This week in CT101 we will share and explore each others websites, learn about creating “categories” and “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 after.
**Here is the Video Recording from this Week’s Zoom Session –
Here we are 3 plus weeks into being the proud owners of a shiny new Website! We are customizing our pages, building menu navigation, tweaking colors and fonts, and blogging away into oblivion! Exciting!
The Assignment for this week:
First: Its time to share your website’s URL, please add it to the comments section below in this blog post (My example is already there as an example)
Simply leave a comment below sharing your website’s address and press the Post Comment button!
Be sure to include the – http:// part. (some of your have added https:// – thats OK too)
Second: 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 blog post here on CT1010 OR on your own new website sharing your thoughts and feedback about discovering your classmate’s websites. Be sure to include their URL in your post (and hyperlink it!) What do you like about the websites that you discovered? Did you find a favorite blog post, or project? Share it! Give some feedback!
And, Why are we doing this?
Well, to share our development, support for each other and their process of course! Maybe your classmates and peers missed your last few posts and are in need of some feedback, inspiration and contrast. Lets dig in!
Its not that hard! I promise – We had a great time in today’s live zoom session! Its time to talk about the impact of social media and the many roles it can play in our storytelling and blogging practice.
Here is the Zoom recording from class on 11/5/20 – the same video will be used for class on 11/10 – lets go!
The recording above will walk you through the process of embedding the content and media that you see in the video’s post. Please add these tips and tricks into YOUR websites posts, pages or sidebar widgets!
Mid-Semester Assessments & WordPress Customizing Part 2!
And just like that, here we are at the mid-point of the semester! Time really does move fast, or does it? Either way, we are learning a lot and growing together!
**Please scroll down to screen the full recording from this week’s class with WordPress customizations Part 2!**
The Assignment for this Week:
In a new blog post that will be published to here to CT-101, I would like for you to reflect upon our current semester. Lets tell a compelling story about what we have learned thus far. What have been some of the main skills that have been discovered, learned and applied? What do you know now that you did not know before the class began? What are your strengths so far? What do you need to work on and make improvements on? To date, we have had the opportunity to publish a series of blog posts that allow us to speak creatively in our own authentic voices, how have the assignments helped you as a communicator? It would be a good idea to review and reference your existing posts and even quote to hyperlink back to a few of them. What grade do you feel you have earned so far in our class? Self assessment is important, it helps us become aware and take action from that perspective and energy. We took a big step last week by registering a new domain name, setting up a web hosting account and even began customizing our personal websites! Please include in this reflection post your domain name and “how” you plan to use your website as we go forward. Make sure to include the hyperlink to your websites URL – for example, here is mine: https://ryanseslow.com
Have Fun with This!
PART II – More WordPress customizing, tricks, tips and techniques!
Last week in class we covered an introduction to the customizing of the Twenty Seventeen WordPress theme for our new websites!
During the zoom sessions this week I will be continuing another series of customizing tips, tricks, and techniques for working with wordpress. We will remove all default theme content, create new pages, set up a contact me form, embed or add social media posts into your website and more!
**Here is the full recording from this week’s class with WordPress customizations Part 2!
This week in CT101 we will be focusing on getting everyone set-up with their new website! You have a new domain name, a web hosting account, and a website ready to be built! Ill be helping 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 fun and will take a few weeks as you make several visual and functionality decisions about how you would like your website to look. My ambition is to make a new series of “how-to” class videos and also share some helpful curated content from the Internet. We will be discussing HOW we will all be using our websites individually too!
Im going to focus on using a popular WordPress theme called “Twenty-Seventeen” – this theme is extremely versatile and is great for wordpress beginners. The videos below are also tutorials on using the Twenty-Seventeen theme. I highly suggest that you consider using this theme. 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, like the videos below)
More to come!
Here are a few more videos that also are very helpful for working with wordpress and the twenty seventeen theme:
PLEASE E-MAIL me and say hello, let me know how I can help you! [email protected]
GIF IT UP is an annual gif-making competition for the most creative reuse of digitised cultural heritage material. It is run by Europeana in close cooperation with Digital Public Library of America, Digital NZ and Trove. This year two new content partners are joining the fun – Japan Search, a platform giving access to digitised material from cultural institutions across Japan, and DAG Museums in Kolkata.
From 1 – 31, 2020 – October, all gif-makers, cultural heritage enthusiasts and lovers of the internet are invited to create brand new gifs by remixing copyright-free and openly licensed material.
Domain Name Registration, Hosting Set Up & WordPress Installation!
“The Journey Begins!”
**Please read through this post carefully as it contains a lot of important information**
Two LIVE ZOOM tutorials of this process will be screen recorded and placed at the bottom of this blog post starting today 10/15. The first recording will be on 10/15 @ 10am
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 last week’s post on that, please review it here first 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) 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 so you will enter a coupon code and start your account for free.
*The coupon code will be e-emailed to everyone via blackboard on the morning that your class meets during week #7 – so please check your York College e-mail address to get the coupon code. (the code can only be used one time)
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. So it’s not a ‘CUNY’ account, we’re just giving you the coupon code to pay for the year’s service.
You do not need to pay for anything, so please reach out if you have questions – [email protected]
Again, 2 LIVE ZOOM tutorials of this process will be screen recorded and placed at the bottom of this blog post. The first recording will be on 10/15 @ 10am.
With that said, you will need to provide a name, address, and phone number. Lets go tothis sign-up page<— to get started.
1. First you will need to pick your domain name, make sure that it is available and make your selection to proceed.
2. On the next page, check the ‘add ID protection.’
3. On the next page you should see two items in your cart and a price of $32 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.)
4. Your total should now be $0. If it is not then check the items and your cart and adjust.
5. You should now fill in your personal information, and select the payment by mail option. (again, you will not be charged anything.)
6. Complete the order and check your email for your account information and a verification of your e-mail. With your new account information, log-on to Reclaiming Hosting.
7. 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.
***Here is the NEW Tutorial below that Ryan made in class during last semesters class on 10/15/20 – the process is the same so please follow along and pause the video as you go!
*Here is the Tutorial that Ryan made in class during last semester’s class on 3/26/20 – the process is the same as above so please follow along and pause the video as you go!
We 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 federal prosecuted with charges of wire fraud and 11 violations of the Computer Abuse and Fraud Act. Facing possible 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 Roy L. Furman Professor of Law and Leadership at Harvard Law School with a lecture titled “Aaron’s Laws: Law and Justice in a Digital Age.”
**Assignment – In a new blog post, 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/make a visual artifact that represents your thinking as well and embed it in the post.
It’s time to choose a domain name that can represent your digital self! <– (we will watch this video in Zoom class together)
You can’t (and shouldn’t) pick just anything.. this is important!
It has to be unique and also available! It should be relevant – it could be based on your real name, 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 .com, .net, .us, and .org – then you can have an example like – “mypersonalsite.net”
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 starting next week – so I will be reminding you to check your York college e-mail address to get the code.
**This Week’s Blog Post Assignment: Write a blog post that shares a few of the potential domain names that you would consider using for your website. List them and say a few words about why they would be good examples for the website that you will build.
What will your new website be about? 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!
Now that we are getting comfortable with publishing blog posts to our class website, embedding media like images, GIFS, videos and hyperlinks, its time to push things further with content creation and deciding on how you will go about it.
Prof. Smith wrote the following in a blog post from a previous semester;
“In CT-101 you will have the opportunity to create many, many different pieces of media throughout the semester. Inspiration for these projects can come from a number of places. Two are websites that inspired this class and are hosted by a digital storytelling class at the University of Mary Washington.
The second is also a site known as the daily create which gives a daily project prompt to “make something” using various media. If you post the completed piece with tags to the sites they feed from, you’ll see your work on that page as well.
Finally you can also browse through the main feed of the old CT101 site and see works completed by students in the previous semester. Or find a particular site that has a media piece and/or project type of interest to you (Tumblr and/or Reddit can be fun for this – Photoshop Battles is a favorite of mine.
Browse through these sites and find two projects that you think you would like to do. One that you believe you already have the skills to do or you believe you could figure out on your own. And another (hopefully of a different media type) you don’t know how to do yet and would like to learn.”
*The ASSIGNMENT – In a New Blog Post – working from the DS106 or the Daily Create site select, describe and hyperlink to two assignments/project ideas and tell us why you’ve chosen them. What do you think you’d need learn to do them? How many of these kinds of projects do you think you should be doing in this semester so that you might learn and build both emergent storytelling skills and use new tools to create them? Why do you think these skills are or are not important? Be sure to actually complete one of the assignments and add it to your blog post. Also, be sure to leave a comment or two on one or more of your classmate’s blog posts! Prof. Seslow will go over a example in our class time and screen record the process.
*Below are 3 various Zoom class recordings taken from 9/24, 10/1 & 10/6 with the project demonstrations, descriptions and process – enjoy!
(please don’t start this assignment until after 9/17 at 12pm)
First – (lets screen the video above in class and then later read the article below for more context.)
Second – The Assignment Details:
Do an Internet search for “Are memes ART?” See what you discover. No matter how you cut it, memes are here to stay…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. And by all means plan to search for, discover and share your favorites existing Memes via an image or URL, or embed them into a new blog post for this coming week. How will craft a narrative between using Memes and your own personal experiences?
Oh, and, you MUST create your own meme 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. (wink).
Assignment #2 – (scroll down for the full video tutorial)
Exciting times! Lets make some GIFS and explore the contexts and potentials of this Internet Culture Sensation! GIFs are here to stay!
Imgur and Giphy are great platforms to explore and create with! They have a HUGE repository of animated GIFS to choose from! In our Zoom class this week (week #3) 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 sig up for an account for free too) I will post the class video here in this post after the Thursday 9/9 section of the class.
The Assignment Details: BLOG POST!
This week lets create a NEW blog post using your Author access on our class website and embed a series of new Reaction GIF s that narrates your feelings about our CT101 class so far! Think about these questions,; What did you think on the first day of the CT101? Did you like hearing about the course and its creative content? How does CT101 compare to some of your other classes? Also, address what the potentials of this class are?! (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.
Here is an example of me responding in GIF expressing: “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 from class here below)
Lets get started!
**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
*Here is the full video below from Thursday’s class on 9/9
I have to say, Im super excited to be back to teaching again! Here we are in the “remote” Fall semester of 2020. I feel lucky and grateful to be teaching simultaneously between 4 colleges here in NYC. I have a particular love for teaching CT101 at York College though.. 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. I love this class because it can literally help everyone. There is something here for all.. I say and mean everyone because lets face it, “we all” spend a lot of time using the Internet. 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. CT101 puts an emphasis on working with and publishing content to a class wordpress based blog whilst experimenting with what the potentials of a blog post can be. This blog post (in general) and the content below is shared from my first example and our first class assignment this semester.
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? You can find the link to that assignment here – <– Thats right, we can do cool things like hyperlink text and verbiage.. We can make an image or an animated GIF like the one above -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. 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!
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 all 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. Im deaf and hard of hearing, could you tell from our first meeting? Ill bet you couldn’t! Ill share some stories with you this week in class. (Im full of surprises!)
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.
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!
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 our class calendar for Week #2. Absorb the information and then begin to prepare and gather all of needed media, images, links and content to create and publish your first blog post here on our class website!
(This assignment was created by Professor Michale Smith a few years ago, it still holds true as a great example and ice-breaker for our first blogging assignment.)
Prof. Smith asserts;
“In a new blog post, take the time to introduce anything you want about yourself and describe a piece 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 is was discovered. Make sure it’s something you can ’embed’ in your post and be sure to link back to the original source of the the item.
Below is 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.
Here’s the original, famous “shower scene” from the 1960 film Psycho:
Getting Signed Up and Signed In to the CT101 Website & the CUNY Academic Commons.
Welcome back Digital Storytellers!
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 most 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 this order below (I will demonstrate the process in our Zoom classes and record it to post here after class.)
1. We will Sign Up for the CUNY Academic Commons Here – simply fill in the form and complete the sign up! You will receive an e-mail to verify your account.
2. After you sign up for the CUNY Academic Commons please Sign Up for CT101 and add the SAME username and e-mail address into this form <– 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.
And then….
Its time to log in and get blogging. 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.
VIDEO Tutorial:: Below is the video from class this week. Be sure to use the password below when accessing the recording
I hope that you are well, safe and healthy! Here we are: CT101 – Digital Storytelling! The Fall Semester of 2020
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!
There is a ton of compelling content to cover, which will happen in many ways! Lets start this week and next with a real time Zoom class at 10AM (the zoom link and PW will be sent to your CUNY e-mail address.) Keep in mind, there are two individual sections of this course that both follow the same assignment criteria and also uses the same class website. You are only required to follow the day and section that you registered for, but if you wish, you can join in more. I will explain all of this as we go forward with our first week or two of classes.
That link above, that is where EVERYTHING is happening for CT101.
The Class Structure – CT101 will be taught both synchronously and asynchronously and you will decide what method works best for you. I am 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! The nature of our course is already acquainted with the structure that you see here. (This Internet thing…) 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 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 – In the comments section below (scroll down to the bottom of the page) Lets leave our first Comment. Introduce yourself! Tell us a bit about yourself, what you are studying here at York College and anything else that you wish to share (favorite ice cream flavor perhaps? Favorite place to visit on the web? What are most interested in at this moment? Etc..)
**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 :))
Need help with the Commons?
Email us at [email protected] so we can respond to your questions and requests. Please email from your CUNY email address if possible. Or visit our help site for more information:
