<p>Tip to everybody, NEVER, ever, ever update your Webserver in the middle of the school year unless you know for sure you have a solid backup. Don't ask me how I know.</p><p>Outside of that, multi-site enabled Wordpress installs do seem to be working. I have a test environment setup on my MacBook Pro using MAMP. Everything appears to be working. It definitely simplifies some things. Students only have to update one profile, for example. </p><p>Here are some very useful plugins for importing large numbers of students: <a href="http://premium.wpmudev.org/project/batch-create/">WPMU Batch Create</a>. Batch create users and sites from a CSV/XLS. Huge time saver. Couple with <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/add-multiple-users/">Add Multiple Users</a>. This will bring all the users you just created into your main class site as users. Very easy.<br><br>Anyhow, I still can't get the Cube Gold plugin to work correctly on my Xserve that I use to host my sites. Mike and I thought initially it might be because of Wordpress multi-user. That is not the case as I mentioned above. Maybe something to do with PHP versions? I am not willing to experiment anymore until the summer. It took 2 days to get my class site and all of my students site (this year and for the past 4-5 years) back with no data loss. That was a nightmare.</p>

I am missing something . . . easy I am sure. How do I create the stats page? Also, I like how you did the "Blogs" page. Is that a table plugin? I have my test site up: http://chargertech.edisonchargers.com/.

I may do a mashup of the analog (Design Dojo) and digital (Mac Lab) when I do a full route next year. How do you account for students "claiming" false mastery? PvP days? Also, I have been trying to figure out how to implement a "gamified" or ladder system in a film/video class. I was thinking of incorporating "skill trees". I could have four skill categories: director, cinematographer, editor, and ?. As they complete a video project as one of the roles and score a 4 or a 5 (on a 5 scale system) then they earn XP towards that skill class. So, if they are a cinematographer on a music video and the music video gets a 4 in cinematography that student gets XP towards movie up the cinematography skill ladder. They could choose to focus on one skill or spread their skill points around on different projects. Have you thought about multi-year students? Do they reset at the beginning of the next year or do veterans keep building from where they left off?

So, I am looking at levels. I see that you have 99 levels for your setup with frequent level jumps. I wonder how that would compare to less levels, but with higher experience thresholds?

Being a Star Wars fan I was looking at Jedi Levels, of which there are five. However, would less level progression minimize the incentive of gaining levels. Students may be less engaged if it takes too long to gain levels compared to leveling up fast. The flipside, Level 1, Level 2, etc. don't sound as cool as Padawan, Jedi Knight, etc. or with Kevin's Design Dojo: white belt, yellow belt, etc.

With what Mike has going on and what I read at Design Dojo: http://thedesigndojo.org/the-dojo-way.htm I have been tossing around the idea of using the "gamified"concept in my video class. It wouldn't be automated and tracked via Wordpress, but tracked manually.

I remember when you were converting over from Drupal to Wordpress. Drupal is more powerful, but definitely much more cumbersome. I like where Wordpress has been moving the last couple of years and how large scale plug-ins have been transforming it from Blog platform to something more.

I like the concept of this plug-in. Especially interested in how it can integrate with what has been developed here. I have been piloting the Canvas LMS this year and it is amazing.

Hmm, my last post didn't make it through.

Anyhow, I have not implemented Mike's gamification system, yet. However, I have plenty of experience with Wordpress, hosting student blogs/sites, and running my own server.

Rob, before I spent $1,000 on hosting, I'd just purchase a server. Web servers don't have massive horsepower requirements. About 6 years ago I got Perkins to fund an Xserve that I use as a Webserver. It is overkill, but I was (am) very familair with OSX and since it was my first time implementing a full Web host I wanted to go with what was familiar. A linux server would be cheaper and easier now (there are plenty of tutorials/videos on-line), but even a Mac Mini server for around a grand would work. It is much easier than the Xserve I maintain as a Open Directory and Netboot Server. Unlike Mike, I like network accounts.

Anyhow, I started out hosting a CSS/HTML class website and students sites that were created with a combination of Dreamweaver and Flash. Several years ago I moved to Wordpress. I host my class Website, a couple of other school websites, and hundreds of student blogs/protfolios (several years worth still up). Plus, like Mike and Rob, I host hundreds (if not thousands) of video tutorials, including some of Mike's older ones for my students to use. I even used BuddyPress in its pre-1.0 days. The server has never once come close to having load/bandwidth issues.

So, implementing a Linux (LAMP) or even a Mac (MAMP) server should be more cost efective. It is easy to maintain. You just need an IP address and have the IT guy open a hole in the firewall.

As far as student accounts, I import using a CSV plug-in. Most schools now have an SiS and you should be able to get a spreadsheet of your class rosters. Follow the structure in the plug-in documentation and it is easy. We have Google Apps for Education at our school. All students get a school Gmail account. I created a Google Form students put in name, period, e-mail, and I used teh resulting spreadsheet to import into Wordpress. No confirmation e-mails required.