An update to the Student Contributor Plugin is ready for release. The main change is as follows: The comments column from the ‘All Posts’ list and the comments option from the ‘screen options’ drop-down have been removed. Many thanks to Luke from High Lawn Primary for spotting the need for a plugin update for the WP 3.21 version If you blog with Creative Blogs, the NorthantsBLT or Primary Blogger then you do not have to do anything as the plugin is already being installed on your sites  For other interested parties, feel free to visit the Student Contributors Plugin Page.  

An update to the Student Contributor Plugin is ready for release. The main changes are as follows: The ‘Right Now’ dashboard widget has also been removed for contributors. It adds little of value for student contributors and Askimet, when activated,  pushes summary links to comments through this widget. Thanks to Andrew Chadwick for taking the time to point this out. Removed the ‘Tools’ and ‘Profile’ menu items for contributors from the admin sidebar. If you blog with Creative Blogs or the NorthantsBLT then you do not have to do anything as the plugin is...

Many schools, classes and students are enjoying the benefits of using WordPress blogs in a myriad of ways for more engaging learning, teaching, communication and collaboration. Often pupils are given ‘contributor’ rights to allow them to write content that must first be approved by a teacher before being published and ‘going live’ to the world. This process generally works well but recently it came to my attention that a child logged in as a ‘contributor’ could also view the whole list of unmoderated site comments via the dashboard widgets or the links to the...

Craig Charteris, head at Trinity Lower School in Aldwicle, came up with an idea for a Monopoly-style, techno-challenge around London after watching an episode of the Gadget Show one weekend. I was minding my own business but was run over by Craig’s ideas bandwagon. This collision of creativity and chaos has resulted in the Northants BLT Monopoly Challenge 2011. The Northants BLT Monopoly Challenge is designed for teachers and pupils to explore the opportunities offered by mobile and internet technologies to enhance learning before, during and after an educational visit. It should hopefully...

The Northants BLT – or Better learning using Technologies – officially launched in September 2010 without bacon, lettuce or tomato. Preparations and pilots of various varieties had taken place in the months leading up to the launch. However, it would be the last quarter of 2010 when we would find out whether there was actually any appetite among educators in Northamptonshire for sharing their ideas and experiences of using technologies to make learning better. I’ve written here about why I think a network with sharing attitude is crucial to educators in Northamptonshire (and...

When John Sutton asked if I would take a flyer and set up blogtheworldcup.net, I was happy to oblige. His idea was a collaborative World Cup site with schools ‘adopting’ a competing nation and developing a blog around that country’s performance in the tournament,  as well as other aspects such as its geography, culture and sporting heritage. The World Cup would present a  great opportunity for teachers and learners to explore and the blogging medium in a purposeful and engaging context. Momentum in the ‘Wings’ The site was set up using a multi-user WordPress install...