1. If you have something you want to post in the main blog (ie: the main page of this site), please feel free to do so – all Hub members are authorised to write blog posts. Once you’re logged in, click the “Blog posting area for the Hub” link in the lefthand sidebar. You’ll be taken to an ‘Add New Post’ screen. Type your post, and click ‘Publish’. Go on – you know you want to…
2. A reminder for those who may not have read the ‘Hub’ section in the technologies handbook that all content on this site is publicly accessible. Groups and their associated forums can be made private, and you can send private messages to other members, but other material, including your profile information, is visible to anyone who visits the site. So, choose what you post accordingly!
How public is public? Is the site (and all open content) being indexed by search engines? Or is it simply accesible to those who know to visit?
hi Nigel – interesting point! I’m very interested in the nuances of privacy/obscurity online. In answer to your question, the site is indexable, so at some point Google et al will have it.
Thanks for the response. The question of privacy and obscurity is a thorny problem – I guessed this would be of interest to you (looking at your PhD work). For me, the hub could involve a large element of learning and experimentation and my first instinct is that I would not want this to take place in public…
hi Nigel – I think a number of students (and staff) on the programme have found it really important to have private and protected spaces in which to do the experimentation and learning that the programme involves, so you’re not alone there! The introductory course and many of the options courses provide just such spaces (your personal blog in IDEL, and the discussion boards in WebCT being two examples you’ll run across soon). So hopefully you’ll find a use for the more public spaces (Twitter, the Hub) for other kinds of interactions. It’s all a matter of figuring out which places are good for what, and you should get some help and support with that from your tutors and fellow students!