Section 8.1. Creating Journals

8.1. Creating Journals

Compared to many of the other tools we've discussed so far, creating a journal is relatively simple.

To add a journal to your course:

1. Click Turn Editing Mode On.

2. Select Journal from the Add Activity... menu in the content block where you want to add a journal.

3. Give the journaling assignment a name and a summary, as shown in Figure 8-1.

   Figure 8-1. Add a new journal

   
   
   

4. If you are going to grade the assignment, select the grading scale you want to use.

5. Select the number of days you want the journal to be available. The timer starts from the day you create the journal.

You can test your journal by clicking on the name of the assignment in the content block. This will display the journal entry page. This is where students will enter their responses to your journal assignment.

To create a journal entry:

1. Click the name of the journal assignment in the content block on the main course screen. You'll see the Journal summary and a button labeled "Start or edit my journal entry."

2. Click the "Start journal entry" button.

3. You'll be presented with a text area (with the HTML toolbar if enabled), such as the one shown in Figure 8-2. Type your entry and click "Save changes." The entry will be visible to the student each time they click on the Journal assignment

4. You can edit your entry by clicking the "Start or edit my journal entry" button again.

Figure 8-2. Journal entry page

Students can see only one journal entry per journal assignment. If you want students to write multiple journal entries, you'll need to add a journal for each one. For example, if you want students to write one journal entry per week, you'll need to add a journal assignment for every week in the class. Alternatively, you could just add one journal for the entire class, and students could build on it over the entire course. The grading and reading process could get a bit unwieldy, however.