Initially WordPress was chosen as the LMS as it was hailed user friendly and is supported by my school district, meaning that the course prototype is something that I would actually be able to use in my classroom in the very near future. Also, I have been enrolled in a few courses through the MET program where the instructor has used WordPress to varying degrees to deliver the content of the course. I find these courses on WordPress much more visually appealing than those in the Blackboard platform and the navigation seems more intuitive. There are many great aspects to WordPress. After working extensively in this program for the last few months I do believe that WordPress does hold up to its claims of being user friendly. It took very little time for me to customize my site with a layout that, in my opinion, works well for my course.
A WordPress site can be turned into a LMS with the installation of a few plugins. There are literally thousands of active plugins that can be used to turn a WordPress site into a powerful LMS. There are a number of plugins, like Buddy Press for example, that allow teachers to manage classes, create discussion boards, create assignments and allow students to hand in their work (Scott, 2012). Badges are available to be issued once students participate in a discussion or post an assignment or project (Scott, 2012). These plugins, and many others, make it possible to use WordPress as a LMS. Plugins that I have used like BB Press and Buddy Press that allow students to communicate with one another and have discussions in Forums which can mimic an actual classroom discussion. Furthermore Buddy Press has the ability to have students form their own groups and work collaboratively within WordPress. Buddy Press apparently also has the ability to set up classes and post assignments within the plugin itself; however, I was not able to successfully do this. Badges can help students have a sense of accomplishment and can be set to automatically appear once students met criteria set by the teacher. The plugin Grader can allow a teacher to post a private grade comment right on a students’ post, providing direct feedback while keeping the grade a private matter between student and teacher.
One additional aspect that I appreciate about WordPress is that it is easy for students to navigate and it is mobile friendly. As more students are using mobile devices at home and at school to assist in their learning, having a LMS that is mobile friendly is a tremendous help. Being able to access and work on a course from a mobile devices is very important for middle school aged students as these kids often have greater access to mobile devices than they do a personal or home computer. If students are expected to login and work on a course it is more likely to happen if the LMS is mobile friendly.
While WordPress is easy to use and navigate and does have some great plugins that make it a viable option for an LMS, WordPress is only as good as its functional and installed plugins when it comes to teaching. When deciding what plugins to use a quick Google search will turn up numerous blog posts and websites that herald the greatness of certain plugins in terms of educational use. Reading descriptions of some of these plugins made it seem like they could provide life-changing experiences for teacher and student. Upon looking into these plugins more closely, many of these plugins were no longer supported. Since WordPress is open source it is up to the individual plugin creators to maintain their plugin. Along similar lines, frustrations arose when plugins would not work properly and I could not call anyone for help. Since individual creators maintain plugins, there is no help line when the plugins aren’t working as expected. One can access videos online to assist them in troubleshooting some plugins, but again, this is only helpful if these videos are updated to reflect the changes in WordPress of the plugin. Several videos I turned to for help were for old and outdated versions of WordPress leaving me without any help to troubleshoot some issues I was having. Other times plugins I had installed were just a let down in terms of functionality. This caused me to change plans and not use a plugin as I had initially intended.
Another limitation to WordPress is the cost. When initially looking into using WordPress there is the promise of free usage. While anyone can sign up for a WordPress blog for free, to turn WordPress into an LMS is anything but. The free version of WordPress does not support plugins meaning that teachers or districts would have to purchase WordPress sites. There are districts that have the rights to host WordPress sites on their intranet, as UBC and my school district both do. In order to maintain the security of the server, individuals are unable to add plugins whenever they want; instead plugins must be requested and are limited in choice. This is understandable from a security standpoint, but frustrating as a student who would like to create something usable. I was able to access more plugins through my district, but again, technical support at the district level needed to be involved. This made it difficult to try out different plugins to see if certain plugins would be a better fit. In the end I found myself making due with what I had rather than exploring new plugins that may work better.
There are many great features associated with WordPress. After working with WordPress for the last few months in developing my course I have come to the conclusion that while WordPress does offer simplicity in terms of setting up a course and reliable and easy access for students, these affordances do come with a cost in terms administrative power on the end of teachers. Frustrations with outdated plugins and no technical support to turn to could deter teachers from using WordPress as an LMS. That being said, this digital citizenship content module created for grade 6 students is fully functioning and can be used as part of a Physical and Health Education.