Why create a website? (Using iWeb)
Why a website?
Why build a website? Who is your audience? What is the purpose of your website?
Use the Why Build a Website handout to write down your thoughts and ideas.
10 Reasons to have a classroom website
After you have completed that work, please consider the following:
How will your website enhance classroom instruction? How can this website increase effectiveness and efficiency of personal communication? (Feel free to provide comments to this post with your reflections)
What is good web design?
We will be using iWeb - which is template-driven. However, it’s essential to have an idea of what a good website looks like to make better decisions about your layout and design overall. Even with a template there will be a certain leeway for you to be creative.
Use the handout to evaluate some of the websites.
Plan your website
Use a simple web to design the layout of your website. Plan on having a fairly wide structure (your navigation bar will have all or most of your pages on it).
Pages to include:
Home page - what content do you intend to put there? | Parent page | Assignments? | Student work? | About me? (and my course)
Create your website using iWeb
iWeb is a very user-friendly application. It does a lot of under-the-hood work for you - your can modify a lot of things, however, this is a template and some parts of it are not editable.
The Learning Center on your computer has a tutorial on iWeb. Take your time to go through it.
On the other hand, you can also get tutorials online.
iWeb ‘08 tutorial will not play while at school, will play from home.
Publishing options
Of course, the website has little use if it remains on your hard drive only.
You have some options when it comes to publishing it. One option is your personal webspace - if you have service with RoadRunner, you probably have some space on their server, so you may want to call up your ISP to check what’s going on.
Another option is local server in your school to which a lot of people have access - that rules out parent access, however.
Yet another option is coming up, at http://staff.portlandschools.org
The most convenient - and most expensive option - is having a .Mac account. Then you can publish right to the web without jumping through any hoops.
To read more about me, go to the ABOUT page.
