Using Wordpress as a tool in the Classroom

1. Using Wordpressas a tool in the Classroom Presented by: Assistant Professor, Akram Taghavi-BurrisGraphics and Imaging Technologies dept.Pittsburg State University aburris@pittstate.edu

2. Abstract Wordpress 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.

3. Problem & Solution • Problem • Students lack of • Engagement • Reinforced Learning • Solution • Interaction between students, teachers, and content • Worpdress as interactive platform

4. Planning the Site How will we set up Wordpress

5. 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

6. Why Use Wordpress • Open Source • User Friendly • Theme Support • Extended Plugins • Lots of documentation • Past Experience

7. 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

8. 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

9. Designing the Site What will it look like, how will it work?

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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;

13. 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)

14. Media Queries • Resize site for smaller screens • Set the grid styles within a media query • If smaller screens columns all become 100% of screen

15. Writing Media Queries @media screen and (min-width: 768px){ /*rules go here*/ } @media screen and (max-width: 767px) { /*rules go here*/ }

16. 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" >

17. Polling Feature • WP-Polls: AJAX poll system • Allows for polls in posts or themes • Customizable features • Nicely displays results • Provides data on who posted

18. 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

19. 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.

20. 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_idfield value • Otherwise just echostudent_view content

21. The Site Teacher and Student View

26. Conclusion

27. 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

28. 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

29. In the End This pilot program using Wordpresshas 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.

30. Thank You Assistant Professor, Akram Taghavi-BurrisGraphics and Imaging Technologies dept.Pittsburg State University aburris@pittstate.edu @ataghaviburris (twitter) www.akramsideas.com