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EXAMPLES    

Three Articles...

Two Sites...

One Tutorial...

DESCRIPTION

     WordPress is a Web 2.0 tool.  It is an open source application (meaning it is available to nearly everyone), a blog (regularly generated web content) hosting service, a content management system (software providing web publishing and editing features for users), and a free internet resource which can be adapted as an educational technology. WordPress Classrooms pronounces its use as an educational technology as follows, "Bring your class to life: Connect, engage, educate".[1]  ASCD, an association that develops programs, products, and services essential to the way educators learn, teach, and lead, remarks that WordPress Classrooms "does offer some useful suggestions for using WordPress in education settings".[2]  Some of these suggestions include, "engage your students" and "connect with parents".[3]    

 

POTENTIAL USE

     A specific use of a WordPress site for a secondary American Government class, might be for a mock election.  Teachers could post instructions and provide a schedule (timeline) with updates and reminders for students.  Teachers could also post select, relevant portions of the classes' textbook material that could be readily accessed by students on the WordPress Classrooms site.  Students could be allowed to take polls on the site— which could potentially be the means through which students nominate their classmate "candidates" and gage the "race" during the election process.  Furthermore, students could have the option of assuming "journalistic" roles and accordingly the responsibility for producing "articles" to be posted about campaign updates, multimedia advertisements, interviews with the candidates, etc..  In concluding the mock election assignments, it might be beneficial to have each of the students reflect upon the experience and even compare the experience to what they learn about realistic governmental elections through the use of a discussion forum on the site.  Additionally, parents would be able to get a peek at what their children work on in class with the convince of accessing the WordPress site on their own time.

 

CONCERNS

  • Grading— WordPress aspects of assignments will require unconventional evaluation methods.

 

Yet, it can be done!  It may help to consult material from other educators who have ideas on how to evaluate such assignment aspects— like Mark Sample of George Mason University's article, "A Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs"— to adapt for the purposes of WordPress aspects of assignments.[4]

 

  • Time and Skill— Additional time and skill acquisition for successfully completing assignments will most likely be necessary, for both teachers and students.

 

Yet, "[i]t seems that the faculty who have the best luck using WordPress in their classrooms are those who have considered the benefits of what the Web has to offer and who have tailored their assignments and expectations to the medium.  It might take [teachers] some time to figure out how to best use a Web-based project in [their] class, but those faculty who invest the time in these types of assignments seem to be able to reuse them for multiple semesters and courses".[5]

 

  • Privacy— Protecting the privacy of students will require substantial proactive conscientiousness along with some technical know-how.

 

Yet, WordPress offers a privacy feature of restricting access to individual pages and/or the entire site through password protection.  Moreover, teachers could choose to post all of the content on the site, even choosing to keep information about students who author the content anonymous to the public (and/or other students and parents, if the site only allows access to students and parents).

 

BENEFITS

  • Versatility—WordPress allows considerable freedom and flexibility , and being so may be adapted for innumerable academic purposes across innumerable general and/or specific content areas.

 

"You are free to use WordPress in any way you choose: install it, use it, modify it, distribute it".[6]

"WordPress is completely customizable and can be used for almost anything".[7]

 

  • Interactive and Collaborative Learning— Assignments involving WordPress have potential to encourage students to take ownership of their assignments and interact with their teachers and classmates in collaborative efforts as well.

 

"A WordPress site allows us to facilitate better communication between the instructor and

students as well as encouraging student discussion.  There are a number of plugins that add

contact forms, improve the WordPress commenting system, and even add the ability to

incorporate a discussion forum into our site[s]".[8]

 

  • Multimedia Content— The adaption of multimedia content (text, audio, video, images, etc.) is advantageous in appealing to students with various learning styles (visual, auditory, etc.).

 

"The advantages of integrating multimedia in the classroom are many.  Through participation in

multimedia activities, students can learn...[t]he impact and importance of different media,

[t]he challenges of communicating to different audiences, [h]ow to present information in

compelling ways [and]...[h]ow to express their ideas creatively".[9]

 

 

 

P.S.: Come check out my experimental WordPress site, Classroom, which is under construction in conjunction with this site!   

WordPress

ENDNOTES

          1. WordPress Classrooms, "Make the Grade: Build an A+ Classroom Site on WordPress.com," WordPress.com, available from http://en.wordpress.com/classrooms/ (accessed June 1, 2013).

          2. David Snyder, "EduBlog Startup Tools: WordPress Launches Education Page," ASCD Information Resource Center, published March 28, 2013, available from http://inservice.ascd.org/technology/edublog-startup-tools-wordpress-launches-education-page/ (accessed June 5, 2013).

          3. WordPress Classrooms, "Make the Grade: Build an A+ Classroom Site on WordPress.com."

          4. Mark Sample, "A Rubric for Evaluating Student Blogs," The Chronicle of Higher Education: ProfHacker, published September 7, 2010, available from http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/a-rubric-for-evaluating-student-blogs/27196 (accessed June 5, 2013).

          5. Evan Cordulack, "Using WordPress in Your Class for Student Writing and Websites," Academic Technology: At the College of William & Mary, published August 12, 2012, available http://at.blogs.wm.edu/using-wordpress-in-your-class-for-student-writing-and-web-sites/ (accessed May 29, 2013).

          6. "Features," WordPress.org, available from http://wordpress.org/about/features/ (accessed June 5, 2013).

          7.  "About WordPress," WordPress.org, available from http://wordpress.org/about/ (accessed June 5, 2013).

          8. Adam D. Scott, "Conversation and Communication Plugins," WordPress for Education: Creative Interactive and Engaging E-Learning Websites with WordPress (Birmingham, UK :Packt Publishing Ltd., 2012).

          9. Pinellas School District and the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, "Multimedia In the Classroom," University of South Florida, available from http://fcit.usf.edu/multimedia/overview/overviewb.html (accessed June 5, 2013).

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