What Will You Put on Your Site?

This could be a very long section! We will try to keep is short by keeping it basic.

Think of the sites you visit the most, the sites you bookmark. What do they have that you use so much?

• Are they there just to provide static information?
• Do they archive past information or only that which is current?
• Are they colorful and attractive or monochromatic and simple?
• Are they constantly updated or do they stay the same for long periods?
• How are they organized? What sections and page arrangements do they employ?
• Are they user friendly or easy to get lost in?
• Are they just to look at and leave, or can you actually do something on them?
• Can you get access to important documents to use yourself or can you fill out and submit the forms online?
• Can you just find the basics, or can you extend your yourselves with good quality "extra stuff"?

You can get some great ideas for a classroom website by noticing the things you wish were on the websites you need to use, whether educational or not. Actually, if you really think about it, what type of website is not educational? When you go to your insurance websites or your banking websites, are you not trying to educate yourself more fully in something that really matters to you? The point of our career is to teach others how to be lifelong learners.

Here is a short, very short, list things most teachers say they want to have on their websites:

• A class calendar
• Class assignment lists and due dates
• Information for parents (a very amorphous thought)
• Lists of things like spelling words, books and activities

Here are some things you might want to consider:

• Links to sites that have interactive modules that cover your content
• Disclosures and class policy information
• Online hall pass and other tracking
• Embedded media like slideshows, videos and simulations
  • Embedded means that when you click on it, it plays right in your site instead of sending you to someone else's site
• Video of your actual instruction instead of someone else's ( check out our module on creating instructional video)
• Interactive or step-by-step documents that guide students or parents in the doing of things, not just the watching of things (Hyperdocs)
• Graphic based pages that draw the audience into "check it out" mindsets
• Contests or competitions
• Interactive games

Now we know you have to start basic, but higher level goals promote higher level accomplishments.

A brief editorial from a parent's perspective. Any of us who have had children go through the educational system know that things too often do not go the way we wish they would. Have you ever had the argument with your child that the way you are "helping" them do an assignment "is not the way teacher said to do it". How awesome would it be if parents could actually see the way you taught the child to do it? If we really want parents to help us educate their kids it would seem that allowing or encouraging them to watch or listen to our explanations or methods would be valuable. Terminology and methods change. If we put resources on our websites that help those at home know what those changes are, we might get more of the desired help.

That hardest part of building the website is deciding what to put on it. If you really want something on your site you will be motivated to learn how to make it happen. As we teach our students, "if you aim low, you will usually hit lower".

The next assignment will lead you through making important decisions that will help you succeed in creating a useful website on the first shot. Please spend some effective thought time with it. Feel free to add your own ideas after the directed thinking questions are completed. The more you dream, the more good questions you will have to ask.

Fill out this help sheet before you move to the next section. You do not need to turn it in. It is purely to help you think through some of these issues before you start building your site. Remember that remodeling is always possible, but quality construction the first time means that remodeling won't be needed for a while.

Click Here to make a copy of the Website Organization Helper

After using the Website Organizer you are ready to Start Your Site