Google Sites can be a powerful tool to assist us in collaboratively building a common source of information. There is a slight learning curve in getting accustomed to the nuances of using Google Sites. This page initially will serve as a resource to get us up and running with creating, editing, and revising in Google Sites. The bottom of the page will list other technology tutorials and resources that are available for other ICT texts and tools.
To start off with some great templates, please click here.
The first thing to understand is that you cannot do anything to "break" or lose the information that is on this site. If you want to see what a button will do, or a menu will do...click on it. Google Sites saves every version and every draft that we complete...we can always revert back to a previous version. Also, Google Sites is organized much like Microsoft Word, or programs in Microsoft Office. This means that many of the same commands that would expect to see in Office...you'll see here. Google Sites is built by the same people that brought us Google Docs. Using Google Docs, and in this case Google Sites means that we're all working on the same computer, and on the same file. We're all building this together.
There are also a ton of great resources available to teach you how to use Google Sites, and add in functions that might not seem obvious at first. I have been using Google Sites for a long time now...and I still search YouTube for clips showing me how to embed a video, or add multiple users, remove comments...etc. A good basic tutorial video can give us the "lay of the land." The following video is a screencast put together to get you through the basics of Google Sites.
Of course the best resource of all is the series of videos put together by Google themselves on how to edit, construct, and remove elements of pages in Google Sites. Feel free to peruse this list here. For those of us that prefer basic, text directions as opposed to skipping in and out of YouTube videos...start off your voyage here.
Use Google Apps as your Learning Management System
I also think that we should challenge ourselves to not only build (or have students build) cool websites but start our own learning management system. The video to the right explains how it is possible to use Google Apps to create your own learning management system. The ORMS MOOC I showcase in the video is available here.