Blogs.valpo.edu is already in use. Go to the url and you'll find, of course, blog entries about blogs at Valpo. How to sign up for a blog and several new blogs also are there--the African Agenda, Programming Czar, the Writing Center's blog, and more. The blog server platform is WordPress Multiple User. WordPress is a popular free blogging software that has been installed by thousands of users. The Multiple User part allows exactly that: multiple users working on blogs together. Now an organization can have a blog with several contributors. Several faculty and staff members are using the blogs in unique and helpful ways.

Joseph Goss, Assistant Director of Valpo CORE, College of Arts and Sciences, is using a blog to communicate with students about the "5th hour" that CORE students need to fulfill on a weekly basis.  He views it as a gathering point for information that would be beneficial to his students.  The ease at which links and posts are created gives him the ability to provide more information to the students.  You can visit this blog at:  http://blogs.valpo.edu/jgoss

Over in the College of Business Administration Toni Bickerstaff, Internship and Assessment Coordinator, is moving from a traditional paper based journal system to blogs for the interns.  They will be using blogs to write their weekly journals and updates about their internship experiences.  This system should allow her to keep track of the journals as well as give the students a new and creative way to complete this portion of their internship.

The blog server will allow anyone (faculty, students and staff) on campus to create a blog for academic or official University use by visiting http://blogs.valpo.edu/wp-signup.php and using their ValpoNet (email username) as the new username.  Please contact Bill.Klein@Valpo.Edu for information or questions.