Getting started with Making the News ** What is Making the News? ** How do I find my schools pages? ** Making the news is easy ** Write a news story as.

getting started with

Making the News* What is Making the News?

* How do I find my school’s pages?

* Making the news is easy

* Write a news story as a Guest

* Schools policies

* Making the most of MTN

* More issues and ideas

What is Making the News?

• online news reporting system• can be used at school and at home• used by staff and pupils of all ages• it’s free to set up and to use (contact

roger.blamire@wmnet.org.uk to be set up)• simple interface• no technical knowledge needed or assumed

How do I find my school’s page?

•access Making the News website: http://mtn.e2bn.net

1. click on “Regions”2. click on WMNet3. Click on “Regions” again and choose “WMNet schools” from the drop down menu4. click on your school’s name (contact roger.blamire@wmnet.org.uk if you aren’t yet set up)(this is your school’s MTN “homepage” or Rostra)

Go to http://mtn.e2bn.net

click on

click on

1.

2.

then

click on

click on

3.

click on the name of your school or project

Choose your school / project

4.

your school /project URL is unique

This is your school / project URL and the link you should use from your website

Making a news story is easy

• make sure you are on your school’s page

1. click on “news” and then “submit”2. click on “guest entry”3. start writing – complete the submission form

Make sure you are on your school / project page

click on News then

1.

click on

Make sure you are on your school / project page

2.

Start to write - or copy and paste – your story beginning with the by-line….

Enter your name – school policy is usually first name only

3.

Then the Story Headline

Think carefully about headlines – do use CAPITALS, puns, alliteration etc

Then the Story

Stories can be copied and pasted from a word processing package – clear paragraphing is important.

Then Multi-Media – make the most of it

Upload a picture, movie, or an MP3 sound file

Multi-Media – make the most of it

Explain your media to the reader in your caption

Insert a relevant hyperlink

This is the text that the reader will see

Insert a relevant hyperlink

This is the full web address for the link (use http://...)

Save and Preview

Preview and add more media items and hyperlinks

Re-edit

Click on re-edit to alter your story, add more media and/or links

Publish

Click on publish to send your story to your school’s administrator(s)

School ICT/Image Consent Policies

Schools will need to look at Making the News in the light of their ICT, Internet and image consent policies and guidance should be

issued.

This is the responsibility of the individual school.

Making the most of MTN• Make sure that you have up-to-date

Flash Player, QuickTime, WMV players installed• At present only QuickTime and WMV movies

can be uploaded – this will be changed in the near future

• Make sure that pictures aren’t too big to be uploaded – use a free package such as Irfan View to compress them

• Ensure that all your reporters are aware of copyright

More issues and ideas

• Administrators can preload images in the Media Library ready for use (be aware of copyright issues)

• FlashBlogging doesn’t always work within your Local Authority for security reasons. It is a neat way of recording a small “talking head” using a webcam plugged into your computer. It may work at school or at home if you wish to try it

• Look beyond E2BN at the other RBCs in “Regions” for ideas and inspiration

Everyone can use MTN – pupils, teachers, non-teaching

staff, PTA, governors…

Use MTN to celebrate learning, activities and events

in your school/home community

Good luck making your news!

This presentation is used courtesy of Damaris Revell (CLEO)