Forums

I have been getting a quite a few emails lately from the NSTA listserves about setting up class websites, and the responses have been varied. A bit of analysis goes into how the website will be used - will you be using it to distribute updates, as a repository for assignments, or as a class meeting space where things like blogging and book clubs happen? What kinds of security are needed for your application? Will students be able to add their own pages? Create their own sites? I've long been a proponent of free sites like Google Sites, but there are so many alternatives out there today. Personally, I like being able to add gadgets that allow students or parents to get RSS feeds, and to be able to see a classroom calendar in the page. I also like that I can restrict the site to individual web addresses; unfortunately, I also have to add them individually. I get site statistics to tell me who has been online, although setting up the monitoring can be tricky. All this is for free, and by a provider that has been in business for a while, so I am not afraid of losing my platform. Other contenders like Edmodo, Wix, GoDaddy, and TeacherWeb, to name just a few, have free or inexpensive tools available. There are so many alternatives out there! How many of you are creating class websites? What kinds of things are you doing with your sites?

I just set up a website a couple of weeks ago to add resources to help my students with their content knowledge. I use schoolrack.com and I can only post so much information because that was the free package. My students actually do not go onto my website, I think in the weeks that I have had it up I had only two students go on there and look up a lab I assigned them. I even set up an email address so that the students could ask for help if they needed to or email me their typed assignments. How do your studnets feel about a teacher website? Do they use it?

Kelly, That is an excellent question. I had a summer science class this year, and the kids wanted to share with their siblings and parents. Others had missed a week for vacation, and wanted to do some of the stuff we had done in class. My experience was that only a couple kids actually used the site, even though dozens requested it. I don't know if it was the short format of the class (six weeks) was to blame, or the fact that it was not integral to the class, but I am happy I did not commit too much time to it! It was mostly a one-way communication, so that may have contributed to the poor response. It sounds like you may have had similar results. Anyone else have a successful class website? How are you using it? How did you get buy-in?

I have used the following sites to set up classroom websites: schoolnotes.com teacherweb.com googlesites.com Although I still have a googlesite for my classroom, I've set up an 'Edmodo' site for all my classes. The site is similar to a 'social networking'site, however, it's for educational purposes. I place assignments on Edmodo, class notes, Powerpoint Presentations, etc. The scholars submit many of their assignments via this vehicle as well. All of my scholars have iPads for use in school and most of them (92%) have access to the internet at home. The site has an active calendar, so upcoming due dates and field trips are posted. I also have links to the scholars' online textbooks, notes for parents (who also have an access code for the site), classroom rituals and routines, and laboratory procedures. The scholars have a one-stop shop in which to access their grades, review and submit assignments, and keep up with dates. I absolutely love it.

At the beginning of the year I created a class wiki and a class blog for both grades. A lot of work went into setting it up in the summer, and honestly no one uses it. Admin loved the idea of the class wiki, but wanted to have it password-protected and since I put up that option no one wanted to take the time to log in. Also, many of the students do not have computer access at home. The only time they would have access is if I checked out the computer lab for webquests or research, or if I requested the rotating teachers who teach dig lit courses in the computer lab to give them time to finish their science projects. Wikispaces is still my favorite way though!

Although I use Wikis all the time, I haven't ventured into creating my own as a classroom resource. In a previous post, I mentioned using Edmodo this year, and having used google sites, schoolnotes.com, and Teacherweb.com. I think I'll venture into the 'Wiki' arena to see the possibilities and/or limitations of the resource. Next school year, I want to be sure to begin the year with many resources already loaded on the class website. Thanks Cheska for the information/suggestion. LA

Many of the teachers in my district are using www.weebly.com with great success. It is a free site and seems to be pretty friendly. My student teacher set one up under my name that she will be using to inform parents of what is happening in the classroom. I have heard of others using www.edmodo.com It is also a free site for teachers. Again, I have not used it personally, but it appears to be pretty straightforward in its approach. You only have to sign in to set up the account, which takes less than 5 minutes. You are then taken to a template that allows you to set up your site. Edmodo is more of a social networking type of site that allows students or parents to post a question to be answered and a drop down box that allows you to choose who you want to send the question to. From what I can tell, the teachers at our school that have set up websites have spent a lot of time maintaining them, but the usage on the parts of the students has been minimal. No one knows for sure why, there is a lot of speculation. Some feel the students don’t want to take the time to log on, the site is not very engaging – it’s “not fun”, it’s hit and miss whether or not the site is updated, it takes too long to get an answer … We also have an issue with about 30% of our students not having internet at home and the public library is not very close. I would be interested in hearing how others have engaged their students in using the websites to enhance their learning.

My course webpages are hosted on my district's web site. From my personal experience, it takes time (months) to get students (and parents) to buy-in to your site. Keep using it and do not get discouraged. I have my students refer to my web pages several times a week by posting assignments or calendar items. I also put extension activities, sources for additional reading, extra practice problems, links to additional videos...anything to get them to visit. I let my parents know it is available at our school's open house and at the fall and spring parent-teacher conferences. I use the plug...I know your teenager isn't always as forthright as you would like them to be. If you want to know what we are doing in class, check out the district website. Not everyone uses it. However, the ones that do, really appreciate it. Consider it a service to your parents and patrons, if nothing else.

Sandy, I actually use an Edmodo site with my scholars and it has been very successful this year. All of my scholars have iPads that they use in school, and 78% of them have internet access at home. I have parents emailing me via the site often; in the past, most parents would email me via the school district's assigned email address. As I am implementing a 'flipped classroom' this school year, my scholars must use our Edmodo site to access videos, PowerPoint Presentations, inquiry-based questions and scenarios, for their homework assignments. Because I use it frequently (posting and responding),my scholars in-turn are using it frequently. With any classroom website, it's important to keep it current and active. Once someone reports to the site and retrieves or sees outdated information, then often times they will be reluctant to report back to the source. LA

I once used wikispaces for a classroom website. You have to put a little money into it but it was WELL WORTH IT. My kids were able to discuss, post videos of experiments, access all notes, an interactive bulletin board, among MANY other things. At the school I work at, we use Blackboard. I have to say that I'm not really into it, but it is something that we are required to use. Now that I'm thinking of how cool an experience I had with wikispaces, I am getting the motivation to want to do it again...Dangerous!! Oh, and I used EdModo last year. The students really liked that because the user interface was much like that of Facebook.

I've used pbworks, wikispaces, and edmodo. I also have a school site provided by our district's web provider (schoolwires). I like the flexibility of using a wiki because I can easily edit items and don't have place everything on our school site (which can be laborious at times). I've introduced many of my students to wikispaces this year; they've used wikispaces to create their own sites designed around projects. I plan to eventually connect these student sites to my wiki. Currently I use edmodo with my students; some check it constantly while others rarely do. It can be an effective way to communicate with your students and to have your students communicate with each other. I like it because you can upload materials and grade assignments right on the site. I also enjoy the flexibility of creating small groups for group projects. I did find I had to add a "chat" group to restrict chats to one area of edmodo (otherwise the chats tended to take over the main page). While using web pages and wikis are a great way to engage students with technology, I do find that the effort required to keep them updated may outweigh the number of times they are accessed. I think that will change once students become used to "going paperless."

Patty, You make a great point. Our websites have gone beyond containing static content. We really do need to consider the social networking capabilities, don't we?

My school system also uses Blackboard, and though it can be kind of clunky, it does have the advantages of having all the tools--chat, wiki, blog, video, etc --- all there and password protected. I am a little old fashioned in that I think that we as teachers should be very careful how much we open up our online lives to the public. Sorry, but I have seen people get burned.

I have used Google sites in the past. I send out an invite to my students on their gmail school account and they can have access it to it. I like having it, because I can post today's lesson and the work that they might have missed. They can finish their assignments online as well. I have a reflection essay that is due by Wednesday and some are already starting on it this weekend.

As Jennifer mentioned, when you move your classroom to an online venue it is important to teach them about "netiquette." Below are some links that will help you to create a lesson that teaches the kids about your expectations while they are online. If you are like me, you will find most students have never heard of the word netiquette. Another issue is the issue of copyright; be careful what kids are posting on a school website or blog. I am trying to get my kids to use ONLY materials that are [url=http://creativecommons.org/]creative commons licensed]. This has been a bit of a struggle because many students feel that if it is on the web that it is up for grabs as long as you put a citation under the item (picture, video, etc.). http://www.networketiquette.net/ http://www.studygs.net/netiquette.htm http://www.ncwiseowl.org/zones/copyright/Students.html Copyright Friendly Sites for Multimedia Projects: http://the8blog.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/nine-copyright-friendly-sites-for-student-multimedia-projects/

Thank you all for the great ideas. I can see how it would take a while for students and parents to get used to using the websites as a regular source of information. I agree with Lorrie that it is vital to keep whatever information is up there really up to date. Perhaps it would be better to have fewer but very current materials and exchanges rather than overextending and having difficulty keeping everything fresh. That way the students and parents could see a simple but worthwhile resource that only takes a few minutes to access and retrieve their desired information from.

My biggest concerns with classroom websites are, 1) finding the time to maintain them and 2) finding a reason to keep spending the time I have to put in to maintain them. Hmmm. Sounds like a recurring theme. At a recent technology conference, a lot of the presenters shared how many are moving away from the traditional websites because they are time intensive with little use by students or parents. Quite a few that used to rely on the website for posting all sorts of things, are now basically using them as repositories for lesson plans and the like through a spreadsheet program. Students or parents can access the assignments given, but there really is no interaction, nor expectation of any. As Flipped Classrooms become more common, it will be interesting to see what forum they take in terms of how they are housed and accessed.

I'm a huge fan of class websites. I really wish I had one when I was in high school. Although it is true that not all students/families will have access to it, it is nice to know that the information is there (especially since the Internet/email is such a huge factor in communication these days). Homework assignments, unit descriptions, notes to parents, links to important forms, PDF documents, reminders.. all helpful ideas :) Now I just have to decide which site to use... hmmm!? In addition, for a teaching methods class, we designed and implemented a WebQuest: zunal.com The free version allows you to create an inquiry project using technology. These can be done in the classroom, computer lab or as an independant assignment. I really enjoyed it!