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Face of Your Classroom
Creating an Online Presence
This "Face of Your Classroom" Thing looks at a variety of resources which teachers can use to create a web presence fro students and parents to access information about their classroom online.
We are focusing on four core resources available for teachers to use in creating a web presence for their classroom.
These four include:
We are focusing on four core resources available for teachers to use in creating a web presence for their classroom.
These four include:
- Personalized homepages or start pages such as Netvibes, and Protopage.
- Blogs (which is a contraction of the term "Web log") have a web site feel and are maintained with regular entries. One of the best Blogs for educators and one we recommend is called: Edublogs. (teachers from Macomb County only may obtain their Edublogs site from: http://edublogs.misd.net/.) Other blog sites available to educators include: Blogger, Blogmeister and Live Journal.
- Online Classroom Management Systems like Blackboard, Moodle or Sakai.
- Web site or page Creators like Weebly. (This website was created by Weebly.)
- Personalized homepages, or start pages, allow users to quickly create a web presence using widgets provided by each company. They require no software, they are free and you are given a free sub domain name (URL) for your site.
- Blogs are different from the others. Think of a blog as a daily journal. Blogs let teachers add information on a regular basis to a blog site. Teachers use blogs to post daily assignments, student writings, podcasts or links to resources.
- Online classroom management systems can function as an extension of a classroom and are the most robust of all the options. An advantage is that they are a secure environment that requires an ID and password to gain access. Teachers have the ability to post documents, videos and tests online. Most class management systems are purchased by a district and offered to their teachers.
- WebSite/Page Creators like Weebly, are the easiest way for a teacher to have a website. Weebly offers the availability to easily upload text, images, documents and web links. It provides a site that may include multiple pages and even an embedding blog. Weebly is free and we will focus on it for this activity.
Links to Your Online Presence
Web Sites
Go to http://weebly.com and click on the "Try Demo".
Come back to this site and click here to launch the Weebly video tutorial. While watching the tutorial, stop along the way and try each feature from the demo site. |
Blogs |
Recorded Video Session Tutorials
I have compiled all the recorded video session tutorials for "Face of Your Classroom" together here for your convenience. Click on any of the links below to see the tutorial from one of the instructors.
From "21 Things - Berrien, Calhoun, Kalamazoo"
From "21 Things - Berrien, Calhoun, Kalamazoo"
- Face of Your Classroom - Wikispaces (Andy Mann - 26:52)
- Wikispaces follow up about embedding and widgets (Andy Mann - 9:25)
Additional Resources
Website created on Weebly about Weebly:Websites created using Weebly:
A Wiki is also a popular way to create an online presence. However, many schools use Internet filtering software to block the use of wikis.
- http://beginwithme.weebly.com
- http://www.wwpscurriculum.com/
- http://www.infolibrarian.net/index.html
- http://jharding.weebly.com/
- http://techbootcamp.weebly.com/
A Wiki is also a popular way to create an online presence. However, many schools use Internet filtering software to block the use of wikis.
Wikis In Plain English
What it Teaches
"Wikis in Plain English" introduces a "wiki" website as a resource for helping a group of campers organize and coordinate information for a camping trip. The video includes:
"Wikis in Plain English" introduces a "wiki" website as a resource for helping a group of campers organize and coordinate information for a camping trip. The video includes:
- Why email is a poor choice for coordinating a group's input
- The basics of using a wiki
- How the group edits the wiki to add, remove and edit their camping supplies list.
- Adding a new wiki page to account for diverse needs