1. WordPress Blogs for Education
(Or “How I Learned to Stop Giving Book
Homework & Increased Class Interaction”)
2. COMMENTS &
QUESTIONS
Write them down and give them to me afterward. [2]
3. Why WordPress?
HTML Joomla Moodle WP
Static; BIG; FOR education; Simplicity;
Unnecessarily Unnecessarily Unnecessarily Acts like a blog,
complicated to complicated to complicated to looks like a
update navigate build professional site
12 3 2 1 (12)
We recently switched The Jeonju Hub to WP (from Joomla) for these reasons [3]
4. Why Make a Class Blog?
1. Meet the students where they are (technology)
– Technology = a high-interest way to get them to write/communicate
– Self-posting encourages self-editing/self-rewriting
2. Increase interaction
– Quiet kids contribute more (participation grade)
– Read, review, respond to classmates (start a discussion)
– Students model writing skills (self- /peer-comparison)
– Encourage Critical Thinking Skills (read well to respond well)
3. Helpful for the teacher
– Teachers also model good writing skills (and can post rubrics)
– Less loose paper homework, bad handwriting, late papers
– Auto archive student work for later review (no papers or folders)
– Absent kids have no excuses for no homework
– You can schedule homework and assignments
4. Mobile (WP supports smart phone use)
Reference: http://www.assortedstuff.com/stuff/?p=70 [4]
5. Class Blogs: 4 Ideas
1. Assign Homework as comments on a Post
– (Later students comment on previous comments)
2. Assign notebook/project homework in greater
detail (paperless)
– (Post answers in the comments)
3. Assign students to write their own Posts to
educate their peers
4. Flip your classroom!
– (Video lectures = hw; workbook problems in class)
My former students’ WP sites [5]
6. WP: What Should You Know?
1. Sign-up, Login, Dashboard (overview/stats)
2. Appearance & Widgets (sidebar)
3. Categories (classes) & Tags (keywords)
4. Posts (categories) & Pages (no categories)
5. Comments & Akismet (Spam catcher)
6. Users & Scheduling
Dated, but useful tutorial for setting up WordPress [6]
7. WP 1: Signup, Login, Dashboard
Sign-up Login
www.wordpress.com yoursite.com/wp-admin
More about using WordPress for Classrooms [7]
8. WP 2: Appearance & Widgets
Live Preview Changes Click-and-Drag Widgets (42)
Find great WordPress themes! [8]
9. WP 3: Categories & Tags (Posts)
Categories = Classes Tags = Search word (keywords)
Posts ONLY – this is how you sort and search on your site [9]
11. WP 5: Comments and Akismet
Settings -> Discussion Akismet is built in!
Basic recommendation: “Before a comment appears -> Comment author must have a previously approved comment” [ 11 ]
![COMMENTS &
QUESTIONS
Write them down and give them to me afterward. [2]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)