Learn that websites vary in their design and structure to reach their audience and authors.
Identify and categorize website elements that help to communicate intended messages to a targeted audience.
General Description
In this section, the teacher reminds students the goal of Unit 2 is to build a website to inform an audience about their disease problem. Students will use the presentation they developed as a base to form their website, but before they start transforming the presentation into a website, students need to review some sample websites to identify how website design and elements can affect the message and intention the website conveys to visitors. The goal of this section is for students to begin thinking about the components and design of their website, which will showcase their problem. Students will explore elements of website design and build (Computational) and see patterns in the design of websites (Cross-Cutting) that might serve them well as they create their own.
Activity 1 (Budget 45/75 minutes)
Students compare and contrast websites on the same topic: one professional and one DIY.
1. Working in the same pairs from Unit 1, students will review two websites about bullying. The first is a professional website maintained by the Pacer Center's Teens Against Bullying, a national organization dedicated to preventing and educating about bullying. The website is "a place for middle and high school students to find ways to address bullying, to take action, to be heard, and to own an important social cause".
Students use the Website Review Sheet to analyze the website to:
Identify the website's author(s), audience, intention, and visitor opportunities to interact.
Determine how the site uses text, video, images, links, menus, tables, and other features to achieve its intentions.
Determine the basic organization of the site, the page types, and the linking of pages within and outside of the site in order to achieve the site's intentions.
Student pairs then review the second website: Kalamazoo College Stop Bullying Project. This is a more novice website, perhaps developed by college students for their campus center, raising awareness of the issue. Once again, students will use the Website Review Sheet they started already to analyze this website.
In advance, the teacher should review these two websites and complete a Website Review Sheet in order to prepare for Activity 2.3.2.
2. OPTIONAL The student pairs now repeat step 1 above and analyze a second pair of sites on a topic the teacher selects. The topic should be problem-oriented and engages students by and large (i.e. climate change, voting rights, minimum wage, college access, youth sports injuries, etc.). Find a professional site on the topic and a website a bit more modest, DIY on the topic. The key is to find sites that have some similar and some different features. Again, the goal is for students to begin thinking about the components and the design they would like their site to have.
Activity 2. (Budget 25 minutes)
Class reconvenes to discuss what students found during the website analysis.
Teacher projects each site for the class to discuss their findings. Use the Website Review Sheet to organize the conversation. Students will need to understand the organizational concepts of the Home page, a top-level page, and a sub-page.
Activity 3. (Budget 10 minutes)
Student pairs identify website features they want to use in their website. Class reconvenes to discuss what students found during the website analysis.
To finish the section, students will reconvene as pairs to examine which of the website features discussed (text, video, images, tables, menus, and narration/audio) they would like to incorporate into their site. They should spend time as a pair reviewing their slides, identifying features that would be well-suited for the slides, and the information they will migrate to their website.