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DTeachTeaching and Learning Innovation

Deakin University logo

DTeachTeaching and Learning Innovation

DTeach

Teaching and Learning Innovation

Collaboration

Self and Peer Assessment

Portfolio

CloudDeakin Guides

Using Video for Teaching

Teaching Resources

Assessment

WordPress

How to create a blog in your unit site?

WordPress will only be available to units based on request. Please raise a ticket with Digital Solutions and request the ticket to be sent to the Learning Environments team in DLF. Once WordPress is available to your unit, you can use the following steps to create a blog.

  1. In your unit site click the Content link in the site navigation bar.
  2. Go to an existing module or create a new module.
  3. Click Existing Activities and select External Learning Tools. A pop-up window will appear with a choice of three blogs sites.
    Site per group: Students contribute to blogs created for sub-groups within a unit of study. Students are assessed based on their group participation.
    Site per student: Students maintain an individual blog and submit it for assessment in context of a unit of study.
    Site per unit: Students contribute to an overall blog for their unit of study. Students are assessed based on their participation.
  4. Once students click on the link you have created, a new page will open in the browser taking them to the WordPress site (either Site per group, Site per student or Site per unit).

Note: Student blog accounts are created once a student logs into their unit for the first time. Until they have logged in (and clicked on the blog link), their names will not appear in the class list. If you go to Students on the Dashboard, you will be able to view all of the students that have logged in.

WordPress admin dashboard showing site template options and a student list table.

How do I set up a WordPress assignment folder?

  1. In your unit site, under Assessments > Assignments
  2. Click New Assignment Folder
  3. Continue setup as per normal. However, you must assign the category WordPress to the folder. This will ensure that it appears within the WordPress site.
  4. Click Save after filling in the other fields.
  5. Navigate to the Restrictions tab, from here populate the Start/Due/End dates. Make sure to select the corresponding checkboxes.

Students will see this submission screen within their WordPress site.

Screenshot of a WordPress dashboard showing site template options and a list of students.

Pushing a common theme/template to student sites

Note: This is valid for WordPress – site per student.

  1. Once you have customised your WordPress site, click Students from within your site Dashboard.
  2. Select Use this site as a template for the student sites and click Save.
WordPress dashboard showing site template options and an empty list of students.

Note: This action is also not retrospective. Previously created student sites will not have the theme applied (student sites are created upon first login by students).

How to access student’s blog assignments in WordPress?

  1. In your unit site, click on the Assessments tab in the site navigation bar. A dropdown box will appear. Click on Assignments.
  2. The Assignment Folders will open and you will be able to click on the title of the assignment.
  3. Once you click on an assignment, a WordPress link will appear. Copy and paste the link into a browser to view the blog.

How do students submit their assignments?

  1. In your WordPress site under your site’s ‘Dashboard’, select Assignments.
  2. You will see the Assignment Folder with the WordPress site URLs.
WordPress dashboard showing a CloudDeakin Assignments page with assignment details and a comment submission area.

Glossary and technical help

Key WordPress terms

Dashboard: The homepage for editors and administrators. This is where you’ll find information about content (pages, posts, plugins) and recent activity on the website.

Page: The key elements of the WordPress site. Pages have a ‘parent page’ which forms the hierarchy of the pages. Pages are best suited for information that does not need to be updated regularly.

Post: Posts differ from pages as they can have different tags making them easier to search (e.g. category and ‘optional’). Posts are the best option for content that is updated regularly as they are date-specific.

Theme: Themes provide a certain ‘look and feel’ to your site. (Please discuss your requirements with your faculty CloudDeakin Support team.)

Widget: Widgets provide additional functionality that can be added to templates.

Plugin: Plugins provide additional functionality to your site, e.g. forms, visual composer, customising animations, analytics etc.

Technical help