Item: WordPress
Rating: 9
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use WordPress in my school district to house everything regarding professional development and educational technology. Teachers access our WordPress site, designed more like an elaborate blog, to access: weekly tech tips, a booking calendar to schedule me for trainings or to work with their class, to see highlights of other teachers and what they are doing, to see what apps/programs we subscribe to or pay for in district, and to access lesson plans and ideas that we share. I update this site weekly and push out updates/tips via Gmail that invite my staff and teachers to check the site. This has been a nice way for our teachers to stay informed, learn some tech tips, and share what everyone is doing.

Pros and Cons

Blog writing is simple and effective and allows you to embed images and YouTube videos.
Professional look and feel with an easy to understand navigation.
Syncs with other domain sites like GoDaddy, etc.

More features or ability to customize more. A lot is dictated my the theme with minimal editing allowed, at least for free versions.
Ability to embed other apps. Other than YouTube, teachers utilize apps such as Padlet, polleverywhere, etc. Although these have embed codes, this feature doesn't work with WordPress.

Return on Investment

Wordpress has afforded our students another platform to build and publish their work in school professionally.
Has helped me design a site for our teachers to access anytime, anywhere with tips tricks and lesson ideas.
Has helped our staff and teachers share ideas and stay in contact.

Alternatives Considered

Wix, Weebly and Blogger

Professionally speaking, Wordpress rises above other similar applications. When working with students I usually recommend WordPress for more of a professional learning experience. Although it may take more time to learn and understand, I explain that the data and site management feature is a wealth of knowledge when publicizing your work and tracking your audience. Wordpress isn't a drag and drop editor, but can still be customized in similar ways or allow for HTML editing. For students who may be blogging (I did that a lot with students in the classroom) WordPress does the best job when writing and sharing posts. I also share my own professional education blog and how I use WordPress for that.

Other Software Used

Google Drive, Schoology

Likelihood to Recommend

Blogging. This is top notch with WordPress. It is very simple to write posts, schedule them, and allow the posts to be featured on your main page. So if you want more of a blog, WordPress does an excellent job. I also like the portfolio templates. Templates, in general, are extremely useful when working with students who don't have the time to learn the app in depth for school assignments. Education is always looking for means to digitize portfolios, allow students to publish work, keep track of the best assignments, and hold essays, etc. My only scenario where WordPress is less appropriate is in full website building or with minimal time. I think WordPress takes more time to master than most website builders although it does offer more professionally, especially with the data.

Users and Roles

Personal websites, student websites, student portfolios and blogs, information sites about teacher resources.

Support Headcount Required

1 - Writers, bloggers, researchers, teachers , content organizers, data analyzers

Get Your Students Blogging Like a Professional With Wordpress

Overall Satisfaction with WordPress