Course Description

First, this isn't a traditional course. It is a blogging studio where we gather together to learn and support each other in creating interesting, entertaining and/or effective blogs. One of the students explained the blogging studio as... "Bring your blog(s), a sack lunch and refillable coffee mug and a list of questions and/or issues you want cussed and discussed until solved, and settle in for five weeks of work. It is helping and learning from each other as well as from our instructor Bean and her sidekick, Anita." You can bring your blogging questions but how do you ask questions about blogging topics that you don't about yet? Each session we will start off with at least one tradition lesson, where Bean will provide instruction and exercises related to a relevant blogging topic that may be new to you. The rest of the session will be driven by student questions. Participation and practice will be the focus of this class. Part of the student's learning process will include assisting other students via feedback and interaction. The instructor and assistant will provide instruction and assistance via: the class message board reading list sharing of resources short exercises interaction on student blog participation in relevant social networks Blogging questions are limited only by your imagination, here are some possibilities: Theme Customization Social Media Integration Monetization Building Your Audience Writer's Block Establishing Authority Multi-user blogs Defining Your Niche Advertising Issues Images Widgets Guest Posts Learn more about blogging and see what past students are doing at the Blogging Class Blog This is a 5 week, self-paced, online course. If you need additional help understanding the material presented, you can communicate with the instructor and fellow classmates. The instructor will monitor and track your progress throughout the class. LVS Online offers many wonderful learning tools to help you get the most out of your online course, including an online portfolio service that manages all your course registrations, certificate of completion option, a class discussion board to interact with your instructor and fellow classmates, free hosting account, and a student upload area. LVS is a Corel Training Partner. LVS students may purchase Corel products at a significant savings. Follow this link for details. LVS students are eligible to receive software and hardware at a discount. Follow this link for details. Students are also eligible take advantage of special offers made available specifically for LVS by famous software developers such as Andromeda, AV Bros, Extensis, Harry Heim, namesuppressed, Nik Multimedia, and Ulead. Details are provided in the classinfo link found in the confirmation of registration. Show off your LVS Online spirit with an item from the LVS Store If you would like to receive more information regarding this course, click on the "Contact Us" link in the Information section and we'll try to answer any of your questions within the day.

Course Requirements

Students need a blog. You can get a free blog at WordPress.com or Google etc but as with most free things, there are some restrictions when it comes to styling and plugins. You can host it on your own web site. To use all of WordPress features you will need a web hosting account capable of running WordPress. Make sure that your web hosting account has MySQL and PHP, these are required to run WordPress. If you do not have one, students have the option of purchasing a low cost ($49.95 per year including domain name) Starter hosting account. The low cost LVS Starter hosting account has a quick and easy installer for WordPress included. The free LVS student account and the $24.95 Student acounts are NOT WordPress compatible! Details on LVS Hosting plans is available HERE. You will need the capability to upload the Wordpress software and plug ins to your blog. You must know how to upload your files to a server. Free tutorials are available: Basic HTML page WS_FTP SmartFTP You will need the capability to upload the Wordpress software and plug ins to your blog. You must know how to upload your files to a server. Free tutorials are available: Free Windows XP/ME/98 Class Here Windows Vista Class Here. Directory Structure Tutorial Here All lessons are available in PDF format. Adobe Acrobat Reader is required to view/print the lessons. If you use another pdf reader we can not guarantee that you will be able to utilize all of the links in the pdf file. Plan to devote approximately 3-6 hours each week to complete their course work. Part of your homework will be contributing to and commenting on other blogs. Blogging can be addicting, so your time devoted to this course will vary according to how much time you spend on other blogs.

Course Prerequisites

Class Level - This class is an intermediate course for students that already have a blog Students need to have taken the Blogging basics or an equivalent course before registering for this course. Students are expected to have at least a basic understanding of the following: Posts vs pages Inserting images Track backs/Pingbacks RSS feeds Those knowledgeable with html, css and php will be able to take their blogs to higher levels of customization.

Course Syllabus

The Syllabus for this course changes each session depending on what is new in the world of blogging and student request.

Course Goals

Each session, the student will set their own achievable goals specific to their blogs.

Course Reviews

New course for Sept. 2010