Subject: Re: [wp-edu] WordPress for Education Implementation Guide

[Thomas W. Woodward]

I buy the idea of making this information available to help arguments  
for using WP in educational settings- in part because I've had to make  
these arguments.  (Although I wonder a little if it strips those who  
are using pre-packaged arguments of a needed chance to research and  
really internalize why they want to do this and what it would take.)   
It does help to have the outside "expert" as a voice on your side and  
some people would be able to explain the educational side but would be  
unable to make the server architecture argument.

I think the idea of creating a pdf is a mistake in and off itself (at  
least as a main vehicle).  PDFs kind of embody the opposite of what  
WPMU is good at, being that they're (mostly) fixed and don't leverage  
RSS or community very well (at all? I'm not sure since I didn't go to  
the NMC Adobe- Collaboration in the Cloud thing).

If I was trying to prove how useful WPMU is in education I'd use WPMU  
as the vehicle.  It'd be a lot like what Jim has done with with WMU  
blogs in certain aspects, in that your site would become an  
aggregation area for both examples of and instruction on how and why  
you'd use WPMU in an educational setting.

I'd probably have an "all-stars" page where I highlighted whole WPMU  
sites or particularly effective node blogs but I'd want a constant  
stream of new content flowing through as well.  There's some risk  
there.  You aren't fully in control of what might come in via the  
feeds but I think that's a good thing.

Maybe you make a few one page PDFs every so often that encapsulate key  
chunks of knowledge or common argument rebuttals but they should not  
stick around for years- maybe you could have one of the wiki plugins  
used and then auto-generate a pdf off a certain page every so often  
(could be a downside to that with regard to formatting but it'd  
probably equal out in terms of participation and quality of  
information).

I can see value in this and I can see what Jim is worried about.  You  
don't want to become the company with a slick sales pitch.  Let the  
community speak for you and provide you with examples and you'll have  
something authentic and powerful- start making big PDF ad pitches and  
I think you'll lose credibility.  Besides if you are pitching to the  
higher ups the PDF would probably consist of two sections- cost and  
security.

Doing this would give you the chance to help improve the community in  
some interesting ways and provide a center for an ongoing conversation  
that will continue to grow and impact many more people than a PDF ever  
would.  Make it a conversation not a sales pitch.  It is a lot of work  
to do it this way but it's also a different kind of work and work  
that'll produce more benefits for a much broader range of people.

To look at the original table of contents and rethink it some-
> Welcome to WordPress for Education - I'd have a fair amount flowing  
> into the front page in terms of highlighted posts/sites/etc
> What is WordPress/Education Overview - these two ought to overlap in  
> terms of how WP can enable X and Y in education
> Who uses WordPress? - mass list with custom fields to give  
> screenshot of main page (sortable/selectable by ed institute type?)
> Cost - not sure how you'd calculate that- software is free but  
> upkeep/servers/etc would really depend on usage and a lot of factors  
> that'd be a little difficult to quantify across schools- maybe case  
> study examples?
    Security- this is one of the major ways this type of thing gets  
shut down and that includes php security as well
> WordPress in Action - I'd do profiles and tag/categorize based on  
> k12 or higher ed etc. - the more meta the better
> Getting Started With WordPress - tutorials? but you'd need different  
> levels/kinds for different types of users - admins, designers,  
> teachers, students
>


Maybe I'm viewing this with stars in my eyes and possibly different  
goals but that'd be my approach-


Tom


On Nov 19, 2008, at 12:53 AM, wp-edu-request at lists.automattic.com wrote:

> Subject: Re: [wp-edu] WordPress for Education Implementation Guide

Tom Woodward
HCPS Staff Development
http://bionicteaching.com


> Welcome to WordPress for Education
> Table of Contents
> What is WordPress?
> Who uses WordPress?
> Cost
> WordPress for Education Overview
> How WordPress Can Be Used at Your School
> WordPress on the Campus
> WordPress in the Classroom
> Getting Stated With WordPress
> Where to Get Additional Information