2012 wordpress camp kc - using wordpress as a tool in the classroom
TRANSCRIPT
Using Wordpress as a tool in the Classroom
Presented by: Assistant Professor, Akram Taghavi-BurrisGraphics and Imaging Technologies dept.
Pittsburg State University
AbstractWordpress offers a variety of features that when applied well can change a boring classroom lecture into an interactive lesson. This presentation aims to provide practical application of implementing Wordpress as an interactive sub-site for course lessons.
Problem & Solution Problem
Students lack of Engagement Reinforced Learning
Solution Interaction between students, teachers, and
content Worpdress as interactive platform
Planning the SiteHow will we set up Wordpress
What We Want A way for students to interact in a lecture
class Polling system without extra hardware
Pull students away form other digital distractions Have students use their computers, tablets,
and smartphones in class, avoiding other possible distractions
Instant feedback for Teachers Poll results provide teachers a way to identify
how much of the class has grasp the topic
Why Use Wordpress
Open Source User Friendly Theme Support Extended Plugins Lots of documentation Past Experience
The Set-Up Simplified theme
No distractions, easy to navigate Site posts to replace lecture PowerPoint's
Polling System A way for students to answer questions in
class and display results of the class
The Set-Up User login
Admin log in for Teachers Login for Students, tracking their
participation Split Views
Have students see different content than what the Teacher is projecting on screen
Designing the SiteWhat will it look like, how will it work?
Organization Layout Home page
User Login Display all lesson (categories)
Post Pages View only single category and single post at a
time Each lesson Slide (PPT) will be translated into
a single post Next and Previous buttons move through
posts like in a PPT
Responsive layout Site Needs
Projected at 800 X 600 pixels on Screen Readable on laptops, netbooks, tablets and
smart phones Solution
Create a Grid Layout Use Media Queries
Style.css Import two style sheets
basics.css – basic styles gs-780-Rep.css – responsive grid style
sheet for layout Use the @import method
@import url (“basics.css”) only screen; @import url (“gs-780-Rep.css”) only screen;
The Grid Main container 780 pixels wide
fits just under the 800px width Margins auto (centers) and no padding
9 columns, starting at 60px Floats left 20px left margin (gutter space) No padding
First-child of each column class, has no left margin
Clear class (clear floats)
Media Queries Resize site for smaller screens Set the grid styles within a media query If smaller screens columns all become
100% of screen
Writing Media Queries@media screen and (min-width: 768px){
/*rules go here*/
}
@media screen and (max-width: 767px) {
/*rules go here*/
}
Viewing on SmartPhones
Smartphones try to zoom out the site In the header.php, force the zoom factor to
one with:<meta content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" name="viewport" >
Polling Feature WP-Polls: AJAX poll system
Allows for polls in posts or themes Customizable features Nicely displays results Provides data on who posted
Custom Fields Custom fields in Wordpress are a form of
meta-data that allows for information to be stored.
Custom Fields can be used within conditional statements to control what the user sees
Our Custom Fields student-view: displays a message to
student users, or indicates that there is a poll present
poll-id: a numeric value which identifies what poll to display to students.
Setting Conditions Split views of content
Check if Teacher (level_10) then show post content
Check if Student (anything other than level_10)
If the user is a student, get custom fields values Check if custom field student_view is equal
to “poll” then show poll based on poll_id field value
Otherwise just echo student_view content
The SiteTeacher and Student View
Conclusion
Results On average about 90% of student
participated in class 85% of the total class indicated that they
like the polling system and using the interactive site
Teachers feedback indicated that instant student feedback allowed for them to spend more time on difficult topics, as indicated by question polls
Pros and Cons Instant feedback and
evaluation of students
Interaction with students
Records participation and poll data
Wordpress isn’t PowerPoint
Not as easy as drag and drop when creating posts
Custom Theme required
In the EndThis pilot program using Wordpress has shown some success in engaging students in the classroom. Future enhancements are already in the work, such as integrating Cubepoints plug-in to work with the polls, so students can earn points for participating and more transistions and customization of the theme is also in the works.
Thank You
Assistant Professor, Akram Taghavi-BurrisGraphics and Imaging Technologies dept.
Pittsburg State University
[email protected]@ataghaviburris (twitter)www.akramsideas.com