What is the Learning Commons?
The Learning Commons is an experimental site that provides an informal place to share links, resources and ideas relating to teaching and learning at NWIC. These are things people do already through e-mails, conversations or handouts. This space just provides an opportunity to extend the sharing further and to provide a searchable repository of all of the great ideas and resources that are shared.
How do I get to the site?
The Learning Commons site is located at the following web address: http://blogs.nwic.edu/learningcommons
How do I log in?
You don’t need to log in to view the materials on the site, but you will if you want to post.
To log in, just enter your username and password in the login box on the right side of the page. Log in using the same username and password you use to access your NWIC e-mail.
How do I post to the site?
There are three ways to post to the site:
Posting to the site directly
Once you log in, you will see a box at the top of the page where you can post to the site. Simply type what you want to say and copy and paste the link to any web site you want to share, then hit the “Post It”.
Using the Bookmarklet
Using the bookmarklet is an easy way to post to the Learning Commons site without having to actually go to the site. Simply drag the “Post to Learning Commons” link from the sidebar of the site up to the Bookmarks tab in your web browser.
When you find an interesting web page you would like to share, simply highlight some text in the web site and then go up to your Bookmarks or Favorites and click on the “Post to Learning Commons” link. A pop-up window will then appear that includes the highlighted text along with a link to the site you are sharing. You can then add in any additional commentary or thoughts to go along with the link and then help to categorize it by selecting a category and adding any relevant tags that might be useful in describing the resource. When you are done, simply click “Publish”.
Posting from another site
If you already use a social bookmarking such as Delicious, Diigo or Zotero you can simply add your RSS feed to the Learning Commons site and it will automatically pull in your links from the other services.
How do I subscribe?
It is helpful to subscribe to the site so that you can receive updates without having to continuously go back to the site and check it. You can do this in two ways:
Subscribe by E-mail
To subscribe by e-mail, simply add your e-mail to the Subscribe by E-mail box and hit the subscribe button. You will receive a daily e-mail with a summary of the day’s posts.
How do I add my picture/avatar?
To add a picture/avatar that will show up next to your name when you post, you will need to register with the Gravatar web site. To register, simply select “Get Your Gravatar Today” on the front page of the site. You will then be asked to provide your e-mail address and upload a picture. The picture you associate with that e-mail will be used whenever you comment on any WordPress powered blog site using that e-mail address. For the NWIC site, use your NWIC e-mail. For other sites, you can use the same service to associate a different picture with a personal e-mail address.