Assignment #3 – Memes? Art?

Are Internet Memes ART? 

Let’s discuss! You know that you want to!

**The class video recording and tutorial for this assignment is posted below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/MzCWT3eigGJutQGvAGe6wE44SYt6g8hcZRPSLVhCC9Aro4D6wWXS_m6pF7-X0UAk.7oODCxc1kYzFLm-C 

Passcode: nD9GX@!4

 

First – (lets screen the video above and then later read the article below for more context..)

Second – The Assignment Details: A New Blog Post is in order.

Assignment #3 – Are MEME’s ART?

Start by doing an Internet search for; “Are memes ART?”

See what you discover, gather those links and be prepared to share them in your post.

No matter how you cut it, memes are here to stay… but is this good or bad for Art? Is this good or bad for communication? Are memes simply just forms of self-expression? Or are they MORE? Well, why or why not? I want to know what you think.

Can MEMEs be used for storytelling? 

Lets create a compelling way to share our responses.

And by all means plan to create, search for, discover and share your favorite existing Memes via an image or URL, or embed them into your new blog post for this coming week.

How will you craft a narrative between using Memes and your own personal experiences?

**Oh, and, you MUST create at least 2 of your own memes to express your sentiments for our CT101 class! Be sure to include the words: “CT101” in your meme!

Perhaps, you will say “CT101 be like…”

OR, “What if I told you that CT101….”

All of this nestles quite well into in new Blog post! (thats your assignment!) Please consider the formatting of this blog post that you are reading right now. Notice how we see a mixture of images, video and hyperlinks that help give context and reference to where we are drawing resources from.

Some Online Tools for making Memes:

Giphy.com – (create a free account)

Imgur.com – (create a free account)

Make a Meme – work with some of the Internet’s classic templates

Are there others that you know of? Please share them in your post!

More Insight on MEMEs:

Thrillist top 100 memes of all time

The Wiki Definition(s)

A good synopsis via how-to-geek.com

Another Take via theVerge.com

————————————————–

***The CT101 Meme Project will later be exhibited on the NET-ART website as a collaboration project!  Check out some of the other projects on display there now – https://netart.commons.gc.cuny.edu/galleries-exhibitions/


Read this article below – be sure to reference it!

Are Memes the Pop Culture Art of our Era? Kate Knibbs

(I know, I know, its a dream come true assignment!)

Have fun!

Assignment #2 – Making our first GIF & GIF Post Narratives!

Making our first GIF & GIF Post Narratives!

Assignment #2

***the full video tutorial will posted after class at the bottom of this post***

Exciting times!

Lets make some GIFS and explore the history, contexts and potentials of this Internet Culture Sensation! GIFs are obviously here to stay! How far will they go?

But First, and Importantly:

What makes a successful, compelling and engaging Blog Post?

We have a contrast and a result to work from now that we have published our first assignment, looking back, did you cover all of these aspects listed below? (you can always edit and update your existing posts, I highly encourage it!)

Good Blogging:

  • is thoughtful with your post titles –  How will your audience know what the post is about if you don’t make this clear and engaging?
  • giving your opinions, feelings, insights & philosophies – Ct101 is a platform for you to share, express and discover the potentials of creative writing through media and narratives.
  • backing up your resources, inspiration and research with links, we need to see where the information has come from.
  • proof reading your grammar and punctuation. Its OK to work stylistically, but it should be kept consistent.
  • and always embedding cool media that’s made or found from elsewhere to give context and keep the audience engaged.
  • what could we add to this list?

(You can click on the images above and they will re-direct you to their websites. I did this by selecting the “custom URL” option in the media / image uploading specifications area and added the URL)

Imgur and Giphy are great platforms to explore and create GIFS with!

They have a HUGE repository to choose from! In our zoom class this week lets check out both of these platforms in a series of live video tutorials, both Imgur & Giphy are free to use and work with. (You can sign up for your own account, both are free) Lets experiment with both platforms this week as we work on this post.

Be sure to share your thoughts on what you think about both, did one work better for you? If so, what were those features?

*The Assignment Details:

Lets publish a NEW BLOG POST of your own and be sure to comment on one or two of your Classmate’s GIF Posts too!

Create a NEW blog post on our class website and embed a series of new Reaction GIF s that narrates your feelings about our CT101 class so far!

Lets get creative and address: How can you tell your story in GIFs so far? Hmm?

Think about these questions, and answer them:

What did you think on the first day of the CT101?

Did you like hearing about the course and its creative content? How did it make you feel?

How does CT101 compare to some of your other classes?

What are the potentials of this class?

How do you feel abut learning new skills that use Internet tools?

(yes, you can make this post as long you wish and make it flow like a story – This assignment description that you are reading is also a BLOG post example of the assignment!)

***Each reaction GIF that you use should be accompanied by a sentence or two or three of verbiage to help describe the GIF and narrative you are communicating.

**And be sure to also comment on one of your Classmate’s GIF Posts!

Here is an example of me responding in GIF expressing above : “Demonstrations and examples will be shared and executed in our class Zoom lab time, don’t miss it!” (and if you do miss it, Ill post the video tutorial from class here below) Sinister audio fades in and out as Skeletor GIFs himself into oblivion!

Lets get started!

 

Here is the class video tutorial below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/il_xKUFmymnUwLAqR8UgXwhpw3Y6ArO6yE1qaARkO8AJA7lx0gtRpmCdO3pXTpmM.UWuJLJXQAo-udx_l

Passcode: *x%1%$bh

 

**PS – Here is a handy tutorial on how to make a GIF from a YouTube URL using Imgur from Prof. Smith a few years back –  My first GIF post

How do you say it / pronounce it? Gi-f or Ji-f?

The battle continues! And the Internet will not ever let us 

Oh, and what about some GIF history?

Here is the WIKI for the GIF file format – its a good read.

Smithsonian – History of the GIF

A good article for WIRED on the 30th Birthday of the GIF

Lets Do it!

Internet Happy – Assignment #1 – Forward we GO!

Week #2 – A Recap & Forward Motion!

The Course Schedule page is here (this is our most important page as it hosts all of our weekly assignments and their specifications – please check this page each week at the beginning of class.)

1. Did you Read the welcome blog post here <–it has an assignment that prepares us for this week – the details are located at the bottom of the post, it asks you to leave a comment, and also respond to one, did you? 

2. Lets get signed up! Did you sign up for the CUNY commons and the CT101 website? If not, please review the process for access to the CUNY commons and the CT101 website here –this post has the “how-to” video tutorial link  – Read this blog post for details < —

And now… this week, its time to get blogging!

Lets learn about and tour our WordPress blogging interface. We will discuss and learn how to add text, images, GIFs, videos, hyperlinks and contextual content into the blogging interface! We will begin by sharing some sentiments accompanied by visual media to help tell our stories.

Each week I will screen record a video tutorial that demonstrates techniques and tips for each assignment – The tutorials will always be posted shortly after class directly into the blog post with the assignment details.

The video recording / tutorial is below! Enjoy!

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/HbQQ-PABxFoih7gpmi6gWqHTA5u4U0WK9x4IzD7Bv4f7voxaOgauPOM283bXMswP.2RDAO7UnkynwVeM1

Passcode: 5*v+@h5!

This week’s Assignment…

Assignment #1 – What Makes You Happy on the Internet?

Your goal for this week will be to read and follow the info / links listed in this blog post. Absorb the information and then begin to prepare and gather all of needed media, images, links and content that you need to create and publish your first blog post here on our class website!

(This assignment was originally created by Professor Michael B. Smith a few years ago, it still holds true as a great example and ice-breaker for our first blogging assignment.)

In a new blog post, take the time to introduce anything you want about yourself and describe a piece, or multiple pieces of the internet that is “making you happy” this week. Share what the content is about, the media format, and the online space in which it was discovered. Let us know why this (or these things) make you happy! Make sure it’s something you can ’embed’ into your post and be sure to link back to the original source of the the item (hyperlink).

(I shared my example, its at the bottom of this post in the form of a hyperlink )

Below is also an example:

“I discovered recently a writer who made side-by-side comparisons of frames from the Simpsons with frames from the original movies that inspired the cartoon. I love this kind work because it shows how culture is seemingly endlessly recycled and remixed.”

Also, here’s a video short from the original, famous “shower scene” from the 1960 film Psycho that the inspiration is drawn from.

For another example of “how” your assignment #1 post can potentially look, check out professor Seslow’s example here:

https://ct101.commons.gc.cuny.edu/assignment-1-example-fun/

PS – THIS whole blog post is an example of a good quality post! Notice the length, the amount of media added, links and content to help support the verbiage. It all just take a little regular practice.

Lets do it!

 

Assignment #1 – Example Fun with Ryan

I have to say, Im excited to be back to teaching again!

Here we are in the Spring semester of 2022. I have a particular love for teaching CT101 at York College! “CT” is short for Communications Technology, and the course is called “Digital Storytelling”.. (I know, the name of the course says it all!) It has quite a bit of history and I will share more on its origins soon. CT101 makes me happy. CT101 takes place on the Internet! I love this class because it can literally help everyone. There is something here that everyone can learn from and help evolve. I say and mean everyone because lets face it, “we” spend a lot of time using the Internet.

Its a relationship, really!

We can all benefit from learning new digital tools, techniques, applications of self-expression and participating in a cross CUNY community here on the commons. (Which is a piece of the Internet that makes me happy! Oh I already said that..) CT101 puts an emphasis on publishing content to a class blog whilst experimenting with what the potentials of a blog post can be. This also makes me happy. WordPress makes me happy!

What is making you happy on the Internet?

So here we are, officially jumping into CT101 this second week. We have a ton of great stuff to cover, learn, share, create, apply, rinse and repeat this semester! Assignment #1 asks you to share; What is making you happy on the Internet?  We can do cool things like hyperlink text and verbiage.. We can make an image or ten, an animated GIF like the one above and below – also a “clickable thing” that redirects to another page or place on the Internet. That IDEA in and or itself makes me very happy! So in essence, the creative and practical functionality of the Internet as a whole makes me really happy.

The Internet archive makes me happy too! (did you know about this?)

Lets dig a bit deeper..

The GIF above is taken from my profile on GIPHY. (go ahead and click on the image of the hyperlinked word to find my “stock” of animated GIFS. You can use them and embed them almost anywhere on the web. Thats the beauty of GIPHY.com – its a search engine for animated GIFs and animated Stickers, like I said, its Internet culture and Internet culture makes me happy! Website’s like Giphy have a lot of utility, they give us the opportunity to share our emotions and feelings through looping visual imagery. This helps me express myself in so many ways.

I love to make animated GIFS! And guess what, you are going to learn how to make them in our class! I love GIFs and I feel that they are a huge part of Internet culture. Come on now, we all love animated GIFS! I made most of the GIFs in this blog post. These are just a few of the many of thousands that I have made (did I say thousands? Yikes, its true, I cant stop!) I blame Professor Michael B. Smith for this as he got me into GIFs and making them! Be sure to check out his blog here.

September is Deaf Awareness Month, that makes me happy!  It gives me an opportunity to use the Internet as a platform to share information about Deaf culture and to help people get a better insight and understanding of what it is like to be deaf and hard of hearing. 

OK, so those are a few things that are making me happy on the Internet as well as a few ways that I use the Internet. Lets get started!

PS – Did you notice the formatting for this blog post? Notice how my images are the same size and how everything has been aligned to the left? This is intentional and it helps the viewer/reader easily absorb the content. You too will learn how to apply a similar format, though it may see a bit tricky to manage at first, you will easily get the hang of it!

Getting Signed Up and Signed Into the CT101 Website!

an old TV from the 1980s hosts the Digital Storytelling course title program

 

Getting Signed Up and Signed in to the CT101 Website & the CUNY Academic Commons.

Welcome Digital Storytellers!

Please follow along with me during our zoom class session to get signed up for both the CUNY Academic Commons and for this website, follow me and scroll down.. (or watch the video recording later – posted here after class below)

(here is the video screen recording of this process ) – https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/lLrRV93KNj2bWVpr0tTNPT1DWIARVQMLeoJjliH0b6C82Us5C3AGvahfcjl22lts.M4VDG6MeHP-T7xvL 

Video Passcode: v!33PTTM

As we know, a big part of CT101 is the class the website. It is where you will begin your active role as an “Author” of our CT101 community and where you will be publishing all of your class work and assignments. You will also become a part of the CUNY Academic Commons Community (Im a big fan!)

**First things first,

It is super important for you to have access to your York College E-mail Address, and to make sure it works!  You will need to have access to it in order to sign up for our CT101 web site and the CUNY academic commons. If you need assistance with setting this up do not hesitate to contact the York College help desk at 718-262-5300 as needed or at helpdesk@york.cuny.edu

Lets Get Started!

We must follow the sign up steps in the order below (I will demonstrate the process in our Zoom class on 2/1 and record it to post here after class.)

*Remember, you must use your CUNY e-mail address for this only!

1. We will Sign Up for the CUNY Academic Commons Here – simply click the  “Register” button and fill in the form and complete the sign up! You will receive an e-mail that verifies your account. 

2. After you sign up for the CUNY Academic Commons, please Sign-Up for the CT101 website and use the SAME Username and e-mail address that used to sign up for the CUNY Academic Commons – this info will allow for me to send you a direct invite request from our class website to become an Author of the website.

Please accept the invite when it arrives via e-mail. You can also accept the invite under your commons profile under “my invites” (ill share an example)

.. And then…. You will have access to “log in” and start blogging as a CT101 author. We wont start that part until next week though.. The log-in prompt is always located in the main navigation menu area of the website – depending on the device that you are viewing the site in, you will see it in upper right hand corner of the page via desktop or laptops, but mobile devices may see the log in prompt on the left side of the page, either way, click “Log In” and enter your Log In credentials. 

**You cant start publishing content here on CT101 until you have completed the sign up process steps above. Please let me know if you have any issues.

(here is the video screen recording of this process ) – https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/lLrRV93KNj2bWVpr0tTNPT1DWIARVQMLeoJjliH0b6C82Us5C3AGvahfcjl22lts.M4VDG6MeHP-T7xvL 

Video Passcode: v!33PTTM

More to come!

Welcome to CT101 – Digital Storytelling! Spring 2022

an old TV from the 1980s hosts the Digital Storytelling course title program

 

Welcome Everyone!

I hope that you are safe and healthy!

Here we are: CT101 – Digital Storytelling! The Spring Semester of 2022!

Ok, this blog post is a lot things, but first and foremost it is a welcoming! Im excited to meet everyone and share our 1st class session to connect and learn about each other. That’s Nyle DiMarco below, he’s a Deaf Actor and Artist, he is showing us how to say: “Nice to Meet You” in American Sign Language. Im also Deaf and Hard of Hearing, so you can expect to learn some ASL and see more ASL GIFs this semester! I hope that you like animated GIFS, we are going use a lot of them here, and make them too! We are going to spend a lot of time discussing ways that we communicate.

an animated GIF of Nyle DiMarco signing "Nice to Meet You" in American Sign Language

There is a lot of compelling content to cover this semester in CT101, which will happen in many fun ways!

**This is the direct URL / Link to our class Website – https://ct101.commons.gc.cuny.edu/ <—that link is where EVERYTHING is happening for CT101.

Im not a fan of blackboard and will only use it to remind the class about password sensitive things, like the zoom info.. Please make sure you are familiar with the CUNY academic calendar for the semester,

*Next Tuesday – 2/8 you will follow a Friday class schedule, which means the Tuesday section of CT101 does not meet..

CT101 has 2 sections this semester- one on Tuesday and one on Thursday. You should only attend the day for the section that you are registered for, not both please. 🙂

kermit the frog rigorously typing - animated GIF

The CT101 Class Structure – CT101 will main be taught synchronously via Zoom and asynchronously for the lab session. Ill explain all of this in our first class.  We will also meet 4 times IN Person this semester on campus.

Please know, I am always here to help you be the best that you can be in our course. And we are all here to do the same for each other. Our class is a community! A big part of our class is exploring your creativity and being experimental with the Internet! Plus, we will learn about the evolving array of digital tools that are available to us. We do quite a bit of the creative work from our own personal work spaces as we integrate the class work into our lives. Please know, I will always screen-record each and every assignment’s description, how-to’s and tutorials and share those videos here on our website. Please think of this website as a repository of information, energy and inspiration for the course (and beyond!)

*The Class Website – Our class website takes place on the CUNY Academic Commons! You will soon discover that the Commons is a huge resource and regular source of inspiration and community! Im excited to share this with you all.

 

**This Week’s Assignment – Lets leave our first Comment! In the comments section below (if you scroll down to the bottom of this page) Add a comment, Your comment will serve as your attendance today, but please introduce yourself! Tell us a bit about yourself, What is your name? What you are studying here at York College?  What is your favorite movie, activities, ice cream flavor? Favorite place to visit on the web? What are you most interested in at this moment? Etc..) Feel free to add some links! Lets get to know each other. Also – Reply to someone’s comment, say hello and share some interests. Commenting and activity on the site is big part of our class!

**PS -I moderate all the comments to make sure that spam bots don’t spam us into oblivion! If may take a few minutes before your comment shows up, no need to submit it twice if you don’t see it appear right away ** Also, please explore this website, read through the syllabus and some of the course resources, it will be super helpful in the next coming weeks.

 

CT101 Final Blog Post & Course Completion Information

CT101 Final Blog Post & Course Completion Information

Well, here we are in the final regular class session of our Fall 2021 semester. It is my intention to get things set up in advance to help and give everyone enough time to complete assignments, catch up and feel confident about our course completion. Most of us will be focusing on finishing our website building & customizing project, as well as populating the site with blog posts

**Please read all of the information below carefully & mark your calendars**

Please e-mail me with any questions at – rseslow@york.cuny.edu

Please know, I am here to help in anyway that I can. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me. Please know, it is not too late to catch up if you are a bit or even far behind. We can work together but I need communication in order to help. 🙂

The last day of regular classes is Monday December 13th, Tuesday December 14th is a “reading day” and regular classes do not meet – However, I will be hosting a Zoom session scheduled for Tuesday December 14th from 10AM -12PM (this is not mandatory obviously) to serve as a platform for those who have specific questions, need extra help with troubleshooting their websites and or helping with clarifying anything to help us complete the semester. (the zoom link info is the same as always) All of our class sessions and assignments have video tutorials that are recorded and added to the weekly blog posts on our class calendar page here.

**Please read all of the information below carefully & mark your calendars**

**Final Blog Post Submission Guidelines**

Please make sure you follow each step below –

*Each student will write and publish a Final Course Reflection Blog Post.

You will publish this post to the CT101 website. You will e-mail the direct link of your final blog post reflection to me – rseslow@york.cuny.edu – no later than Tuesday December 21st by 6 pm. 

***Please do not publish or e-mail the final blog post link to me before Wednesday  December 15th. This post and submission process is to be done during final exams week and serves as our final exam.***

*The e-mail subject to me should say: “CT101 Final Blog Post/Your First & Last Name” I will confirm the e-mail once I receive it.

Here is the e-mail subject example –  CT101 Final Blog Post / Your Name

Here is an example below for finding a blog post’s direct URL – (this is the direct link to the text you see at the moment in the web browser address bar at the top of the browser) The post must be published in order to copy it and paste it into your e-mail to me – it would look something like this below.

*Your final blog post is Mandatory, it serves as our final exam and final project and it must include the information stated below:

Your final blog post will be a detailed narrative and re-cap of what you have learned in CT101, and a reflection and assessment of what grade you have earned in our class and why you deserve that grade? (Yes, you must include this part!) 

What did you enjoy about our class and how you will apply your new skills into the world?

Will you maintain and keep up your new website? If so, how? If not, Why not?

Your final blog post should include a culmination of supporting images, GIFs, videos and hyperlinks to all of your existing published blog posts.

(you have already had practice with the mid-semester assessment post)

Please let this post display the best of your skills sets learned and applied! 

**This post should be your longest and absolute BEST work.**

*Final Website Link & Description –  As a part of the final blog post each student will be sharing their new website link URL (your domain name) it must be hyperlinked and you will give a clear descriptive tour of their website and share how the website is being used, plus share words on your website building successes, frustrations and an over-all assessment of building and having a website. (If you did not build a website this semester you must state that in your final post.) You must include a screen shot of each page on your website to support your tour.

 

***Please do not publish or e-mail the final blog post link to me before Wednesday December 15th. This post and submission process is to be done during final exams week and serves as our final exam.***

 

**Not mandatory, but if you would like the opportunity to visually present your final blog post & website to me during a Zoom session during final exams week – please meet me in zoom our zoom space on Tuesday, December 21st @ 10am – 12pm –  I will be in Zoom on that day and happy to meet with you there to discuss.

*The Final Blog Post submission requirements as stated above are Mandatory, please let me know if you have any questions.

All questions should be sent to – rseslow@york.cuny.edu

Im here to help!

Week #13 – Social Media N’ WordPress

Week #13 – Social Media N’ WordPress

Share your Website’s URL & Have Some Social Media Fun with WordPress..

(The Assignment #11 details are below – a Zoom recording is directly below)

Zoom Recording / tutorial from class on 11/30

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/TbqbcDsh9U68BpKbacV5my4DjQmNc81usacQIHx6n_CIrZydevfhoUn0sm94Mflq.UCxAvOfXsyyJ5HJP

Passcode: 7%cSatm$

This week in CT101 we will share and explore each others websites, learn about creating and adding social media content into our posts – (this might be your own social media work or work taken from your favorite feeds / brands / people) to expand your narratives. We will also chat about “custom links” and how to add them to your websites navigation menu structure. Of course I will record this process during Zoom and post the video here below afterwards.

Here we are 3+ weeks into being the proud owners and admins of a new Website! We are customizing our pages, building menu navigation, tweaking colors and blogging away into oblivion! It is exciting, and discovering new ways to create and share content are a big part of this process.

Important info – when we install WordPress onto our domain and hosting platform it comes with many default settings. Some of them are useful of course but ultimately we should be changing and altering those default settings to better match the concept behind “how” you are using our websites. Customizing your website to also meet basic accessibility standards is crucial. If your website is not easy to access read or follow along with due to conflicting design elements it will rank poorly in search engine results and likely be flagged as such.

Assignment #11  Details:

(3-parts – see below)

Part 1: Its time to share your new website’s URL, please add it to the comments section below in this blog post (My example is already there as an example, your URL should look similar but with your own domain name)

Simply leave a comment below sharing your website’s address and press the “Post Comment” button!

Be sure to include the –  http://  part

Here is an example–>  http://your-website’s-name .com 

This is my example of my website URLhttps://ryanseslow.com

 

Part 2: As the URLS begin to appear in the comments section below, select and begin to explore some of the website’s of your fellow classmates! Leave them a comment or two about their progress directly on their website! Then, write a new blog post here on CT101 sharing your thoughts and feedback about discovering your classmate’s websites. Be sure to include screen shots -it may be of their homepage (or other pages) and you must include their URL in your post (and hyperlink to it!)

Questions to reflect on for this post: What do you like about the websites that you discovered? Did you find a favorite blog post, website formatting, or project? Share it! Give some feedback!

 

Part 3:  Publish a new blog post on your new website! The new post should be about something related to the websites focus. If your website is focusing on “Baking” then write a great new post about baking. If your website has a focus on “Movies & Entertainment” then write a post about that and what has your’e caught your interest. *Please keep in mind, your blogging practice should be expanding and getting more creative with every post that you make.

***Many people continue to forget to add images, videos, screenshots and other forms of visual media that we must always include in ever single post. 

 

Our Class Lecture Topic this Week – Adding Social Feeds & Posts to WordPress

It’s time to talk about the impact of social media and the many roles it can play in our storytelling and blogging practice.

The recording this week will walk you through the process of embedding social media content and related media that you see taken from the class zoom sessions. Please consider adding some of these tips and tricks into YOUR websites posts, pages or sidebar widgets!

Have Fun!

Exploring the WordPress Potentials, Part II!

Exploring the WordPress Potentials, Part II!

Customize, customize & cus-to-mizzzzze!

Zoom Recording / Tutorial for Weeks 11 & 12

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/Gm9xJOxU6mI5KxTgKCYKxW2lOooQ-xRPgRl6GsLmigIHkzJdTOD72QP3ml6fj3h3.xuCcG_Tf6kwsPsNp

Passcode: 4@4+dOr#

Welcome Back!

***This post and assignment will cover weeks 11 & 12 (11/17 & 11/23)***

Getting specific with WordPress and context?

Last week we started setting up our new websites by simply discussing the potentials of the creation process. We talked about how to set up a new page, working with the navigation menus, working with widgets in the sidebar or footer areas, installing plug-ins (especially the Classic Editor for blogging) and the differences between posts, pages & categories. We will review this again this week too.

The process takes practice, trial and error and a bit of curious experimentation. How did you do last week? WordPress is a very intuitive piece of software, and it wants your creativity! Lets continue forward. I will be sharing a new series of demonstrations (and as always I will add the recorded videos from our zoom classes here below.)

Lets begin (or continue) populating our new websites by publishing both a new blog post there this week and also “cross posting” that information here on CT101 as well. There is an efficient way to easily cross post content across wordpress websites. This means we can publish and re-publish that same content in two places for more visibility. 

Here is a hypothetical example -> Lets say you just published a great new blog post on your personal website (the one with your new domain name) but you also want to share it with your classmates here on the CT101 website. Lets go ahead and try that.

Here is an example of that – you can prepare something in a new post that reads:

————

Add your Blog Post Title (all blog posts need a great title!) 

(insert an image – GIF – Meme – Quote – or some kind of related media)

Dear Readers / Friends / Colleagues  –

I just published a new blog post here on my website: http://yourwebsitename.com, (make sure to hyperlink the post url) please come and check it out and feel free to engage in some fun dialog.

(add context)

————

This is a very minimal example above but perhaps just a title and a link is not that interesting? We need a bit of compelling energy to draw the reader from CT101 over to your site. So make this interesting and creative!

 

Assignment #10 (2- parts) 

  1. Website progress – Continue to customize and work on the visual design of your website. Will you add a new page, a category, a plug-in? Will you re-publish posts from CT101 on your personal website or use the technique shared in class? Feel free to publish your progress as a part of the blogging assignment below.

2. Blogging Assignment Prompt – Publish a NEW blog Post on YOUR new website, the post can be about anything that you wish that has direct context to your new website’s stated intentions (what you site is being used to promote and share.) After publishing the post create a new blog post here on CT101 that shares a synopsis of your new post from your website that will entice and grab our attention, be sure to include the direct URL to the new blog post.

Zoom Recording / Tutorial for Weeks 11 & 12

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/Gm9xJOxU6mI5KxTgKCYKxW2lOooQ-xRPgRl6GsLmigIHkzJdTOD72QP3ml6fj3h3.xuCcG_Tf6kwsPsNp

Passcode: 4@4+dOr#

Week #10 – WordPress Customizing Fun

Week #10 – The WordPress Customizing Series, Part 1!

Zoom recording from class on 11/9:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/QJIwPUtPrqzs0QD-4XNuH42bmQa9nVSltBYrphuCJRLC5D9wT6RBI1QP2usUcI19.Vr9Jm4_DmFmZVKaQ

Passcode: fpnY&eb8

This week in CT101 we will be focusing on getting everyone customizing their new websites! The coupon code that you need to get started was sent last week to your York e-mail address. By now, many of you have gotten started, you have a new registered domain name, a web hosting account, and a website framework (wordpress) ready to be built and customized! Ill be helping here with the customizing process of WordPress. This part will have multiple aspects to it. There is a lot to share, create and test. The process is experimental, fun and will take a few weeks as you make several visual and functionality decisions about how you would like your website to look and flow. Keep in mind, we are designing our site so that others can navigate to it and through it easily, so good design plays a big role here.

The customizing of your website will play out in context to “how” you also plan to use your new website.

**Assignment #9 – Assignment Details:

Lets publish a NEW blog post this week that shares your 1st series of website building / customizing progress. What did you work on this week? What changes did you make? What aspects were fun or easy, and what aspects were difficult or hard to troubleshoot through? Think of this post as a “tutorial” for yourself and by writing out your steps, the ambition is to retain them and also review them.  Make a statement (or a series of statements) about HOW you will be using your new website as we go forward. Will your website be a specific project or a series of many things all brought together into one space? You can brainstorm in this post too just by free writing how you feel about that. You can publish that post here on the CT101 class site and add a “Link” to your new site, and also publish the post on your new site too.

My ambition (prof) is to make a new series of “how-to” class videos on the wordpress customizing process and also share some helpful curated content from the Internet as we go. We will be discussing HOW we will all be using our websites individually, just to mention again 🙂

But WAIT! You cant do anything listed above unless you have done this: -> Domain Name Registration, Hosting Set Up & WordPress Installation! <- Please read this important post to get started! (from last week)

Im going to focus on using a popular new WordPress theme called “Twenty-Twenty-One” – this theme is extremely versatile and is great for wordpress newbies and beginners. I highly suggest that you consider using this theme (it comes with wordpress when you install it upon setting up the hosting account). All themes are different, and many of them out there promoted on the Internet are not free (plus, its always helpful to start with a theme that has a good amount of video documentation that already exists.)

More to come! 

Week #9 – Domain Registration, Hosting Set Up & WordPress Installs!

Week #9 – Domain Name Registration, Hosting Set Up & WordPress Installation!

“The Journey Begins!”

**Please read through this blog post carefully as it contains a lot of important information related to the next phase of our semester**

The Full Process Video Recording is below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/Q10LoMdyIZ6RG4DJEgJd_hR_9e96kIpW3cwoy5FI9A90_P4LCEGcEtx1_qCSZu6o.Zatj7Mnnr4BXJt5X

Passcode: 8?n8h%+x

*The needed individual Coupon Code for the domain name and web hosting set up will be e-mailed to you – be sure to check your York e-mail to get the code. The code can only be applied and used 1 time. 

Assignment #8 Details – Lets follow along as prof. Ryan shares the process in our zoom session on 11/2. After setting up your domain, hosting and wordpress please then publish a blog post about the experience of registering your own domain, and setting up your web hosting account. Was is fun? Difficult? What did you expect in advance? Share your sentiments and feel free to add visual imagery to support your expressions.

Forward we go –>

Last week we began talking about Domain Names and what role they play in creating a digital identity on the web (and as a part of this class.) If you missed that post – please check out our course schedule page under week #8 – as it has context and will help make this next step a bit smoother. 

This week we are going to get started!

We are going to register a domain name and also set up web hosting, which will allow you to put files up online and will be discoverable through your new domain name! We are going to use a form of ‘shared hosting’ where you get a portion of a server – think of it as having an apartment in a building. With this shared hosting you will be able to do a lot of things including installing your own instance of WordPress (remember, this is NOT wordpress.com but the open source version of wordpress.org) so you can start building your website for your domain name.

We use a company called Reclaim Hosting, with which we have a contract with – you will enter a coupon code and start your account for free.

*The coupon code will be e-emailed to everyone – if you do not receive that e-mail – please let me know.

We chose this hosting company because they have a lot of experience working with students just like you, that are likely getting their first domain name and web hosting account. You will be creating an account just like you would with any online vendor with which you want to purchase something. it’s not a ‘CUNY’ account, we’re just giving you the coupon code to pay for the year’s service. The service will last for 1 full year. 

**You do not need to pay for anything, so please reach out if you have questions – rseslow@york.cuny.edu

With that said, you will need to provide a name, address, and phone number to create your account at reclaim hosting.

1. Lets go to the Reclaim Hosting Sign-Up Page <— to get started with the domain name selection process.

2. First you will need to pick your domain name, make sure that it is available and make your selection to proceed. (I suggest sticking with the .com or .net extensions)

pick-a-domain-name

3. On the next page, check off the ‘add ID protection box’

no-privacy

4. On the next page you should see two items in your cart and a price of $45 with ID protection, you will then enter the needed information for your account and provided coupon code and validate it. (you will NOT be charged for this, its already included in the course.)


validate-code

5. After applying the coupon code Your total will now be $0.

6. You should now fill in your personal information, and select the “payment by mail option”. (again, you will not be charged anything.)

7. Complete the order and check your email for your account information and a verification of your e-mail, e-mail. With your new account information, log-on to Reclaiming Hosting. You must verify your e-mail by clicking on the link they provide.

8. YOU ARE NOW ALL SET AND READY TO START WORKING WITH YOUR NEW DOMAIN NAME AND WEB HOSTING ACCOUNT!

9. Its now TIME TO INSTALL WORDPRESS. – You will soon refer to the video below (coming after class on 11/2) and follow the step by step guide to install wordpress correctly. 

The Full Process Video Recording is below:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/Q10LoMdyIZ6RG4DJEgJd_hR_9e96kIpW3cwoy5FI9A90_P4LCEGcEtx1_qCSZu6o.Zatj7Mnnr4BXJt5X

Passcode: 8?n8h%+x

Coupon codes for the set up will be e-mail from blackboard – be sure to check your York e-mail to get the code.

 

Week #8 – Domains Domains!

Domain Names!

It’s time to begin thinking about choosing a domain name  that can represent your new digital self! <– (we will watch this video in our Zoom class together)

Zoom recording from class on 10/26-

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/V7Hqye9w06svJ-8P_n3xvDVNHUmFfWSj60w6DmlOj6Ajf0hxiWyizK6xChO_1m7v.9pKxusJLfeUxUB0x

Passcode: ??R4!&aG

You can’t (and shouldn’t) pick just anything.. this part is important.

It has to be unique, yet it also must be available! (We shall search together) It should be relevant to you and your life of course – it could be based on your real name (like prof Ryans’s domain is ryanseslow.com), a nickname and or something meaningful to you.

You will need to search for its availability using a “domain registrar” and you can pick from a number of different ‘top level domains (TLD)’ – for example – ending extensions that use  “.com, .net, .us, and .org” – then you can have an example like – “mypersonalsite.com”

As we go forward to select and register our domain names (**don’t do this on your own please, I will be walking you through the process in class next week!)

You’re also going to need web hosting, which will allow you to put files up online and will be discoverable through your new domain name! We are going to use a form of ‘shared hosting’ where you get a portion of a server – think of it as having an apartment in a building. With this shared hosting you will be able to do a lot of things including installing your own instance of WordPress! (via WordPress.org and not wordpress.com – they are a lil’ different)  With wordpress installed you can then start building your website for your domain name. I will cover a series of demonstrations on how to do this and I will record all of the demonstrations and tutorials.

We use a company called Reclaim Hosting, with which we have a contract with so you can enter a coupon code and start your account for free.

The coupon code will be e-emailed to everyone via blackboard starting next week – so I will be reminding you to check your York college e-mail address to get the code.

Assignment #7 Details:

**This Week’s Blog Post  details – Assignment#7 : Write a blog post that shares a few of the potential domain names that you would consider using for your website. List them (at least 5-10 potential names) and say a few words about why these selections would be good examples for the website that you will build. 

What will or might your new website be about? Remember, you will be doing your blogging there too. Theme, genre, concept? This part is totally up to you! If you wish, you can use the website project itself for a specific project, for example, perhaps you want to share your passion for cooking and poetry. Which means you will be primarily writing blog posts about cooking and poetry. This can also be applied to sports, or gaming, or politics or journalism, or simply put, website that fused together many interests as well as your CT101 assignments.  Share your thoughts, excitements, fears and any other sentiments about how you are feeling about this next chapter in your life as a website owner! Please include a few hyperlinks and or screen shots of some of your favorite websites, let us know why you like them! 

The Internet’s Own Boy

The Internet’s Own Boy

Here is an extra-credit reflection post that can be completed at any point in the semester.

(please watch the video either way as it is important)

I would like you to watch the portrait documentary of Aaron Swartz, The Internet’s Own Boy. Swartz was a prodigy web developer that participated in some seminal web projects – RSS, Creative Commons licensing, and Reddit.

He founded Demand Progress which successfully campaigned against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) with a broadly adopted 24 hour internet blackout of well know sites like Wikipedia. Swartz was later arrested by M.I.T. police for systematically downloading thousands of academic articles from JSTOR and federally prosecuted with charges of wire fraud and 11 violations of the Computer Abuse and Fraud Act. Facing a possible long term jail time, Swartz committed suicide at the age of 26.

Larry Lessig who was a mentor, colleague, and friend to the much younger Swartz commemorated his life and work with Lessig’s appointment as a Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School with a lecture titled “Aaron’s Laws: Law and Justice in a Digital Age.” 

 

**Extra-Credit Assignment Details – In a new blog post express your feelings and interpretations about the video. Find a moment in either the documentary about Swartz or the Lessig talk that you relate to as an important idea/moment in Swartz’s work as a programmer and/or activist. Tell us why you find it significant and find or create a visual artifact that represents your thinking as well and embed it in the post.

 

Week #7 – Its Mid-Semester Assessment Time

Its Mid-Semester Assessment Time!

Wow, here we are at the midpoint of our CT101 semester! Time… goes by waaaaaay too fast.. Lets take a minute to reflect, lets take a minute to regroup, lets induce a class reflection and stretch it through out this week.

**Important Info – This assignment should be completed and published by our next class meeting time**

*Zoom Recording / Tutorial from class on 10/19:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/sE4qRiSpJwZi_hBizpmzQH6DYKg7KRY4CPMPBB1nWQcOT6fA7Na_EiZnTGgv3pho.HvE-EIA-B2UYYJdd

Passcode: GGk3^mCg

Let us begin and ask ourselves the following questions, and reflect:

“How am I doing in CT101? What have I learned? What skills have I developed, cultivated and displayed regularly? How does the class format contribute to my weekly progress?

How do I measure my performance through self-reflection in this class?”

The measurement part is tangible and clear as we have been producing results over the last 6 weeks in the form of publishing our assignments through blogging, commenting on our classmates work, creating visual imagery and participating in our class zoom sessions.

Lets take stock on what we have accomplished and organize those tangible things into a new post – follow me below,

The CT 101 Course Schedule page is where everything is – this is the CT 101 HUB – this is the space where all the assignment criteria and learning details take form each week – (just in case you forgot) – this is also where you can recap and catch up on assignments. The CT101 homepage is where you can read and comment on your classmates work. The feed of posts is all chronologically ordered –  https://ct101.commons.gc.cuny.edu/

The Mid-Semester Assessment post is assignment #6 – let us move down to the assignment details. 

Assignment Details:

In a new blog post titled; “The Mid-Semester Assessment Post”:

Please assess and reflect upon your last 6.5 weeks here in CT 101. Please answer and address all of the following questions below, and also provide a list of hyperlinks back to all of your completed blog posts. This will help illustrate some of the questions below as you tell this compelling story here in the CT 101 blog space: (of course, the use of imagery is helpful and needed but please don’t default to using too many GIFs or memes to fill in the gaps, the emphasis should be on the balance of imagery and the written word.)

Questions to include and answer:

How am I doing in CT101?

What grade do I believe I am maintaining and what evidence shows my assessment?  (List each completed blog post as a hyperlink and also state what assignments you are missing)

What have I learned the most? What is my greatest learned asset in this class so far?

What new skills have I developed, cultivated and displayed regularly in my posts?

Aside from publishing my blog post assignments, how do I assess my participation, commenting, and discussion performance in this class?

What do I know now that I did not know before taking this class?

Do I see my weekly blogging work expanding creatively? If so, please explain how –  or am I stuck in a loop where my posts seem to look the same most of the time, how will I change that?

Have fun with this! Feel free to include relatedness in the form of links, images, video or Make Something New to express how you feel about this post! 

**Important Info – This assignment should be completed and published by our next class meeting time**