WordPress

Welcome to SD79 WordPress Learn Network for Students and Teachers. Here are a few questions and answers to help begin your exploration of the site you have been assigned.

1. Has a WordPress site already been created for me at Learn.SD79 or do I have to apply to have a WordPress site created?

All teachers and students employed or enrolled by the school district on January 15th, 2014 had sites created for their use.  These site are ‘dormant’ until the user chooses to activate them. The creation of the sites utilized existing usernames/passwords that are a part of daily use for ease of access. A document will be circulated to your school site indicate how to access your site.

2.  Why should a teacher use the Learn District WordPress Network rather than a site that is ‘free’ on the web or, one I might choose to pay for commercially?

Teachers should be fully versed in the storage of student information on sites that reside outside of Canada.  FOIPPA (Freedom of Information of Privacy Protection Act) limits the type of interactions that students may engage in during assigned learning tasks without specific parent permissions AND choices made in student accounts and entries to ensure privacy. Please see your principal for further information.

Learn.SD79 is fully FOIPPA compliant as it is hosted on SD79 servers, provides levels of privacy for teacher and student users, while allowing accessibility and potential for cross site collaboration.

3.  Why would a student want or need a Learn WordPress?

A WordPress site can be thought of as a digital binder or portfolio that can house not only ‘print’ but audio, video, and a multitude of document file formats that will allow the student to keep artifacts of their learning journey as they travel through to graduation. 

4.  May I choose my own WordPress theme for my site?

At this time 20 WordPress themes have been chosen for inclusion in the Learn.SD79 Learning Space. These sites have been ‘branded’ with the SD79 Learn Logo. If there is a theme that you are absolutely keen to have, please send a request to the Help Desk asking for the inclusion of the theme.  Note – this is a programming task that involves a bit of code tweaking – so depending upon budget for the programmer to handle this task the request may not be filled immediately.

4.   Why does a student require a teacher admin for their site in order for other students to ‘see’ the student WordPress?

Learn.SD79 is an extension of the classroom and not a social space for students. As a learning space, at least one teacher mentor must be connected to a student site in order for that site to be visible to other students in the Learn. SD79 community.  It is hoped students will submit updates to their teachers of various subjects by posting on pages in their site related to that subject/teacher. It is also hoped that students will learn to collaborate through their blogs in order to further their learning.

5.  If a student site does not have a teacher ‘admin’ for their site, does it get deleted?

As long as a student is enrolled in an SD79 learning program, they will have access to their WordPress instance (site). The student can still use the site as a digital exercise book to store work, projects, etc. When a student ceases to be enrolled in SD79, the site will be archived for a period of 6-12 months. After this point, the digital data will be deleted.  If students wish a copy of their data, they will need to make a request for an archived copy.