The Post Box ("Write A Post")
Whenever you see the post box, you can participate in the conversation. The post box is collapsed to enable as many posts to show “above the fold.” Click the post box to expand it or click the paperclip (attachment) icon to the right of the box to quickly attach a file as a post.
These are the basic components of the post box:
Write A Post / Title
You can add a title to your post, though it is not required.
Description / Body
This is where you’ll type the body of your post. Remember you are writing AS your MySciLife identity, not as yourself. Your post can also include a link to a project you made elsewhere on the web using free, creative tools and apps to make animations, comics, annotated images, audio recordings, etc. (See the MySciLife Resource Library for some great tool suggestions.) Just be sure your creation does not include or show your human name. You are posting AS your identity!
Citation
Since MySciLife practices good digital citizenship, we encourage all students to add citations to any material they referenced in their post, and to link to the source for copyright-safe images or other materials they use in their posts.
Tags are little “labels,” called metadata, that you can attach to posts on MySciLife. It is useful to tag your posts with topics, keywords, or ideas so that later, any user can search all the posts on MySciLife by using tags to find related information. To add a tag, use the hashtag (#) followed by the word/phrase as you would on other social platforms.
When students add tags, a list of available tags will give autocomplete suggestions. Students must choose selections from the list. Only teachers can add new tags simply by typing the new tag (with the # at the beginning) and hitting spacebar or enter, if they do not see it among the autocomplete suggestions.
There are also four buttons at the bottom of the post box:
Add Attachment
These tabs allow you to toggle back and forth between the post you’re composing and an area where you can attach files to your post.
Post Button
Clicking this button posts the content of your post and any attachments to the community stream or Main Stream (subject to teacher approval and/or community and student moderation settings). If your posts are moderated, clicking “Post” sends your post to your teacher’s Activity Feed for review.
Save As Draft
Click the “Save As Draft” button at any time to save the post you’re working on into your My Drafts.
Submit for Teacher Feedback (Students only)
Clicking this button will send your post (via My Messages) to your teacher’s My Messages. This is different from posting and waiting for teacher moderation. If you are asking for Feedback, MySciLife assumes you do not think your post is ready to go live yet.