Throughout this quarter in New Media Lab, I have demonstrated various writing, editing and online working skills.

I can write well-developed and supported articles for a general audience.

I can control my voice and style to write both in both opinion [bias article] and objective journalistic styles [Tokyo article].

I can use the conventions of narrative to tell an engaging story [bias article].

I can do original research and collect data that helps support ideas in my [bias article]

I can use a variety of online tools such as email, online word processors, social media, search engines and content management systems to communicate, research, write, and publish my work using online conventions such as hyperlinking to sources. [both articles]

I can embed media to publish multimedia articles. [Tokyo article]

I can find and select images that convey the topic and tone of my writing in a way that understands and respects copyright and fair use. [Tokyo article]

I can act as a leader in the classroom, assisting my classmates and helping direct our collective project.

I can use my understanding of the English language, written nonfiction genres and the needs of the audience to help develop and polish other writer’s work.

I can understand the needs of the brand and help maintain the integrity of our publishing project. [Cryptocurrency article]

I chose to use Wix logo maker to create meaningful and appealing designs for my profile icon. Wix logo maker allows you to set preferences on what you want your logo to look like and then shows you multiple options to choose from. After you’ve chosen the style of your logo, you can select the colour and font you’d like the logo to be displayed in. My profile icon has a very clean and simple style with the symbol of a microphone to show I am a media sharing page. Underneath the microphone, I have the title of my blog, “Keeping up with Kyle” and the description “new media blog”, so visitors can see exactly what my page is about. I chose to use red as my background colour, because red logos are said to be the most appealing and convey both passion and excitement.

For my header image, I used Canva since I am already familiar with the website, having used it for another class. Canva is a very easy to use website that allows you to choose from multiple templates and customize the pictures, colours and fonts on that template. When designing my header image, I wanted to make it very eye catching and have pictures that represent subjects I may write about in my blog. I chose to use three pictures that captured some of the subjects I enjoy writing about, but also ones that were very colourful and appealing to the reader. The image on the left is an outdoor concert to which represent music, the middle image of the basketball hoop represents sports and the image on the right is a movie night, which represents TV and movies. Across all three pictures is a label that displays the title of my blog, along with the description “new media blog” underneath the title, to keep it consistent with my logo.

What is plagiarism and what are the different types? 

Plagiarism is the act of taking another person’s work and passing it off as your own. It is regarded as very dishonest and can result in severe consequences. Plagiarism can be performed in many ways, not just by copying and pasting information from a website. The most common type of plagiarism is paraphrasing plagiarism, where an individual takes the work of another person and changes a few words but the meaning stays the exact same. Direct plagiarism is when a person takes the exact text of another person and passes it of as their own without changing anything. Another very common type of plagiarism is accidental plagiarism. Sometimes, the text someone is writing is very close to the exact text of a website they are not even using, it just happens to be said the same way. However, it is much more common that someone is unaware of accidental plagiarism and they just change up a few words of a text and pass it off as their own without knowing that it is a form of plagiarism. Whatever the form, the act of plagiarism can result in consequences that can be very severe depending on where you are using it.  

Plagiarism is the act of taking another person’s work and passing it off as your own. It is regarded as very dishonest and can result in severe consequences. Plagiarism can be performed in many ways, not just by copying and pasting information from a website. The most common type of plagiarism is paraphrasing plagiarism, where an individual takes the work of another person and changes a few words but the meaning stays the exact same. Direct plagiarism is when a person takes the exact text of another person and passes it of as their own without changing anything. Another very common type of plagiarism is accidental plagiarism. Sometimes, the text someone is writing is very close to the exact text of a website they are not even using, it just happens to be said the same way. However, it is much more common that someone is unaware of accidental plagiarism and they just change up a few words of a text and pass it off as their own without knowing that it is a form of plagiarism. Whatever the form, the act of plagiarism can result in consequences that can be very severe depending on where you are using it. 

Source: Enago Academy

Source: MLA style center

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.