Description: This tool is used as a free web-blogging software that allows easy usage from one to many. The blogs can be created from a computer to include high quality images, videos, and text. This blog also allows for comments and responses to be made. The tool is designed almost perfectly for a teacher to communicate with his students.
Advantages of the tool
When you’re editing the sidebar of your class blog, you don't click save. Just drag and drop the widgets and it saves automatically. (You do have to click save if you’re editing the content of the widgets, but now, if you remove a widget, WordPress can remember the contents of your text boxes.)
You can edit several posts at the same time. You can also change the display status of multiple posts at once which means it’s easier to watch the kid's assignments.
WordPress Updates itself WordPress now allows you to upgrade to the newest version of WordPress from within the administrator side of your class blog. Saves time and frustration.
There’s a plugin for nearly everything: pasting your webpage into different pages, inserting Google Documents or Calendars on to your class blog.
You can compare different drafts and revisions similar to what you can do in a wiki or Google Doc, however, at this point in time, WordPress is only able to compare the HTML code.
You can assign different powers and levels of roles to different accounts. In WordPress, you can control who can comment, who can create posts, who can publish posts, who can modify the appearance of the sites, etc. There are even plugins that allow you to give specific powers to specific users. The students may be given special permission to comment on certain posts, and just to read others. Some posts may be distinguished only for parents to read and comment
Disadvantages (limitations) of the tool:
If multiple people are working at the same time sometimes information that was submitted can be lost due to a miscommunication error.
Overload. If an entire computer lab of students is wokring on updating and commenting a blog, the system has been known to overload.
The communication is now immediate. If a student or parent has a question, he will have to use alternate communication, or wait until a time when the teacher has designated to updating the blog, where she can answer questions.
Application of the tool in your subject area
In education Wordpress can be used as a way to send out a newsletter to parents to inform what is going on in the class. That way parents can be on the same page as the teacher and will know what their children are doing everyday. Using wordpress also saves paper because multiple newsletters do not have to be printed to send the information, it is accessible from a computer.
Wordpress can also be used as a means for teachers to post the main ideas of their lesson plans so that when it comes time to study for an exam a study guide will already be ready for use.
Preschool
Daily Activities
Upcoming Events
Heath Notifications
Homework
Special Assigments
Reminders to bring materials to class
Contact Information
- Enhacement:
- This blog is perfect for enhancement. The blog increases student participation by require the students to read the blog material, watch a video, and comment or respond appropriately. Students will find that watching videos and responding online might be a better outlet for them for participation. This will increase their comprehension. Blogs allow students to talk directly to the teacher, or their classmates, even both. The connection to other learners forms a communitive of support to learning the new material.
- Effectiveness:
- This blog does not directly improve the effectiveness of learning, but it allow for the incorporation of these tools. YouTube videos, Kidspriation, etc can be included directly onto the WordPress Blog.
- Efficiency:
- This blog provides the opportunity for immediate feedback and correction. A student could upload a paper to the blog, with settings that only the teacher could view. She could edit the paper, and send it back to him to make corrections. The blog speeds up the process of his learning with immediate connection to corrections. Also, peer editing could be used in the same context, just with student to student, instead of a teacher correction papers.
- This blog also organizes information chronologically so that students have a great tool to look over when studying for an exam or test. The class subject information is filed neatly in the internet blog and each of the students' comments and responses can be looked back on to help memories come back.
Communication Tool: WordPress
Group Members: Cayla and DeAndre':
Description: This tool is used as a free web-blogging software that allows easy usage from one to many. The blogs can be created from a computer to include high quality images, videos, and text. This blog also allows for comments and responses to be made. The tool is designed almost perfectly for a teacher to communicate with his students.
Advantages of the tool
Application of the tool in your subject area
- Enhacement:
- This blog is perfect for enhancement. The blog increases student participation by require the students to read the blog material, watch a video, and comment or respond appropriately. Students will find that watching videos and responding online might be a better outlet for them for participation. This will increase their comprehension. Blogs allow students to talk directly to the teacher, or their classmates, even both. The connection to other learners forms a communitive of support to learning the new material.
- Effectiveness:
- This blog does not directly improve the effectiveness of learning, but it allow for the incorporation of these tools. YouTube videos, Kidspriation, etc can be included directly onto the WordPress Blog.
- Efficiency:
- This blog provides the opportunity for immediate feedback and correction. A student could upload a paper to the blog, with settings that only the teacher could view. She could edit the paper, and send it back to him to make corrections. The blog speeds up the process of his learning with immediate connection to corrections. Also, peer editing could be used in the same context, just with student to student, instead of a teacher correction papers.
- This blog also organizes information chronologically so that students have a great tool to look over when studying for an exam or test. The class subject information is filed neatly in the internet blog and each of the students' comments and responses can be looked back on to help memories come back.
Find a tutorial video on YouTube
Useful Resources
Classroom Teacher