Navigating the Course on the CUNY Academic Commons
The CUNY Academic Commons is a web-based platform available to all members of the CUNY community.
Why are we using the Commons?
This course site allows for all kinds of different course materials and media to be kept in one central location. It’s also a publicly available web page that can be used as an Open Educational Resource (see below). This differs from keeping all the course material in Blackboard (or soon Brightspace), where everything happens behind a login, and it is harder for students to share materials with one another. On the Commons, most of the materials and content are meant to be publicly available. Your individual presentations will be behind a password-protected portion of the site, but your comments throughout the pages of material have you participating in building a community of knowledge exchange.
The Commons is built on a WordPress system. You may have heard of WordPress before. It’s an open-source platform that powers almost half of the overall internet.
Learning the basics of using WordPress gives you a skill you can take with you anywhere. You can make your own web presence, practice website design, and someday have an extra helpful job skill.
Learning new technology takes some time. It’s ok if you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Illustration by Ernest Howard Shepherd for Winnie-the-Pooh, 1926. Public Domain
Why not just have everything on BlackBoard?
As an open-source tool, Commons (and WordPress generally) encourages the creation of new content and makes it accessible. The goal of the Commons is to build communities and networks of research and learning. Just as you are learning skills in oral communication, you are also learning skills in communication more broadly. The setup of this course site and the technologies we are using together aim to build a more strongly connected learning environment.
Blackboard is a “learning management system.” Its strengths are in communication and tracking between professor and student, less student-to-student, or collaborative working. I will be using Blackboard to track your completion of assignments and modules. When I offer feedback on your speeches, it will often be directly where you post them on this site, just as your fellow students will be doing. Some assignment links may take you back to Blackboard to submit a written piece.
Brooklyn College will join the rest of CUNY in transitioning to Brightspace, a new learning management system that will start in the spring or fall, and Blackboard will be phased out.
I will track your completion of assignments in Blackboard, but you should expect to receive feedback and responses primarily publicly, as this will help everyone grow and learn. Between Sunday afternoon and Tuesday night’s class, I expect you to look over your classmates’ and my comments.
Wait. What about privacy?
The majority of this site is an open educational resource. That means that the materials on the site are in the public domain or licensed under a variety of different open licenses. (You’ll learn more about this as we go on!) Sometimes, there will be links to materials that are only available to you as a Brooklyn College student (via the library, for example), and you will need to log in to that portion of the site with a password that I will provide on the first day of class (you’ll be able to refer back to it in Blackboard at any time).
As an open-source tool, the Commons (and WordPress generally) encourages the creation of new content and makes it accessible. The goal of the Commons is to build communities and networks of research and learning.
Throughout the materials, you will be asked to add comments, discuss, and ask questions on the modules’ pages to contribute to our class learning community.
As a participant in this class, you will be creating content and responding to each other on an open platform that is available to anyone with a link (though not searchable through Google.)
You have individual control over whether or not you make your video content public or unlisted if you are hosting through YouTube (the most efficient method – discussed later).
This also means that you can remove it from there when you wish. (I will be happy to remove any comments or other work from the course website after the class is over.)
Wait. What about privacy?
The majority of this site is what is considered an Open-Education Resource. That means that the materials on the site are in the public domain or licensed under a variety of different open licenses. (We’ll talk more about this in class!) Sometimes there will be links to materials that are only available to you as a Brooklyn College student (via the library, for example) and you will need to login to that portion of the site with a password that I will provide on the first day of class.
Your comments on most materials are public and are part of our greater class discussion and knowledge building. The overall site is set to not be indexed by search engines such as Google but is available to anyone with the link.
Your work – the posts that you will make – will always be behind a passworded protected portion of the site. You have control over whether or not you make your video content public or unlisted on YouTube. This also means that you can remove it from there when you wish.
In general, the Academic Commons is committed to data transparency and privacy. You can learn about the Commons general privacy protections by clicking here. If you have concerns please talk to me.
If you want anything removed from the course website after the class is over, I will be happy to do so.
Join the Commons, Join Our Class
If you don’t already have a Commons account you will need to register for one.
You must use your Brooklyn College (or another CUNY Campus) email. If you do not yet have access to this, make sure you’ve followed the steps here. If that doesn’t work, contact the Help Desk. The number/email is at the bottom of that linked page. You can still continue through most of each course module without being logged in as a site user, but you will need to get this solved as soon as possible.
Step One: Signing Up for the Academic Commons
Via Email Invitation to the Course
You should have received an email to join this course. Check your spam if you haven’t.
The first link in the email that you received will have a link to register for an account
You will be asked to complete a registration that will ask you for the kind of details you would expect, including choosing a username and password.
While you must confirm your registration through your .cuny.edu email, you can change this later.
The Commons also asks that you include your (main) College affiliation.
Once you’ve confirmed your account, you will be able to log in to the Commons either from the main Commons page or across any site on the Commons using the top black header toolbars in the right-hand corner.
If you are logged into the Commons, you can access a drop-down menu on the upper black toolbar where you logged in.
When you do so, you will see that you now have access to a drop-down menu from your login.
Take a moment to go to “My Profile” and add some details, such as a profile picture, if you wish.
Once you complete the next step and become a user of this site, you will be able to find it under “My Sites.” Or just return to the course site directly and log in from the top black toolbar: https://1707casdf24.commons.gc.cuny.edu
Step 2: Accept the Course Invite
Go back to the initial email invitation. There should be a second link to claim the invitation you were sent for the course. Click on it.
or
Look for the invite on the dropdown from the black tool bar (that you saw above) under “My Invites.”
Help! I don’t have the invite email and I don’t see it under “My invites.”
Solution: Email me the username you set up when you registered and I will send you a new invitation to the course.
Video walkthrough of registering for the Commons
Ok. I think I’m set up. How do I know?
Fantastic! If you’re all set up on the Commons, you should see a black header bar that will show that you are logged in.
AND
There should now be a “+New” link in the center of the black header. (Don’t click it yet, but if you see that option, you are ready to go on.)
What do I do if I really don’t have access to my CUNY email?
Make sure you’ve followed the steps here. If that doesn’t work, contact the IT Help Desk. The number/email is on the bottom of the linked page.
I think I’m all set
If you have set up an account and accepted the class invitation (remember, that takes a second click on the invite email) then you should see a black toolbar on the very top of the course site page. It will show if you are logged in on the right-hand corner. Remember: If you are set up in the class, there will be a “+New” link. Don’t click it yet, but if you see that option, you are ready to go on.
I’m not set up yet
That’s ok. Come back to this.
You don’t have to be logged in most of the time you are on the site, though you may find it easier to stay logged in when leaving comments. Many of the modules will ask you to leave a comment or answer a poll, which you can do even without your Commons account set up for the time being.
Some assignments, including video performances, require you to create a post. That’s what that “+New” link is for. You’ll learn how to add content to that new post on the next page. If you haven’t yet gotten into the class, just click through the next page and go on to the rest of the module.
