http://openedweb.com/blog Education and Technology Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:54:48 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://openedweb.com/blog/2009/02/17/two-more-wpmu-plugins-for-k12/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2009/02/17/two-more-wpmu-plugins-for-k12/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2009 18:42:02 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/?p=1150 As I ramp up our school’s WPMU blog platform, I look forward to rolling out the new 2.7 interface. I have updated and tested my favorite plugins. DSader’s More Privacy Options, and Peter’s Collaborative Email still work. To make things even better I found a pair of plugins that will make our configuration more secure [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2009/02/17/two-more-wpmu-plugins-for-k12/feed/ 1 http://openedweb.com/blog/2009/02/02/wpmu-27-improves-navigation/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2009/02/02/wpmu-27-improves-navigation/#comments Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:07:27 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/?p=1066 WordPressMu 2.7 was released a few days ago. I have been using the beta version on my BuddyPress test installation and our school’s blogging platform. At school the updates from 2.6 to 2.7b to 2.7 went without a hitch by means of ftp. On the BuddyPress site, the svn switch from trunk to tag 2.7 [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2009/02/02/wpmu-27-improves-navigation/feed/ 2 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/14/experimental-prologue-microblog/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/14/experimental-prologue-microblog/#comments Thu, 14 Feb 2008 15:05:34 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/14/experimental-prologue-microblog/ My students now have a Prologue microblog that they are using actively. I thought that I would also set up a microblog as a companion to this regular blog site for my own use and that of others. Unlike the student microblog, this one is open for public viewing and comment. In addition, I set [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/14/experimental-prologue-microblog/feed/ 1 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/06/prologue-and-microblogging/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/06/prologue-and-microblogging/#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:15:00 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/06/prologue-and-microblogging/ I have been intrigued by Twitter since going to our state Educational Technology conference. I know it has potential and I’ve been eager to give it a try. When Will Richardson blogged about the WordPress theme Prologue, I was excited. First, I am reluctant to use “hosted solutions” especially with elementary students. Secondly, we already [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/06/prologue-and-microblogging/feed/ 0 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/04/gender-and-blogging/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/04/gender-and-blogging/#comments Mon, 04 Feb 2008 17:36:38 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/04/gender-and-blogging/ While the sample is miniscule, I noticed a tremendous difference in the amount of blogging among my students along gender lines. No matter how you cut it, the girls create more blogs, longer posts, and more comments than the boys. This was surprising because the majority of the blogs that I have encountered were written [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/04/gender-and-blogging/feed/ 2 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/02/students-start-using-rss/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/02/students-start-using-rss/#comments Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:51:06 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/02/students-start-using-rss/ I was satisfied with my trial of the open-source RSS reader Rnews. While it is not perfect, it has a very simple interface that was easy enough for my students learn. I installed the program on our school shared server space and set up accounts for them. Thursday, they started populating their account with feeds [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/02/02/students-start-using-rss/feed/ 1 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/28/rss-readers-for-elementary-grades/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/28/rss-readers-for-elementary-grades/#comments Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:35:43 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/28/rss-readers-for-elementary-grades/ Now that the students have blogs, I think they will soon see the benefits of using rss readers. Instead of hunting through blogs that may or may not have new content, a rss reader could deliver any new content to the reader. Unfortunately, all the web based rss readers such as pageflakes and bloglines that [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/28/rss-readers-for-elementary-grades/feed/ 0 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/23/blogging-the-haves-and-have-nots-and-the-do-and-do-nots/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/23/blogging-the-haves-and-have-nots-and-the-do-and-do-nots/#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:16:46 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/23/blogging-the-haves-and-have-nots-and-the-do-and-do-nots/ I have had the blogs set up for my students for a bit over a week. While I posted a question for the students to respond to on my class blog, I have left them to their own devices for a little while. Some have really taken to it. One student, Blue Butterfly, has made [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/23/blogging-the-haves-and-have-nots-and-the-do-and-do-nots/feed/ 2 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/16/moderation-for-school-wordpressmu/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/16/moderation-for-school-wordpressmu/#comments Thu, 17 Jan 2008 00:28:26 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/16/moderation-for-school-wordpressmu/ I need to moderate all posts and comments for my students’ blogs. Out of the box, WPMU has a good system for taking care of comment moderation. Post moderation, while possible, is difficult to administer without a great little plugin. To activate comment moderation you need to go to: Options –> Discussion. Under “Before a [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/16/moderation-for-school-wordpressmu/feed/ 3 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/16/blogging-shift-from-technology-to-pedagogy/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/16/blogging-shift-from-technology-to-pedagogy/#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2008 17:38:56 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/16/blogging-shift-from-technology-to-pedagogy/ My students and I are finding our way through WordPressMU (WPMU). I have worked through security, configuration, and administrative work flow. The kids post and comment. Now we focus more on learning. Students customized their sites using themes, widgets, and blogroll. I set them to contributor so the posts would be moderated before appearing. Comments [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/16/blogging-shift-from-technology-to-pedagogy/feed/ 0 http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/11/students-begin-blogging/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/11/students-begin-blogging/#comments Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:58:43 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/11/students-begin-blogging/ My students began blogging today. As mentioned earlier, we are taking baby steps, but baby has taken several steps already. There were a few obstacles and unexpected little glitches, but went very well. The kids are incredibly excited. To begin, I had to create an account for each child. As a security measure, registration was [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2008/01/11/students-begin-blogging/feed/ 0 http://openedweb.com/blog/2007/12/28/wpmu-for-school-security-quick-overview/ http://openedweb.com/blog/2007/12/28/wpmu-for-school-security-quick-overview/#comments Fri, 28 Dec 2007 21:51:07 +0000 Steve http://openedweb.com/blog/2007/12/28/wpmu-for-school-security-quick-overview/ WordPress Mu is now installed on our school’s shared server space. It appears to be functioning as I’d like it–now that I hacked together a nice .htaccess redirect making it easier to access individual blogs. Before we actually let the students loose on their blogs, I need to think through security and make sure I [...]]]> http://openedweb.com/blog/2007/12/28/wpmu-for-school-security-quick-overview/feed/ 4