Today we’re taking a look at the first component that will serve as the central nexus for all other components– the Core.

Core Features & Functionality

The main purpose of the Core component is to lay the foundation for all of the other components, so there isn’t much in the way of flashy features, just the basics:

User Types

• Teachers
• Assigned to one or more Classes
• Class history is retained
• Access to data of Students in their Classes
• Students
• Assigned to one or more Classes at a time
  
• Class changes (e.g. each year) are retained as part of student record
• Profile data (in additional to default)
• Date of birth
• Mailing Address
• Emergency (parent) contact information

Content Types

• Class
• One or more Teachers are assigned to class
• Grouped by Grade Level
• Grade Level
• Grouping for Classes
• Could be a taxonomy, but since Classes will be added to a single Grade Level, a parent-child relationship is ideal and we will be able to make use of the additional capabilities of a content type (meta data, etc.)

Next Step

The next step of course is to implement the above features/functionality.  It’s all pretty straightforward, but there are two main things that will likely require a bit more attention:

1. Storing user history (e.g. Class history).  This will likely be stored as user meta data, but the methodology will need to be extensible for other components to add data to be stored for historical purposes as well.
2. Defining relationships between content types and users.  Teachers (as well as Students) can be assigned to multiple Classes at once.  It would be advantageous to be able to quickly retrieve all Teachers/Students in a Class so perhaps a database table solution (ala taxonomies) may be in order.

WordPress in the Classroom: Core was originally published on Archetyped on November 2, 2011 06:21pm

So, as someone who is very passionate about optimizing workflows and removing friction to allow people to do what they’re passionate about as smoothly as possible, I spent some time brainstorming various uses for WordPress in the education, ranging from direct use by students in a classroom, to school-wide and even district-wide usage.

Core

Core functionality for classroom/student management

• Scope: School/District
• User: Admin/Teacher

Features

• Student info
• BasicName, Parent contact information, etc.
• Schoolwide
• Grade/Teacher (Updates student history over the years)
• Attendance

Benefits

• Track student history (classroom, teacher, etc.) throughout years in system
• Centralized location for essential student information (emergency contacts, etc.)

Gradebook

Track assignments/grades on per-student basis

• Scope: Classroom
• User: Teacher

Features

• Create assignments
• Set grade levels (A, B, C, D, F, etc.)
• Set student grade for an assignment
• Bulk management: Add assignments/grades for multiple students at once
• Automated reports

Benefits

• Efficient grade entry
• Streamline reporting/aggregation of grades
• Easily track assignment status of a student

Library

Manage classroom book collection

• Scope: Classroom
• User: Student/Teacher

Features

• Manage collection of books in classroom
• Add/Delete books
• Set status of books (borrowed, on shelf, etc.)
• Allow students to borrow books from library
• Manage borrowing period (3 days, 1 week, etc.)
• Manage/track overdue books
• Allow students to comment/rate books
• Browse collection of books
• Search
• Filter by taxonomies (category, tag, author, etc.)

Benefits

• Enables students to track their own borrowing and returning of books
• Creates discussion of books based on student comments and ratings
• Facilitates tracking of library inventory

Homework Manager

Allow students to view/review assignments in class and at home

• Scope: Classroom
• User: Student/Teacher

Features

• Teacher
• Assign homework assignments to students
• Description
• Instructions
• Due date
• Student
• View list of assignments via web browser at home
• Check off completed assignments like a checklist
• Review notes from teacher (instructions, etc.)

Benefits

• Removes inconsistencies student writing down daily homework assignments
• Enables parents to take part in homework completion (they can see what was assigned and what has been completed by their child)

Student Notes

Documentation tool for notes about students

• Scope: Classroom
• User: Teacher

Features

• Document notes in regards to a student (good/bad behavior, subjects to work on, etc.)
• Document action taken by teacher in regards to a student (praise, warnings, etc.)
• Document communication with parents

Benefits

• Easily track notes on per-student basis
• Quickly provide documentation to administration, parents, etc. when needed

Jobs

Manage classroom jobs

• Scope: Classroom
• User: Student/Teacher

Features

• Students are assigned jobs/roles in classroom
• Different jobs have different tasks/responsibilities
• Awards (virtual) for completing responsibilities
• Points
• Badges
• For consecutive completion of responsibilities (1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks, 1 month, 1 quarter, etc.)

Benefits

• Encourage/motivate students to consistently complete tasks/responsibilities
• Empowers students to self-manage (review and work on tasks)
• Creates game-like atmosphere to engage student involvement

WordPress in the Classroom: Brainstorming was originally published on Archetyped on October 26, 2011 10:32pm