For EDCI 336, we will be using the Open and Educational Technology Collective, hosted by a team of B.C. post-secondary education IT professionals on BCNet’s Educloud, so your data is stored not only in Canada but within B.C.

There is a two-step process to create your blog:

  • Step 1: Create an account on the OpenEd.ca website with your UVic email address.
  • Step 2: Request that an OpenEd.ca website be set up for you.

Please follow the following steps to create an account and then request that your website be set up:

Step 1:

1. Go to opened.ca and click ‘Get Started’ menu item.

Go to opened.ca and click ‘get started’.

2. Click the red ‘Get started’ button.

Click ‘Get started’

3. Create an Opened username only (not an Opened site yet).

Create an opened username.

4. Complete the form.
  • Remember, if you want to be anonymous, you can use a pseudonym.
  • You MUST use your own UVic email (…@uvic.ca email address. Do not use edtechadmin).
  • Make sure you choose ‘Just a username, please.’
  • Click ‘Next’

Fill out the form.

5. STOP NOW – Go make some tea, and check your @UVIC.ca email in about 10 minutes.

  • Sometimes the confirmation email takes a few minutes, if you don’t see it in 10-15 minutes, check your spam/junk folder.

Check email in 10 minutes.

6. Activate your username.
  • The email will come from ‘OpenETC Administrator’ and will contain a link that you must follow to activate your account.

Activation email.

7. Then you’ll get another email.
  • Click ‘Log in’.
8. Log in to WordPress.
  • Use the username and password that were included in the confirmation email.
9. Your Dashboard will be empty.

Step 2:

10. Stay logged in and visit this link to the Site sign-up page.
  • Make sure the ‘EDCI 336 Template’ is selected from the dropdown.
  • Enter the user name you created
  • Enter your UVic email address
  • Create a URL domain for your site, which will be __________.opened.ca, where you fill in the blank (e.g. rmccue.opened.ca -or- west-coast-teach.opened.ca).
    • The URL can contain only lowercase letters (a-z), numbers, and hyphens (no spaces allowed)
    • If you want to remain anonymous, don’t include your name here.
    • You cannot change this later.
  • Give your site a title, which you can easily change later (e.g. Rich’s Blog).
  • Choose your privacy setting:
    • The top two options (allow search engines or not allow search engines) are open on the web, but you can still protect your posts with a password – we invite you to learn openly in this class and encourage one of these two options:
      • Visible publicly, indexed by search engines
      • Visible publicly, not indexed by search engines
    • The bottom three options will prevent your posts from being syndicated to the course site, so please contact your instructor if you choose one of these options:
      • ‘Visible only to registered users of this network’ includes all students and faculty in BC who are logged in to an opened.ca site.
      • ‘Visible only to registered users of this site’ means that you will have to add users from the class who you want to see the site.
      • ‘Visible only to administrators of this site’ means that the site is private and only you and the network administrators can see it.
  • Double-check that the UVIC EDCI 336 template is selected, then click the Submit button.
OpenEd.ca website signup form
11. You will receive an email address in about 24 hours once your website is setup and ready for you.
12. Where to find your new site.
Finding your site.
13. Accessing your Dashboard.
Accessing the dashboard.
14. Where to start?
  • Edit your About Me page to share something about yourself. You can choose to use this page as you wish according to your privacy preferences, or delete it if not using.
  • Create your first post to capture the setup process, aspirations for the portfolio or class, your inquiry topic and plan, and/or reflections from the first class.
  • Adjust the look and feel of your site using templates or the WordPress customizer. Do not spend too much time here, as things will take shape as you start creating content on the site. Look and feel can be changed at any time even after content has been created.
  • Review ‘What Makes a Good Blog Post‘ and ‘Changing what Appears on your WordPress Homepage‘
15. Last words…