At SUNY Oneonta, we convinced our leadership to continue to invest in open instead of purchasing commercial ePortfolio software. We will use our OpenLab and WordPress as the basis of a digital ePortfolio initiative. Over the summer, we have embarked on a project to simplify the onboarding experience for students, including commissioning a custom SSO solution for our WordPress Multisite that we call the OpenLab, writing a custom theme for our eportfolios, and simplifying Full Site Editing WordPress Experience through site templates, theme.json manipulation, and custom PHP code that removes parts of the Gutenberg editor for students.
Working with a team of student interns that serve both as designers and student voice into what students are looking for from a web solution. Students created or modified 58 patterns specifically designed for ePortfolios. Through their feedback, we disabled the WordPress.org patterns and provide only the patterns we have created that are made for ePortfolio work. We have also disabled appearance tools in the Gutenberg Editor removing the complexity of padding, spacing, margins, and advanced design tools. Other pieces of Gutenberg were removed from the Post Editor, but will still remain available to students in the Site Editor.
Students will still have access to the full features of WordPress through our other themes, but our custom starter theme is meant to provide a softer landing space as we introduce students to the world of ePortfolios.
Comments Archive
reclaimhosting: Welcome to the Chat
Stephen Downes: I'm constantly a few minutes late for these sessions...
Tierney Steelberg: Hello Ed! Excited for your session – all the more so as we're trying to build a similar culture at Grinnell!
taylorjadin: hell yeah
Humanities/Fine Arts technologists rule!
Jim Groom: Hi all, let me know if you have any questions for Ed and I can feed them if time allows
taylorjadin: insert Iron Man quote here
taylorjadin: Tom Woodward built this multisite in cave with a box of scraps!
twwoodward: I'm not sure I'm that Tom Woodward either! I agree with you that using what already exists that does what you need is the smart path.
Rushaw: Always good to see Ed Beck representing Oneonta, my old stomping grounds. Miss that place sooo much!
Jim Groom: I love it when people promote Reclaim Cloud to get big sites off shared hosting, because that is definitely a behind-the-scenes nightmare for us :)
taylorjadin: Hey I didn't say DON'T I just said know that it will have to move if it gets big/succesfull enough :)
Jim Groom: As Zach Davis said, "Behind every good edupunk is a frazzled sysadmin" :)
Pilot: It's been so cool to see your OpenLab grow and grow over the past couple years
twwoodward: @jim the details of WPMS in reclaim cloud in terms of price/numbers would be cool to see and understand
Jim Groom: @tom No worries, I can give you those, but it would not be all that different to start than a 500 account DoOO
Jim Groom: Ed was telling that the Ted lasso mustache is part of a delayed Halloween contest, but I love it! Tell him he should keep it :)
Rushaw: I vote Yes on mustache!
Jim Groom: One of the things i love about Ed's work is he built in money and time for open source development with folks working on CBOX, so it thinks through the costs of the hardware and the open source contribution, which is very good stewardship
twwoodward: That is awesome!
Tierney Steelberg: Yes, this is rad! Love this case being made!
Pilot: One thing that's also hard to quantify is the amount of work that goes into changing platforms... Not easy to put "labor costs for rebuilding sites on a new platform" into a budget, but absolutely something that comes up
Stephen Downes: Yay, single signon
pete: i am so so loving this ed.
Jim Groom: This is really a comprehensive way of thinking through a project. And 9 times out 10 projects die because their is money for stuff but not people to support and development
Pilot: I really love that giving back is a core tenet, not just "for us" but "for everyone"
pete: VERY TRON .. USERS!!
Mark: The Association for Authentic, Experiential, & Evidence-Based Learning has faded since Trent Batson retired, but they worked with AAC&U to add eportfolios to their High Impact Pratices.
https://aaeebl.org/2021/11/06/field-guide-to-eportfolio/
pete: question for ed: are the sites you're putting students into splits off of a reclaim cloud domain? or are these the students' own sites with their own domain?
Charlie Edwards: Just to say we're hugely lucky to have Ed as part of the CBOX OpenLab community! https://cboxopenlab.org/
Charlie Edwards: Here's the SUNY Oneonta OpenLab: https://openlab.oneonta.edu/
Jim Groom: @pete I think i can answer this. Essentially OpenLab is a WPMS so students can experience both a localized social network and have subdirectory sites that have their own uRL< but are not their own domain, per se
Jim Groom: @pete I will also have Ed answer this in session if time allows
Jim Groom: Hi Charlie!
pete: @jim thank you .. this is essentially what im doing in my own classes this semester after talking to you .. just a smaller scale.
Jim Groom: Love the shout out to the student showcase, don;t miss it tomorrow at 10 Am ET
pete: "swiss army knife theme" is a great description.
Jim Groom: @pete the bit Ed is using is the OpenBox suite of plugins and themes that turns your WPMS into a social network, it is pretty awesome, just like the CUNY folks! Talk to @charlie for more
Pilot: Did you blog the process of creating these themes? I'm so curious about WP theme development...
Pilot: There's no :eyes: emoji hang on
Pilot: 👀
pete: another question for ed: is it possible for someone to borrow/import your theme and use it on other accounts¿
Mark: @Ed Is Red Dragon available?
Jim Groom: @Mark I will ask ed that question shortly
pete: i maybe just found it: https://github.com/beckej13820/red-dragon-portfolio
Mo Pelzel: Love the shoutout to @Tierney and Grinnell Digital Vivero Fellows!
Mark: Thanks Jim! @Pete Yes, it looks good. Open license gpl-2.0.html.
Jim Groom: @Tierney Ears ringing :)
Pilot: I don't think Shannon from UMW could make it to the conference but I know she'd be thrilled to hear this
Tierney Steelberg: Oh, Ed, you are too sweet – I feel like I have been (and continue to be, after this presentation) in awe of all the work you are doing at Oneonta!! The feeling is definitely mutual, haha
Mark: I don't know if it was there earlier, but the Red Dragon link is in the resources below.
Pilot: You guys are really firing on all cylinders, wow
Jim Groom: https://openlab.oneonta.edu
pete: @ed thanks for the answer!
Jim Groom: Let me know if we have any other questions
Mark: @Ed thanks for all your work. Looking forward to seeing the ONEATA students presentation tomorrow.
Stephen Downes: Good stuff
Pilot: This was awesome, thanks Ed!
HibbittsDesign: Really insightful approaches 👏🏻
Tierney Steelberg: Thank you, Ed! This was fantastic and I am so inspired to think about how we at Grinnell can learn from your experiences to improve our portfolio work with students.
pete: agree with @jim .. @ed, i'll be reaching out to you .. your presentation has been super efficient and helpful for me and i'll be sharing it with my colleagues (kennesaw state, english dept)
Mark: Yes! Human Infrastructure!
Mary Isbell: Loving this, Ed!! Thank you SO MUCH for investing in the SSO plugin. I'm really excited about this option.
