EDLD+5388

EDLD 5388 Web Design & Development

Week 1 Reflection

What are the job roles on the Web site team at your school? At this time, our Web site team consists of two people, our principal and the literacy specialist who serves as the campus webmaster. Our principal primarily approves material that is posted on our site, while our webmaster updates the content. The campus websites for our district use the same design template which makes it easy for a novice to update campus information on a consistent basis. However, I think we could do more to enhance our website by adding grade level pages with homework and extension activities. Our first lecture by Dr. Dobe, Sr. referred to a Web committee as a major component in Web governance. I believe our school website would be more beneficial to our students and parents if we had a representative from each grade level on a Web committee that collaborated on content. Due to the heavy work load our teachers already have, this would require a productive group of educators willing to share their ideas and work effectively in a short amount of time. I liked Shirley Kaiser‘s (2006) suggestions of keeping a master plan, being positive and dependable, and staying flexible to help a team work well together (p. 15). Kaiser, Shirley. (2006). //Deliver first class Web sites: 101 essential checklists//. Collingwood: SitePoint Pty. Ltd.

Week 2 Reflection

What are the most important practices for information architecture that you have learned about this week? The best results seem to come from focusing site structure on user needs and organizing the site to enhance its findability. In his lecture, Dr. Dobe mentioned the importance of documenting user activity to improve findability. He described how learning who your users are will help you determine how to organize your site. Kaiser offers the suggestion of creating personas to help you determine how users will interact with your site (2006, p. 94). Then, you can organize content from the user’s perspective and provide a user-friendly experience in navigating the site. This makes a lot of sense to me since this is how we often develop lesson plans that will optimize student engagement. I often observe my unmotivated students to see what sparks their interest and how they approach assignments or activities. It allows me to approach instruction from a different perspective to find what strategies will reach these students. Kaiser, Shirley. (2006). //Deliver first class Web sites: 101 essential checklists//. Collingwood: SitePoint Pty. Ltd.

Week 3 Reflection

Besides offering more opportunities for student collaboration, the open source movement has great implications for K-12 teachers. I envision an online curriculum program that is open source allowing teachers to collaborate on lesson plans. There are numerous websites, blogs, and wikis that allow teachers to share their ideas for the classroom. However, wouldn’t it be nice to have an open source environment for your own school district that allows teachers to post their successful lesson ideas for others to implement? I see more pros than cons in using open source software. Thomas Warger (2002) simply states, “The greatest benefit in open-source could be the opportunity to realize the best promise (and original purpose) of the Web: to make an extended working environment where information is accessible to all those involved in collaborations.” As teachers, we need to model how to appropriately use open source resources since our students will be immersed in it in the near future. Warger, Thomas. (2002). The open source movement. //The Edutech Report//, 18, p. 20.

Week 4 Reflection

Our school district, Garland ISD, has recently created a blogging community called Gblog. Teachers are required to attend a training session before gaining approval to start a blog. The Gblog is monitored by our technology department to ensure the content is appropriate. Only a few teachers have tested it out so far, but I’m impressed with the student engagement that has resulted. Several teachers post helpful tips for homework assignments as well as interesting information relating to upcoming topics in class. It seems to be a great way to get students excited about field trips, research projects, and collaborative learning. According to Stephen Downes (2004), blogging is the process of reading online, engaging a community, and reflecting about it online, which brings life into learning. I see huge possibilities for using blogs in education. Downes, Stephen. (2004). Educational blogging. //EDUCAUSE Review, 39 (5). Retrieved from// [|//http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Review/EDUCAUSEReviewMagazineVolume39/EducationalBlogging/157920//]

Week 5 Reflection

Survey Monkey would be a great tool to assess customer satisfaction of a new school website. It offers flexibility and affordability. Since it is such a simple process to create a survey, I think most teachers could easily use it to engage students and parents by asking their opinions of the new school website. Then, teachers could branch out and use it to poll students on the website about upcoming topics in class. It would be a great way to get students excited about future lessons. Plus, I think parents would be much more likely to fill out surveys on a multitude of topics if it was as user-friendly as what Survey Monkey offers. Our parents rarely will fill out forms that aren’t mandatory, but this could be the key to enticing them to voice their opinions. Jeff Davis (2002) states, “SurveyMonkey.com, and companies like it, can help bridge that gap between what you need and what you can afford.” I agree with him in that Survey Monkey could definitely offer an affordable solution to gaining the data needed to make a school website as productive as possible. Davis, Jeff. (2002). Do more with less: create web-based surveys with Survey Monkey. //TechRepublic.// Retrieved from []