Step by Step

Welcome to Step by Step

This blog has been created to assist staff members of The Cathedral School in their professional development in relation to Web 2.0. tools.  Thank you Sarah for all your help.

It aims to take teachers on a learning journey about the potential usefulness of Web 2.0 and how to use the tools to support student learning.  The first tool being investigated is blogs.

Summary of hints and tips if you don’t have the patience to go through the Help & Support.

You should receive an email similar to the following:

Hi,

You’ve been invited to join ‘Step by Step’ at http://stepbystep.edublogs.org as a editor. If you do not want to join this blog please ignore this email. This invitation will expire in a few days. Please click the following link to activate your user account: http://edublogs.org/wp-activate.php?key=0b00af12c8e7e259

• Changing your password

When you receive the confirmation email, you will need to click the confirmation link. When your email is confirmed you will be provided with a password that is generated by edublogs. Write this password down – you can change it later. From here you will have the option to login using this password.

Once you have logged in, go to your dashboard and click on the tab ‘Profile’ and then click the ‘Your Profile’ link. This screen will allow you to change the colour scheme of your dashboard, as well as set a new password (you may need to scroll down for this). Once you have set a new password and clicked on update  profile,  you will be prompted to login again with the new password. You will also be sent a confirmation email.

• Posting to the blog

You can post to the blog from your dashboard by clicking the “Posts” tab and then clicking “Add New”. You will be able to write a post with a heading of your own choosing. In the edit box, much the same as Microsoft Word, you can change the style of your text, add bullet points, numbered lists, or even direct quotes from the book. In addition, you can add hyperlinks to other websites, or fellow teacher’s blogs.

To help you get started, mouse over the buttons on top of the edit box to see what they do. When you type text or post pictures in the edit box, they will appear to you exactly how they will on the blog posting.

If you need a break, or need to save your draft and come back and work on your blog posting later, you can click “Save Draft” on the right side of the screen. If you are finished, you can preview your post before publishing it by clicking the “Preview” button on the right side of the screen.

Once you are certain your post is complete, click on Publish. If you then want to edit your post, you can, by going to your Dashboard and clicking the Posts tab, then clicking Edit.

• Reading and commenting on blog posts

You are able to make comments on other people’s blog postings by typing in the box under “LEAVE A COMMENT” which is normally at the end of each post. Your comments will then appear underneath the blog posting for all other users to see.

• Adding/changing your Avatar

Your avatar is normally a thumbnail picture of yourself which will appear on comments you make and on your own Dashboard. You can upload an avatar by clicking on the Profile tab in your Dashboard. Then click Your Avatar. You can browse for a photo from your USB or documents on your computer. If your photograph is large in size, you may need to use the Alternative Upload button which will crop your picture to size.

• Other hints and tips

If there is anything else you need to know, don’t hesitate to comment under this post, which will mean other users will have the opportunity to help.