Overview

The Digital Learning team have created a collection video tutorials and guides to support students using Journal. The tutorials and guides have been organised into categories on this page. The Short course section contains videos and guides teaching you the basic skills you’ll need to use Journal. We recommend watching the videos and/or reading the guides in this section at the beginning of your module/course, and then referring back to them when you want to complete specific tasks. 

This page also includes an Additional Support guides section and signposts users with a special interest to a free WordPress course.

Contents

Short course

Additional Support guides

Training and Support

Introduction to Journal

Journal is Falmouth University's blogging and website creation platform. It is used in different ways by various courses and modules so you may be asked to create a blog or an online portfolio, keep an online sketchbook or scrapbook, or contribute to a collaborative class activity within Journal. Journal allows you to create, upload and embed different types of content from text, PDF’s, images, videos, audio and all sorts of integrations with other websites. If Journal is used in your course or module, your Journal will have been created for you to add content to. You’ll be given clear instructions to follow, and your tutor will make sure you know exactly what they want you to do.

Logging in and navigating

Every Falmouth student has a Journal account, so even if you're not yet using Journal for a specific module, you can follow guidance in the Logging in and navigating guide to log in and have a look around.

Customising your site

If you have an individual Journal, you can customise specific elements of your site, for example the title, tagline, menus and the image.

Editing your pages

If your Journal site has been set up with Pages, follow steps in the guides below to add content.

Adding a new post

If your Journal site has been set up for you to add Posts, follow steps in the guides below to add content.

Using the text and content editor

All Journal sites use the Block editor to add and edit content. There are several blocks to select from depending on the content you want to add. Follow steps in the guides below to learn how to use the text and content editor.

Adding images

The guides below show you how to add and showcase images and how to add Alt text and captions to them. 

Additional image guides

These guides are more indepth and take you beyond the basics of adding images to Journal.

Embedding Panopto videos in Journal

The guides below take you through the steps to add Panopto videos to your Journal Posts or Pages.

Embedding external content

One of the main advantages of using Journal instead of a static document is that you can embed third party content. Refer to the guides to find out more about what content can be added and follow the steps to add external content to your Journal.

Additional Support guides

This section contains a number of additional support guides to accompany the Journal Short course videos and guides.

Journal FAQs for students

Journal FAQs for students provides answers to commonly asked questions and issues

Scrapbooking

The Scrapbooking with Journal video discusses the benefits of using Journal like a digital 'Scrapbook' and shows you how to store things that have inspired you on the Scrapbook page of your Journal.

Accessibility

Accessibility Tricks and Tips in Journal introduces some useful tools for improving digital accessibility with Journal, and directs students to contact the FXPlus Accessibility and Inclusion Team for more general web-accessibility guidance.

Journal on Mobile

For specific tasks, Journal has excellent mobile capabilities. Using Journal on Mobile discusses the benefits and limits of using Journal on mobile, and demonstrates how to create a desktop link on a mobile device for quick access.

Graduate access to Journal

If students want continued access to their Journal sites after completing their course, they need to export their Journal site and then import into a new 'external' site. There are currently two options available for this; importing to a WordPress site (which is free) or to an Edublogs Pro site which requires an annual subscription. Read through the guides below to find out more about each option and then follow steps in the relevant guide once you've decided which option to go with.

Alternatively, there is also an option for students to Print or export their Journal site as a PDF.

WordPress Training Course

Journal is based on WordPress which is an industry standard. If you would like to learn more about using WordPress, you may be interested in the Digital Skills Team's Introduction to Wordpress course. The course discusses real-world applications of Wordpress.org and Wordpress.com, the main differences and which one will suit your needs, whether you're a blogger or you're looking for website. It covers creating a website or blog, editing and uploading content and all the functionality available to you.


Question mark iconFurther Support

For general queries about the Learning Space, students should first contact their module leader or personal tutor. For any other comments or issues within this guide, please contact the Digital Learning Team via dlsupport@falmouth.ac.uk. Alternatively, please refer to the numerous help guides found on our Knowledge Base. 

 

View the Accessibility Statement for all of our support guides.