February 2006 - Posts
*This entry contains important information for all current bloggers. Please read.
First of all, apologies to all bloggers here who have been unable to access their blogs for the last few days. Due to continuing issues with the beta versions of the software we had installed, we have now upgraded once again and hopefully this will have solved a lot of these problems. You should now be able to go in and post/edit your blogs.
Important: The software has now been installed in a new directory on the site, so your blog URL will have changed: for example, my blog is now at http://clusterweb.org.uk/cs/blogs/clusterblog_support/default.aspx
To find your new URL I'd suggest going to the main page www.clusterweb.org.uk/blogs and then signing in to access your blog.
There are still some issues which we are aware of concerning uploading attachments to the blogs. We are doing all we can to fix these, including liasing with the software developers, and updates will be posted here as I have them.
The self-registration function remains disabled: for more information about joining ClusterBlog please contact me or my team. Once again, apologies for the blog downtime - this project is still in the testing and development stage so it is not always possible to guarantee every function will be live 24/7, and I would ask any of you who have planned demonstrations of the blogs to your teams, schools or clusters to be aware of this.
I have disabled the self-registration function on ClusterBlog, so that no new users will be able to register at this time. A new registration form will be available in the near future. If in the meantime you are interested in taking part in the ClusterBlog community, please contact me or my team.
If you are thinking of applying to use ClusterBlog, please read the following carefully. This has been posted to the front page of ClusterBlog for a while but I thought it would be useful to reiterate it here.
ClusterBlog is designed for the use of Kent education staff only and forms part of www.clusterweb.org.uk, Kent's extranet for education staff and schools.
Who can blog on Clusterweb ?
All KCC LA officers and teachers tasked with an official Kent LA role e.g. Kent Advisory staff & Hands on Support Team. (Not at the moment individual teachers working in one school)
People should also use their own names not Login identities and provide their KCC email address as contact details.
Who is the Clusterblog for ?
Clusterblog is for all Kent staff, teaching and LA alike. You can comment on most of the blogs unless they specify otherwise.
When to use Clusterblog ?
In your capacity as a education or allied professional tasked with a pedagogical or advisory message to colleagues.
Your personal views and opinions should be expressed elsewhere.
KCC cannot be held responsible for views expressed in an international publishing medium which may offend or provide the basis for legal action.
What to blog about ?
Your official Clusterblog should be based around what your KCC job role covers. Although we realise that some generic areas e.g. ICT may be covered in several blogs because they are relevant to several "bloggers".
Colleagues can author a Group blog. We will group the blogs as the number grow into groups of similar themes
What not to blog ?
Internal confidential business information should never be blogged. Bloggers should be sensitive and careful about what they blog.
Where to add information ?
By choosing your publishing medium appropriately you can ensure the information you impart has the best expected outcome for colleagues;
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Emails – quick and best suited to short newsy items and links, they are rarely stored
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Blogs – best support innovation , news ,links to sites and documents of interest with the added value of encouraging collaboration. With RSS the benefit is people are regularly directed to visit the site.
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The web site lends itself best to longer life resources which you want to add to and develop. The advantage is a permanent URL to quote.
How to Blog ?
Guidance for use by our bloggers will be available shortly.
Pupils Blogging
We do not expect pupils to take part in these blogs. A separate working group will be considering guidance for this group. Contact Sarah Quantick.
Many users have contacted me to let me know that the uploading files/attachments function on the blogs doesn't seem to be working: more specifically, that you try to attach a document to your blog, using the Upload File tool or Post Attachments tool, and when you try to complete the upload, the following error is displayed in the upload window - 'We are currently unable to serve your request'....etc.
We're doing all we can to find a solution to this for you. I'll keep you updated.
This is one of the most often-asked questions I'm getting at the moment, so I thought it was worth giving all users (and potential users) a quick update.
At the moment we are still evaluating the use of ClusterBlog as a tool for Kent County Council education staff, (we have not added a link from ClusterWeb to the blogs and we are not advertising their presence) and until we have completed this process we will most likely not be opening ClusterBlog up to a wide user group.
The final decision as to exactly who is eligible for a blog has still yet to be made. You are more than welcome to contact me about having a blog, as this helps me understand which sections of Kent education staff have the most interest in the concept, but please be aware that I may not be able to set you up with a blog straight away.
We are working on a document which will set down some of the main principles of blogging for education in Kent, including guidelines for who will be able to apply for and use a blog here through ClusterWeb. This draft document will be discussed at the ICT Officers Meeting on Tuesday 7th next week.
As soon as I have a more concrete answer for you, I will post an update.
As I'm sure most of you have noticed, the upgrade has gone through successfully! Apologies for any inconvenience caused during this vital update to the software. I was out of the office for most of yesterday so haven't had a chance to look properly at all the upgraded features but as Alison has pointed out, the new version already has one big advantage over the old one: the ability to upload attachments.
I hope to have some time over the next few weeks to really get to know the functionality of this new version. If you want to tell me about something you've discovered your blog can do that you think would be of use or interest to other bloggers, please tell me and I'll add it to my upcoming blogger's guide.
Oh, and Rosemary? On this version, the smilies work. ![Angel [A]](/cs/emoticons/emotion-13.gif)
![Lightning [li]](/cs/emoticons/emotion-60.gif)