Download Your Library Goes Virtual: Why? When? How?

Introduction to
Teacher Websites
Why might they be important or
helpful to teachers?
Born to be Wired: The Role of New Media for a Digital
Generation,
Yahoo study, June 2003
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Key Finding: The Internet has become THE
youth medium of choice…time spent with
the Internet now exceeds the time spent with
the television for the “Millennial” generation,
youths aged 13 to 24”
The Digital Disconnect:
The Widening Gap Between Internet Savvy
Students and Their Schools
Pew Internet & American Life Project, August 2002
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Virtually all middle and high school students use the
Internet heavily to do research to help them write
papers or complete class work or homework
assignments…as virtual textbook and reference
library…For the most part, students’ educational use
of the Internet occurs outside of the school day,
outside of the school building, outside the direction
of their teachers…
Teens, Technology, and School
Pew Internet & American Life Project, August 2005
 87%
of all youth between the ages of 12 and
17 use the Internet.
 Of these 21 million online teens,
 78%
say they use the Internet at school
 87% say they use the Internet from home
 75% say they use the Internet from someone else’s
house
“Net Generation
Students and Libraries”
from Educating the Net Generation, 2005
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Major Disconnect:
“Students’ dependence on Google or similar search
engines for discovery of information resources
rather than consultation of library Web pages,
catalogs, and databases…”
 “Net Gen students clearly perceive the open space
of the World Wide Web as their information
universe.”
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Scenario 1:
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Brandon realizes that his biology research
project on genetics is due tomorrow. It is
Sunday evening, 6:00 PM. No problem! He
logs on to the Internet, opens his Web browser,
does a quick Google search on genetics, prints
out information from a few dotcom sites, and he
is good to go.
What are the implications and what could or
should the student have done?
Scenario 2:
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Brandon realizes that his biology research project on
genetics is due tomorrow. It is Sunday evening, 6:00
PM. No problem! He logs on to the Internet, opens
his Web browser, goes to his school library web
site, clicks on the pathfinder created collaboratively
by his library media specialist and classroom teacher.
Using their suggestions, he finds basic information in
an encyclopedia through Grolier Online and journal
articles and newsletters from the SIRS Knowledge
Source and Infotrac Student Edition. Through the
library’s online catalog, he reads portions of a few
Follett eBooks on genetics. To finish off his
research, he visits a couple of the web sites
suggested in the pathfinder. Works cited? Referring
to the works cited section of the school library web
site, he soon has his references listed in complete
MLA format.
Content for Teacher
Web Sites
To develop web links to guide
students’ academic work.
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Explore Noodle Tools
Use Google advanced searches.
Review WebQuests
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Use these resources to develop your websites.
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Information Access
and Delivery
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Online Library Catalog
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Reference Collection
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Subscription Databases
Librarian’s Internet Index
Local Links
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Libraries
Local government
Information Access
and Delivery
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Website collections
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Nettrekker
MarcoPolo
WebFeet
Professional collection
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Eduscapes
Library of Congress Learning
Page
National Digital Science
Library
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Ebooks
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Project Gutenberg
Bartleby.com
International Children’s
Digital Library
Follett eBooks
NetLibrary subject sets
Learning and Teaching
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Information literacy
skills instruction
Search tools and their
effective usage
Research process guides
Citations and ethical use
of information
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Reading
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Book lists
AR lists
Book reviews
Online book clubs/Blogs
Ask-a-Librarian
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Email
Chat
Administration
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Program mission and
goals
Information about
upcoming events
Information about past
library events
Staff
Contact information
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Hours/Policies/
Procedures
Impact studies
Parents’ Page
Link to school and
division pages
Forms
Paperless learning?
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often possible to reduce paper usage significantly
students – once trained – know where to access
resources outside of class
parents can remain fully informed
makeup work is instantly available
time saved NOT making endless copies of
documents
harnessing previous student experience with a
familiar and popular technology
Why use a class Website:
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present material in an alternative manner to students
help me and my students stay organized
help me communicate better with the community
augment my everyday curriculum
keep my students better informed of what we are doing
in class
offer a public outlet to my students to publish their
creative output – when appropriate
act as window on my classroom so that everyone knows
what I and my students are accomplishing
Web-based class support:
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Internet-based, available 24/7
Provide information to students and parents
Post assignments/class notes
Reduce paper
Harness students’ prior knowledge of
technology
Add other technologies to enhance your
curriculum – e.g. online practice tests
10 Examples of teacher-built
Web sites:
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Avon Lake, OH –English
teacher
Indianapolis, IN - Science
teacher
Wilmington, VT – Social
Studies teacher
Weston,MA – Math teacher
Gautier, MS – Spanish teacher
Cedar Heights, WA – English
teacher commercial site
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Bellevue, KY – Business
teacher commercial site
Brentwood, CA – school
sponsored teacher pages
Sunnyvale, CA – school
sponsored teacher pages
Nashua, NH – Earth
Science teacher
FYI: Professional sites where teachers
build and maintain free Web pages:
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http://www.inspiringteachers.com/commu
nity/webpages.html
http://teacherweb.com/
http://www.schoolrack.com/
http://www.think.com/en_us/index.shtml
http://www.yourhomework.com/
Google Educator Tools – Page Creator
Basics of the Web - Internet
How do Web pages work?
All Web pages reside
inside some designated
folder of a Web server
until someone calls for
them externally using a
browser.
You have 2 choices in building
a Web site:
1.
Attach your site to your school’s alreadyexisting Web site.
- This means – if you are not the school’s Web master
– going through whomever currently is.
2.
Build an external site and maintain it
independently.
- This means finding, using and possibly paying for
those resources yourself.
Web Design
Design Principles
 Repetition
 Proximity
 Contrast
 Alignment
Good Web Design
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Design consistent with school page?
User-friendly? Easy to navigate?
User-centered wording?
Font readability? Effective use of graphics?
Important information in upper left hand corner,
across, left, and across?
Universally accessible
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Run through Bobby/Watchfire
What constitutes a good Web
site?
Text
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Background does not interrupt the text
Text is big enough to read, but not too big
What constitutes a good Web
site?
Navigation: answers the questions
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Where am I now?
How did I get here?
Where can I go?
What constitutes a good Web
site?
Links
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Link colors are clear, both before and after
being visited
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Links colors are consistent throughout the
site
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Links are instantly clear to the visitor
What constitutes a good Web
site?
Graphics
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Buttons are not big and obtrusive
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Every graphic has an “alt” label
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Every graphic link has a matching text link
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Graphics and backgrounds use browser-safe colors
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Animated graphics turn off by themselves
What constitutes a good Web
site?
General Design
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Pages download quickly (40-100k)
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Good use of graphic elements (photos,
subheads, pull quotes) to break up large areas
of text
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Visitors know at a glance where they are in
the site – what level and in relation to the
homepage.
What policies should you know
about?
policies with regard to teacher Websites:
 no child’s name or personal info
 no clear pictures of their faces
 no adult personal info
 adhere to your own school’s acceptable use policy
FYI: Copyright issues
http://creativecommons.org/about/
Rule of Thumb:
When in doubt:
Get permission (preferably in
writing) from the owner of the
copyrighted work…