WordPress

= Communication Tool: WordPress = Group Members: Kalie Creamer, Jill Cassidy



Brief introduction of the tool
WordPress is an Open Source project, which means there are hundreds of people all over the world working on it. WordPress started as just a blogging systems, but has evolved to be used as full content management system and so much more through the thousands of plugins, widgets, and themes, WordPress is limited only by your imagination. (And tech chops.) It is free and you can start using it in seconds. You can let others see your blog, and it makes communication easier. You can have different themes, and plugins. You can also use the comment bucket to complain about a certain feature on wordpress or express new ideas that can make it better. Three E's: Effective—This is effective because it improves student communication, transfer, and comprehension due to visualization. Efficient—This is efficient because we’re using technology to speed up communication, we can quickly make educational blogs, and we’re eliminating laborious processes. Enhancement—Using technology increases student motivation, makes things easier, and creates exceptional learning experiences. You have to find a web host before you start, which may be challenging if you haven’t done so before. Not many students our age know about wordpress, so it’s rarely used. Also, using the tool can be very challenging for people that do not know how to use it properly or understand the technology well.
 * ===//Advantages of the tool//===
 * ===//Disadvantages (limitations) of the tool//===

Application of the tool in your subject area
The teacher could create a blog and have the students comment on the blog. They could express their ideas, come up with new ideas together, and eventually make their own blogs on the new ideas they came up with. For example, if the teacher wanted the students to engage in a conversation about why the Europeans traveled to America, they could discuss their ideas in the blog the teacher posted. After they came up with good ideas as to why the Europeans came to America, they could create their own blog and talk about why they think it happened. To go even further, the students could comment on each other’s blogs to really understand why the Europeans traveled to America.

//List of key features showed in the Youtube tutorial://
Step-by-step process of setting up an account with WordPress. It shows and example of how to use a web host. It shows exactly how WordPress looks when browsing the site. The video goes through every sidebar feature (ex: themes, widgets, posts, etc.) The video is over 50 minutes long and answers virtually all questions about WordPress.

Useful Resources
@http://topwpthemes.com/ @http://codex.wordpress.org/Introduction_to_Blogging @http://yoast.com/wordpress/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordPress http://webhostinggeeks.com/ http://www.godaddy.com/default.aspx http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_hosting_service