The Paper Jam session on WordPress, at the 2009 Canadian e-Learning Conference, addressed the many functions of the open source publishing platform. Scott Leslie from BCcampus, Brian Lamb from the Office of Learning Technology, and Grant Potter from the Centre for Teaching, Learning, and Technology at UNBC led the discussion. WordPress can be used as a content management system, and has a user-friendly template system that allows the user to rearrange their pages without editing traditional computer code (no prior knowledge of HTML is needed to get started using WordPress). It is for this reason that WordPress is such a beneficial technological tool in education as it facilitates the technical skills of many students.
First, Scott described the many benefits of using a Web 2.0 platform, including simple set-up, user-generated content, tagging, embed-ability, and social openness. It was pointed out that WordPress is a viable tool which transitions the learner from the academic life to the professional one – more so than WebCT.
In the second part of the Paper Jam, Brian described the many ways in which WordPress can be used in an academic setting. Some notable usages within the UBC community are: the student-run sites like Digital Tattoo; using WordPress as an administrative tool for courses and instructors which can house lecture notes or readings; or using it as the central content space for student-run seminars. One of the most useful attributes of WordPress is its shared collaboration for plug-in creators and the access of users to these plug-ins. In total, the UBC community houses close to 500 blogs and nearly the same number of users. WordPress has proven a viable and intuitive platform to assist in open education.