box.
Click to move the group or member to the Selected Members box.
Select the Allow students to permanently delete blog entries checkbox if applicable.
Select the View Comments checkbox if applicable.
If this option has been assigned, select the Write Comments checkbox to allow members to add comments.
Note: Comments for any entry are only viewable by the instructors and by the author of the entry.
If you want to allow edits during a specific timeframe, select the appropriate Allow Edits After and Allow Edits Until options.
Click the OK button to finish.
Click the OK button to continue.

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:25:56 GMT

Editor Tips and Tricks

The following is a list of tips and tricks that will assist you in formatting content in your blogs and wikis using the graphical text editor. This editor is designed for rendering HTLM content and works similarly to a MS Word editor. However, there are some features you may not be familiar with.

Resizing the Edit Box

1. On the bottom right above the Save button, click (resize) and drag the button vertically to resize the text box.

2a. You can also click (toggle full screen mode) to preview the content in full screen mode before saving.

2b. Click the Toggle Full Screen Mode button again to return to the edit mode to save.

Deciphering Editor Buttons

If you mouse over the buttons in the text editor toolbar, a text pop-up displays. For instance, if you mouse over , a text pop-up displays Undo.” For a complete explanation of the buttons in the toolbar, refer to the Understanding the Text Editor Quick Start Guide.

Most of the buttons on the third row of the text editor toolbar concern table functions and may be grayed out. You must first click to insert a new table. The other buttons that address row and cell properties, inserting and deleting rows and columns, and splitting and merging cells will become available.

Setting Global Styles

1. Before editing the text, click to display the Edit CSS Style dialog box.

2. On the Text tab, select the Font option (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman), the Size option, and the Color option.

3. On the Background tab, select the Background color option, the Background image, and the Horizontal position

and Vertical position options.

Other tabs, such as Block , Box, Border, List and Position, apply various global settings to the page.

4. When done, click the Update button to apply the changes to all of the content on the page.

You may determine that certain sections of text or words require different font, size, or color options. Apply these settings individually after you have edited and applied the global styles.

Pressing the enter key on your keyboard inserts a paragraph break between the line of text above and the line of text that follows. Pressing enter + shift inserts a line break between the text above and the text that follows, thereby eliminating the double spacing.

Organizing a Page Using Tables

Tables are an easy way to organize text and images on a page. They help to organize the placement of images and text and will give your pages a horizontal as well as a vertical appearance. You can also create hyperlinks in tables by selecting text and clicking to enable a jump to an internal or external web page.

If you are not using a table, you can improve your page layout by modifying the properties of the image.

1. Right click on the graphic and select Image properties.

2. Click the Appearance tab.

3. Select Alignment options (e.g., Top, Middle, Bottom, Left, Right).

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:23:25 GMT

The text editor is used to format text posted in a blog or wiki. Many of the icons in the toolbar function as they do in MS Word
and most HTLM text editors. The text editor can also be used to format templates and default user sites used with Expo LX.

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:47:26 GMT

Podcast episodes can be played directly from the course page; however, students are encouraged to subscribe to the podcast so the content media will be sent to the student’s podcatcher (e.g., iTunes or Juice) or by some other feed aggregator (e.g., Google Reader or Netvibes).

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click the Tools link in the course menu frame.
Click the Podcast link.

Subscribing Using iTunes

Select .
If the External Protocol Request dialog box displays, click the Launch application button.
Select the Podcast title and click the Play button to play the content media.

Subscribing Using Google Reader

Right click . If you are using a Macintosh, ctrl+click on the RSS button.
If using Firefox as your browser, select the Copy Link Location option. If using Internet Explorer as your browser, select the Copy Shortcut option.
Launch the Google Reader application.
Click the Add Subscription link.
In the subscription address field, right click and select the Paste option.
Click the Add button.
Click the Play button to play the content media.

Opening Attachments

If you want to open the attachment from the Google Reader, click the attachment link.
In the dialog box, click the OK button to open the attachment.

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:38:08 GMT

Podcast episodes are displayed within a course in chronological order. They can be played directly from the course page. If a student subscribes to the podcast feed, the episodes can be played in a podcatcher or on an mp3 player.

Note: Each course has only one podcast feed. Students are not be able to subscribe to the feed until you enable the RSS feed option on the Manage Podcast page.

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame.
Click the Edit View link located at the top right of the page.
In the Select field, select Podcast Episode.
Click the Go button.

Episode Information

Enter the name of the episode in the Title field.
Enter the description of the episode in the Description field if applicable.

Podcast Media

If the content media is stored on your computer, click the Browse button for the Attach local file option and navigate to and select the file.

If the content media is stored in the Blackboard Content System, click the Browse button for the Copy file from the Content Collection option.
Navigate to and select the file in your Content Collection.
Click the Submit button.

If the content media is stored on another website, enter the address in the Link to an external URL field.

Supplemental Attachments

If you want to attach additional files to the episode, click the Browse button for the Attachment options and navigate to and select the files.

Options

If you want students to access the episode, select Yes as the Make the episode available option.
If you want to restrict access during a specific timeframe, select the appropriate Display After and Display Until options.

Submit

1. Click the Submit button.

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:29:42 GMT

A podcast is a web-based broadcast of audio or video content that is often delivered to subscribers through an RSS (really simple syndication) distribution mechanism.

Podcast episodes can be played from the course page or sent to the student’s podcatcher, such as iTunes and Juice, or by feed aggregators, such as Google Reader and Netvibes.

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click the Control Panel link.
Click the Manage Podcast link.

Podcast Information

Enter the name of the podcast in the Feed Title field. By default, the podcast name is the name of the course.
Enter the description of the podcast in the Description field if applicable.

iTunes Metadata

Enter the category in the Category field if applicable.
Enter the sub category in the Sub Category field if applicable.
If you want to display a graphic for the podcast, click the Browse button for the Add Album Art field and navigate to and select the image.

Options

Select the Visibility option.

If you want students to access the podcast episodes from the course page (no RSS feed), select the In Course Only option.

If you want students to be able to subscribe to the podcast feed, select the Everyone option.

Note: The Everyone option makes the contents of the feed public to anyone who obtains the URL address.

Submit

Click the Submit button.

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:16:55 GMT

Blog entries can be reviewed directly from the course page; however, students can subscribe to a blog using a feed aggregator (e.g., Bloglines or Google Reader). The RSS feed for the blog must be enabled by the administrator before subscribing.

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Navigate to the blog.

Subscribing Using Bloglines

On the course blog page, click the RSS button located on the bottom right of the page.
Select Bloglines from the Subscribe to the feed using drop-down menu.
Click the Subscribe Now button.
Click the Subscribe button.

Subscribing Using Google Reader

On the course blog page, click the RSS button located on the bottom right of the page.
Select Google from the Subscribe to the feed using drop-down menu.
Click the Subscribe Now button.
On the Google page, click either the Add to Google homepage button or the Add to Google Reader button.

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:02:10 GMT

Journal entries can be reviewed from the course page or viewed in a feed aggregator, such as Bloglines and Google Reader. After the RSS feed has been enabled by the administrator, students can subscribe to the feed.

Navigation

Steps

Navigation

Steps

Enabling an RSS Feed for a Course-wide Blog

Enter a course.
Click the Control Panel link.
Click the Configure Blog Tool link.

Course Blog Tool Options

Select Yes as the Do you want to enable public (unathenticated) RSS feed option.
Click the OK button.

Enabling an RSS Feed for a Course-content Blog

Enter a course.
Navigate to the folder or area that contains the blog.
Click the Modify button for the blog

Course Blog Tool Options

On the blog page, click the edit link.
Select Yes as the Do you want to enable public (unathenticated) RSS feed option.
Click the OK button.

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:48:11 GMT

You can access student contributions to a blog by the entries they have posted. You can search for entry by:

- Author

- Specific date

- Archived months

- Recent posts

Navigation

Steps

Select a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame.
Click the View link for the blog.

Searching by Author

In the blog sidebar, select the number of entries in the show field.
Select the author in the by field.

Searching by Date

In the blog sidebar, select the number of entries in the show field.
Select all authors in the by field.
Click a month link if appropriate.
Click a date link to view the entries created on that date.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:20:51 GMT

Students can view the wiki if Yes has been selected as the Make the wiki available option. They can contribute to the wiki if they have been selected as a member of the wiki.

Navigation

Steps

Select a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame.
Click the View link for the wiki.

Viewing Comments

Scroll to the bottom of the wiki.
Click the Comments link.

Adding Comments

Click the Comments link.
Enter the comments into the text box.
If you have copied text from another document, press ctrl+v on your keyboard to paste in the text.
Click the Add Comment button.

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:39:06 GMT

Students can view the blog if Yes has been selected as the Make the blog available option. They can comment on a blog entry if the blog is not a private journal, and if they have been selected as a member of an individual or group blog, or if the View Comments checkbox has been enabled for non-members.

Navigation

Steps

Select a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame.
Click the View link for the blog.

Viewing Comments

Scroll to the bottom of the blog entry.
Click the Comments link.

Adding Comments

Click the Comments link.
Enter the comments into the text box.
If you copied text from a Microsoft Word document, click and press ctrl+v on your keyboard to paste in the text from the Paste from Word window. Select the Insert button to insert the content into the blog.

If you copied text from another type of document, click (ctrl+v) to paste in the text.
Click the Add Comment button.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 23:26:35 GMT

After you have created a blog, you can add text, hyperlinks, images, and embedded media.

Note: Students will be able to contribute to the blog when Yes has been selected as the Make the blog available option. They can contribute if to the blog if they have been selected as a member of the blog.

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame to locate a blog.
Click the View link for the blog.
Click the new entry link in the blog menu.

Adding Text

Enter the name of the entry in the Blog Entry Title field.
Enter information into the text box.
If you copied text from a Microsoft Word document, click and press ctrl+v on your keyboard to paste in the text from the Paste from Word window. Select the Insert button to insert the content into the blog.

If you copied text from another type of document, click (ctrl+v) to paste in the text.

Inserting Hyperlinks

Click the new entry link in the blog sidebar
or click the Edit link next to the entry title.
Highlight the text that you want to link to another page.
Click .
If the link is to an existing entry, select the Link to an existing entry option and select the entry from the list of blog entries.

If the link is to an external web site, select the Link to an external web site option and enter the address in the URL field.
Click the Insert button.

Inserting Local Images

Click the new entry link in the blog sidebar
or click the Edit link next to the entry title.
Click .
If the image is stored on your computer, select the Upload an image option and click the Browse button.
In the File Upload dialog box, navigate to and select the image.
Enter a description in the alt text field.
Click the Upload button.
Click the Insert button.

Linking to External Images

Click the new entry link in the blog sidebar
or click the Edit link next to the entry title.
Click .
If linking to an image on another website, select the Include an image from an external web site option.
Enter the address in the URL field.
Enter a description in the alt text field.
Click the Upload button.

Inserting Embedded Media

Click the new entry link in the blog sidebar
or click the Edit link next to the entry title.
Click .
In the Type field, select the type of media being embedded.
Enter the address in the URL field.
Enter the width and height in the Dimension fields.
Click the Constrain proportions checkbox if applicable.
Click the Insert button.
If done, click the Save button.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:40:22 GMT

Reviewing history allows you to view all the revisions made to any wiki page, to compare changes between different versions of the page, and to revert to any previous version.

Green highlight indicates text has been added
Yellow highlight indicates text has been modified
Red highlight and strikethrough indicate has been deleted

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click the Control Panel link.
Click the Assess Wikis link.

Selecting Participant Detail and Change History

Click the View Participation button for a wiki.
Select the View Detail button for a participant.
Select the See Change History button for a page to review the revision history.
Select the View Diff button for a version of the page.
To view a previous version, click the Prev Diff button if applicable.
To view a newer version, click the Next Diff button if applicable.

Returning to Content Area History

Click the Back Up button to return to the page history.
Click the Go Back button to return the student participation detail page.
Click the Go Back button to return the members participation page.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:36:23 GMT

Reviewing history allows you to view all the revisions made to any wiki page, to compare changes between different versions of the page, and to revert to any previous version.

Green highlight indicates text has been added
Yellow highlight indicates text has been modified
Red highlight and strikethrough indicate has been deleted

Navigation

Steps

Select a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame to locate a wiki.
Click the View link for the wiki.
In the History link in the wiki sidebar.

Selecting a Participant Version

Click the View Diff button for a participant.
To view a previous version, click the Prev Diff button if applicable.
To view a newer version, click the Next Diff button if applicable.

Returning to Participation Area

Click the Back Up button to return to the wiki participation page.

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:11:50 GMT

After you have created a wiki, you can add text, hyperlinks, images, and embedded media.

Note: Students will be able to contribute to the wiki when Yes has been selected as the Make the wiki available option. They can contribute if to the wiki if they have been selected as a member of the wiki.

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame to locate a wiki.
Click the View link for the wiki.
Click the Edit link in the wiki sidebar.

Adding Text

Enter information into the text box.
If you copied text from a Microsoft Word document, click and press the ctrl+v on your keyboard to paste in the text from the Paste from Word window.
Select the Insert button to insert the content into the blog.

If you copied text from another type of document, click (ctrl+v) to paste in the text.

Inserting Hyperlinks

Click the Edit link in the wiki sidebar.
Highlight the text that you want to link to another page.
Click .
If the link is to a new internal page, select the Link to a new page option and enter the page name in the Page Name field. This action creates the new page and the link to that page.

If the link is to a page that was created previously, select the
Link to an existing page option and select the page from the list
of pages.

If the link is to an external web site, select the Link to an external web site option and enter the address in the URL field.
Click the Insert button.
If done, click the Save button.

Inserting Local Images

Click the Edit in the wiki sidebar.
Click .
If the image is stored on your computer, select the Upload an image option and click the Browse button.
In the file upload dialog box, navigate to and select the image.
Enter a description in the alt text field.
Click the Upload button.
Click the Insert button.
If done, click the Save button.

Inserting External Images

Click the Edit link in the wiki sidebar.
Click .
If linking to an image on another website, select the Include an image from an external web site option.
Enter the address in the URL field.
Enter a description in the alt text field.
Click the Upload button.
If done, click the Save button.

Inserting Embedded Media

Click the Edit link in the wiki sidebar.
Click .
In the Type field, select the type of media being embedded.
Enter the address in the URL field.
Enter the width and height in the Dimension fields.
Click the Constrain proportions checkbox if applicable.
Click the Insert button.
If done, click the Save button.

Cutting, Copying and Pasting Using Firefox

Pasting Text from Another Document

With a Firefox browser, you may receive the following error message when using the (cut), (copy), and (paste) buttons: “Cut/Copy/Paste is not available in Mozilla and Firefox.” Instead use keyboard shortcuts to perform the cut, copy, and paste functions directly in the text box or in the dialog box. Use ctrl + x to cut, ctrl + c to copy, and ctrl + v to paste. Pressing shift + insert can be used to paste as well.

The following toolbar buttons allow you to paste text from another document as raw text or with the original formatting:

- allows you to paste text into a Paste as Plain Text dialog box, but strips out the formatting, such as bold, italics, font, and font size.

- allows you to paste text into a Paste from Word dialog box and retains the formatting.

Eliminating Extra Space Between Lines

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:54:23 GMT

A wiki is a website composed of one or more pages that allows people to add and edit content collectively. Your wiki starts off with one page: the homepage. You can add new pages at any time and link them together.

Navigation

Steps

Enter a course.
Click a content area link in the course menu frame.
Click the Edit View link located at the top right of the page.
In the Select field, select Wiki.
Click the Go button.

Wiki Information

Enter the name of the wiki in the Name field.
Enter the description of the wiki in the Description field if applicable.
If you want students to access the wiki, select Yes as the Make the wiki available option.

Member Settings

Select the Wiki members option.
If the Specific groups and course members option has been selected, select groups from the Course Groups box and/or from the individual students from the Individual Course Members box.
Click to move the group or member to the Selected Members box.
Select the Allow students to permanently delete wiki pages checkbox if applicable.
Select the Allow members to export the wiki checkbox if applicable.
Select the View Comments checkbox if applicable.
If this option has been assigned, select the Write Comments checkbox to allow members to add comments.
If you want to allow edits during a specific timeframe, select the appropriate Allow Edits After and Allow Edits Until options.

Non-Member Settings

Select the Allow non-members to view the wiki checkbox.
If you want to allow viewing access a specific timeframe, select the appropriate Display After and Display Until options.
Select the View Comments checkbox if applicable.
If this option has been assigned, select the Write Comments checkbox to allow non-members to add comments.
Click the OK button to finish.
Click the OK button to continue.