Geography 4/532:  Climatological Aspects of Global Change
 
Global Climate Change-Related Web Page/URL Contributions
 
The Internet and Global Climate Change: Anybody can set up a web site now, and make it look like it's an authoritative source of information on global change (and in particular, on climate change), and also make that site appear as though it were relatively "green" as opposed to, say, "skeptical" about human-induced climate change. It would be a good thing learn how to deconstruct web pages by figuring out who the "owners" are, and whether they have a particular orientation that may be based on a political perspective as opposed to a scientific one.

In order to gain a perspective on the web "presence" of global climate change (as well as to gain some information), this exercise will use the Blackboard course-web page "Discussion Board" facility to contribute and comment upon a set of web pages/URLs.  The requirements are:

  • to contribute five unique web pages/URLs
  • to comment on ten of those contributions

The comments can be used to amplify the description of the web page by the contributor, to comment upon a web page that you wanted to submit but someone else had already submitted, and to provide individual perspectives.  This exercise should not be considered as a forum for proselytizing, debating the validity of different political philosophies, making personal attacks on the views of others, etc.
 
To create a new thread in order to contribute a web page/URL:
  1. On the Blackboard page for Geog. 4/532, click on Discussion Board.  The Discussion Board window will open, showing a list of Forums
  2. Click on the appropriate Forum for the URL you want to add (e.g. University URLs)
  3. Click on the +Thread (add Thread) button

On the Add Thread page:

  1. Enter a title or name for the web page (URL) in the Subject field
  2. Then in the Message area, enter the material described below
  3. Click on the Cancel, Save or Submit buttons.  (Save saves the material you've entered, but does not make it available, while Submit does.  Cancel wipes out whatever you've done.)
 
What to include in the Message area to describe the URL:
  • The URL.  To include the URL as a "live" link:
  1. Copy the URL from the Address window of a web browser.
  2. Paste it into the Message area
  3. Select it
  4. Click on the Hyperlink button on the Message window toolbar
  5. In the Insert Link window that opens, in the URL field, select or erase the "http://" text
  6. Paste the URL (again) into the URL field
  7. Click on submit.
  • Then continue to add the following information:
    • A description the owners of the Web page (e.g. the agency, group or individual author that "owns" or created the page, not the specific person that may maintain the page)
    • A one- or two-sentence description of the content of the web page
    • A one- or two-sentence description of the premis, political orientation, or purpose of the web page.
    • Anything else you think others would be interested in knowing about the web page (how you found it, how it works, etc.)
       

  • Note:

    • you can modify an entry later

    • you can "subscribe" to a thread to be notified when someone "replies".
 
To comment on a URL:
  1. Navigate down through the Forums to a particular Thread, and click on it.
  2. On the Thread Detail page, click on the Reply button
  3. On the Reply to Post page, edit the Subject field or add a new subject
  4. Enter comments on the Message are as above
  5. Click on Cancel, Save, or Submit as appropriate.
 
What to include in the comment on the URL:
  • Additional perspectives on the content, ownership and orientation of the web page.
  • Observations about the relationship of the web page and its content to other pages.
  • Comments on the comments.
This particular mechanism of contributing and commenting on web pages/URLs is new, and may need to be modified at some point, depending on how things go.