Schedule

Web Publishing with WordPress Across the Curriculum

Date: Friday, July 15, 2016
Time: 9:30 - 10:15 am (EDT) (UTC-04:00)
Location: Room A221
Format: General Lecture Session

Session description

The web created the first universal publishing platform but schools, of all levels, are still having students submit paper or "electronic documents" for grading and review. Academic work lives in private, closed systems, never exposing students to the opportunity of external feedback.

This session will propose a different approach. We require incoming college freshmen to become publishers during their first few weeks in school. They create websites and use that publishing platform to post personal reflections, current event updates … and all of their assignments. The website becomes a repository for what will be a portfolio of assignments by the time a student graduates.

Our approach could work for any discipline, but it will take a change of mindset and the acquisition of new skills and infrastructure. It's time to change the culture of education by creating college graduates that are media literate, proficient web publishers and good digital citizens.

Presenter

Todd O’Neill

Headshot of Todd O’Neill
Assistant professor, Middle Tennessee State University

Todd is a full-time, tenure track assistant professor at Middle Tennessee State University and is the coordinator of the New Media Communication concentration in the College of Media and Entertainment at MTSU. He has taught at the college level since 1989.

Before beginning his full time teaching career in 2012 Todd worked in “industry" as a corporate video producer and B2B/B2C interactive multimedia producer before moving to the web in 1994. In 1998 he began working for a Fortune 200 financial services firm as a web producer and was business manager for the acquisition, implementation and operations of an enterprise level web content management system. In 2007 he left working “For the Man" to start a web communications consulting practice working with small businesses and non-profits. He founded and ran a coworking space from 2009 to 2011 and was the licensee and an organizer of TEDxSanAntonio from 2009 to 2012. Yes, he likes long walks on the beach but also bicycling, woodworking and binge watching.

Sessions

  • General Lecture Session: Web Publishing with WordPress Across the Curriculum

Session video