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 WMNet
3. Click on “Regions” again and choose “WMNet schools” from
the drop down menu
4. 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
1.
2.
click on
click on
then
3.
click on
click on
Choose your school / project
4.
click on the
name of your
school or
project
This is your school / project URL and the link
you should use from your website
your school
/project URL
is unique
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
1.
click on
News
then
Make sure you are on your school / project page
2.
click on
3.
Start to write - or copy and paste – your story
beginning with the by-line….
Enter your
name – school
policy is usually
first name only
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)