After you have read and done these tasks you may delete this post if you want. But you are encouraged to keep it, since you may need to refer back to it at some point for instructions.
- Choose a theme from the ones provided, Dashboard->Appearance->Themes and UPLOAD your own choice from the Install Themes tab.
- To Install themes, make sure your tweak the search a bit. Under Feature Filter, check Custom Menus before you tell it to Find Themes.
- After you have found a theme you want to use, click Dashboard->Appearance->Menus, then on the left near the top, look for Theme Locations and select Primary menu or Main menu depending on which choice you are given. If there is no choice here, that means it does not support custom menus, CHOOSE another theme!!
- Give your site a TITLE, Dashboard > Setting > General, for example, mine is called Technology Bits, Bytes & Nibbles. If you don’t have an idea right off the bat, just use your name (first and last). You can change it later when you have a better idea in mind.
- To change your Password from the default password, Dashboard > Users > Your Profile.
- If your theme has a default photo across the top that you wish to change, Dashboard > Appearance > Header.
- Add a picture of yourself and a little bit about yourself to the About Me page.
- Each reflection and thing we do in class is a New Post.
- Each entry will need to have a category assigned from the preloaded list of categories as well as the corresponding tags. This is how your posts end up on the right page of your site.
- Categories are: DED 318 Projects, Lesson Plans, Reflections, Resources, Block, Content, Methods Classes, Professionalism, etc. But, you may add more categories and tags. Most posts will have multiple Categories and tags.
What are Categories and Tags Exactly
- Tags & Categories are case sensitive. Use the appropriate categories and tags based on the template pages as well as any other tags or categories that you find to be appropriate.
- Categories are things you create ahead of time and only have a limited selection, they are broader. Imagine them like sections of your site. For example. the signs on aisles of grocery stores.
- We have preloaded the categories for this class. DED 318 Projects, Lesson Plans, Reflections, Resources, Block, Content, Methods Classes, etc.
- Tags are keywords attached to a post. You may add a tag to a post that you might never use ever again. Usually, you will have multiple tags. Take a look at my blog and how I do this. I normally have a couple Categories and many tags. Tags are more specific. I have pre-made a cloud of tags, but you will need to add to this. The more specific your tags the better.
- Categories are meant to be permanent, tags are ephemeral.
- Need more explanation: Tags Are Not Categories – Got It?http://lorelle.wordpress.com/2006/03/01/tags-are-not-categories-got-it/
- Make sure each entry has multiple specific tags and categories that are appropriate. But make sure additions for this class use from the following list so your posts end up on the correct page of your WordPress site.
- You will add more categories and tags as we proceed through the semester, but it will not add more “pages” to your site. Adding them will just gives you AND your site visitors way to search for things on the website/Blog. Look at my blog Technology Bits, Bytes & Nibbles to give you a better idea of the Category/Tag thing.Each post/entry has them both. I only have an iPads and an About Me pages, I use the category iPads and I also add a tag iPads. That way every new post with those 2 labels go to the iPad page.
Adding some LINKS (BlogRoll) to your site: Add the following Links, Dashboard>Links. I have already added a couple to get your started.
Adding Plugins to your site so everything shows and works properly.
1. We will need a few plugins for sure. Animoto, Vociethread, Prezi and maybe a few more, but get these added now.
2. Dashboard > Plugins > Add New
3. In the Search, type Animoto
4. You will find one called Animoto Embeds, Install and Activate
5. Now repeat this process for Voicethread (VoiceThread Auto Embed)
6. And also Prezi (Prezi Shortcode)
7. You may find you will need to add more plugins to your site as we move along. But now you know how.
The world is evolving and with this evolution comes the gift and burden of technology. Brad has compiled a very admirable bill of rights in his article Educational Technology Bill of Rights for Students. I am sure that if you were to ask any student if they wanted an ipad for their classroom you would hear twenty voices all saying “when”. But I do see some problems with it. Although kids say they will use it responsibly and that posting assignments on facebook or twitter would only improve their education, I find it hard to believe. Today if you were to walk in a classroom at KSU and students were allowed to have their computers, half of them would be checking blogs and facebook pages, some might be skyping, others looking on ESPN for the latest scores. Having this technology available is a great idea, but I think that students would have a hard time actually staying on the task at hand.
