{"id":102,"date":"2025-01-03T22:48:50","date_gmt":"2025-01-04T06:48:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci136\/?p=102"},"modified":"2026-01-06T13:31:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T21:31:18","slug":"wordpress-portfolios","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edtechuvic.ca\/edci136\/2025\/01\/03\/wordpress-portfolios\/","title":{"rendered":"WordPress Portfolios"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before you start with WordPress, you need to make some decisions. Please review all 6 steps below to decide on your approach.<\/p>\n

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  1. Decide if you are comfortable being online. If not, you can document your learning offline (with technology). For example, Word documents and offline video. We would ask learners to consider using an online blogging tool with no identification\/using a pseudonym, so as to develop network literacy, which is important in supporting learners, who are growing up in networked environments, but the preferences of learners will be respected and supported. If yes to being online, then proceed to step 2.<\/li>\n
  2. Would you like to use your name or use a pseudonym? You can claim your name online and own your presence by using your full name. With increasing catfishing and identity theft online, it can be helpful to have a presence that may compete with any fake profiles of you that are out there or to have a more dominant presence so posts or pictures of you by others may get drowned out. That said, you may wish to create an identity without your personal information (e.g., West coast teacher) and not to post images that can be used to create fake profiles in the first place. There is no right or wrong answer. The choice is yours. With that decision made, proceed to step 3.<\/li>\n
  3. Decide if you would like your blog to be hosted outside of Canada or inside of Canada. There are four options for creating a WordPress site and we will be using the fourth one (the OpenETC on opened.ca for our UVic course as we have created a template for you to use to make it easier<\/strong>.\n
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    1. The first option one has is to create a blog on the UVic installation of WordPress at http:\/\/oac.uvic.ca<\/a>, which is hosted within Canada. The challenge with this option is that you will lose access to the WordPress site when you leave UVic<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    2. Alternatively, you can create a blog on the commercial entity of WordPress at\u00a0http:\/\/wordpress.com<\/a>, which is hosted outside of Canada (but we don’t recommend this as it has ads, is hosted outside of Canada, and requires $100ish\/year to remove ads and upgrade).<\/li>\n
    3. The third option is where you purchase space with a web hosting company that installs WordPress for you. Some of these companies host outside of Canada (e.g., Dreamhost<\/a>), while others host within Canada (e.g.,\u00a0Canadian Web Hosting<\/a>). The benefit of this route is that you can purchase your own domain (e.g., http:\/\/yourname.ca or http:\/\/westcoastteacher.ca).<\/li>\n
    4. We will be using the fourth option, which is to have you create a blog from a template we built on https:\/\/opened.ca<\/a> which is hosted on EduCloud servers right here in BC. You can keep this WordPress site for as long as you like.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n
    5. Be sure you review the resources under the Privacy section of this site as linked by your instructor’s posts. You should also review the resources at the BC Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner<\/a>. Whether you are working within a public sector or private sector entity, or as an individual, you will need to adhere to this law and not post personal information of others without consent, especially in workplace contexts such as schools or in health care environments. It does not mean that you cannot use resources outside of Canada, but you must follow some simple steps for getting consent prior to doing so. For example, many school districts use Google Apps For Education (GAFE), which is hosted outside of Canada. Before you do anything, always talk to your workplace supervisor or, as a learner, ask your instructor or go to the helpdesk for support. Each workplace differs in their approach and some may have a more indepth understanding than others. You may find yourself better informed after this class than some in the field. With that decision made, proceed to step 4.<\/li>\n
    6. You also have to decide if you want to make your blog public or private. You can set an entire blog to be private or simply selected posts can be set to private, such as setting a password for access to the blog posts. For your EDCI 136 blog, if you want to make your posts private, we encourage you to create a public site and instead password-protect your posts – this makes it easier for any stakeholders you want to share with beyond your instructors who do not have a WordPress account. They will then be able to access your posts using a generic password. It’s slightly less secure as passwords can be shared, but we can help you choose what is best for you. Just reach out to us. Last, but not least\u2026<\/li>\n
    7. Finally, you have to think about where you and your content will end up. If you create a blog on oac.uvic.ca, your access will expire after you leave UVic. You will be able to export the blog by contacting the Help Desk. They can send you an exported compressed file. We recommend you create a blog on the OpenETC hosted here on BC Educloud using a template we provide for you.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      The wonderful thing about WordPress is that you can import that exported file into another WordPress instance (it sounds hard, but it isn\u2019t and we\u2019ll show you) \u2013 e.g., if you move to a school district that runs WordPress (e.g., Delta, Victoria, etc.) or if you want to later set up your own domain and with your own WordPress installation. You may also import it into WordPress.com, but be aware that if you made posts with personal information knowing your site was hosted in Canada at the time and simply contained regular consent, without the specific consent for hosting outside of Canada, which requires you to name each tool, etc., you might not have consent to switch to WordPress.com. We often advise learners to post as if they will be on the cloud outside of Canada. To be honest, if you have a public blog, your friends and colleagues may be using U.S. cloud-hosted tools like Feedly to curate and read your blog posts or they may repost\/quote your content on their U.S. blog. There are many educators U.S. software in their teaching and to support their learners. Just be sure to get consent.<\/p>\n

      When you are ready to create a blog on the OpenETC, follow the instructions provided to you by your instructor and consider developing the following competencies throughout the course:<\/p>\n

      WordPress Competencies<\/h2>\n