Website creation as a class project
One piece of technology that I have used in multiple college courses at Michigan State University is the creation of a free website through sites like Weebly and Google. Instead of writing a long essay, I put all of my information from my research project about literacy onto a private Google website.
I might incorporate this technology into my future classroom in upper elementary grades by having students conduct some of their own research that could focus on literacy, math, science, history, etc, and synthesizing the information into a website. This is a very general idea, and depending on the grade level and subject, I could tailor the assignment to meet each student's needs, focusing on a subject that he or she might need to spend a little extra time on.
I would incorporate this technology into my classroom for several reasons. One goal is the use of the technology itself. To be able to maneuver a website and create a quality product is a skill that could come in handy in the future with our increasing attention to technology in the working world.
Another reason is that in making one's own website, I will allow students to explore through trial and error to produce something that he or she can be very proud of. One objective of the activity will be that students teach themselves how to create the website. They will be advised to seek help from other websites or their classmates. Learning on their own with minimal guidance from the teacher will foster inter-personal communication skills, intrinsic motivation, and problem solving.
The last goal is to create a lasting piece of reference that students can look at for years to come without it getting lost in the back of their closet. A quality website can be shared with other students in the class or students in other countries if the topic warrants. So, the long life of a well organized site can be something that students use as their own resource or send to other students as a resource for them.
I might incorporate this technology into my future classroom in upper elementary grades by having students conduct some of their own research that could focus on literacy, math, science, history, etc, and synthesizing the information into a website. This is a very general idea, and depending on the grade level and subject, I could tailor the assignment to meet each student's needs, focusing on a subject that he or she might need to spend a little extra time on.
I would incorporate this technology into my classroom for several reasons. One goal is the use of the technology itself. To be able to maneuver a website and create a quality product is a skill that could come in handy in the future with our increasing attention to technology in the working world.
Another reason is that in making one's own website, I will allow students to explore through trial and error to produce something that he or she can be very proud of. One objective of the activity will be that students teach themselves how to create the website. They will be advised to seek help from other websites or their classmates. Learning on their own with minimal guidance from the teacher will foster inter-personal communication skills, intrinsic motivation, and problem solving.
The last goal is to create a lasting piece of reference that students can look at for years to come without it getting lost in the back of their closet. A quality website can be shared with other students in the class or students in other countries if the topic warrants. So, the long life of a well organized site can be something that students use as their own resource or send to other students as a resource for them.
Time involvement and possible barriers
The time involved in preparing my students for this technology could be short, like a quick workshop to familiarize them with the site, be it Google or Weebly. Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, one of the objectives of the website is to be able to use critical thinking to create a site on one's own, so the exploration will take some time.
Since I will be implementing materials students already have access to, like the Edutopia article suggests, I do not plan to run in to too many barriers. That being said, lack of time in the computer lab to finish the project is one barrier that could happen. I would want students to be able to finish the entire project in the computer lab in case some students do not have access to computers at home because then they would be at an unfair disadvantage.
Since I already know how to make a website through a couple different outlets, it would not take me long to learn the basics but if I were to become more advanced, I could spend hours learning how to do different things, so I would be exploring on my own just as the students are.
I do not think it will be easy to integrate this technology, however I also do not think that it will be the most challenging thing. In my courses at MSU, we have learned that activities should be meaningful to students in some way or another. The website is perfect because it's meaning is to create a resource that students can actually go back to and use or have other students use. I can envision myself using it in many different subjects, it is very versatile.
Since I will be implementing materials students already have access to, like the Edutopia article suggests, I do not plan to run in to too many barriers. That being said, lack of time in the computer lab to finish the project is one barrier that could happen. I would want students to be able to finish the entire project in the computer lab in case some students do not have access to computers at home because then they would be at an unfair disadvantage.
Since I already know how to make a website through a couple different outlets, it would not take me long to learn the basics but if I were to become more advanced, I could spend hours learning how to do different things, so I would be exploring on my own just as the students are.
I do not think it will be easy to integrate this technology, however I also do not think that it will be the most challenging thing. In my courses at MSU, we have learned that activities should be meaningful to students in some way or another. The website is perfect because it's meaning is to create a resource that students can actually go back to and use or have other students use. I can envision myself using it in many different subjects, it is very versatile.
Goal accomplished?
If I assess that my students have created a product that they are likely to go back to or refer other students to, I know that my goal has been reached. Since they have created the website without step by step instructions, I will know that students used some means of communication and problem solving to finish their product. As far as assessing intrinsic motivation, I could observe throughout the project what sort of attitude students have about it. I could administer a pre and post survey about their attitudes in doing a project on the topic they chose. If students appear most intrinsically motivated and excited about learning, I believe that goal will be met.
Is creating a website really worth it?
I believe that the time invested in this technology is one that is well worth it. This argument comes with some justifications. If I were to hand out a worksheet with step by step instructions for the students on how to create a website, they would probably still have a great resource to look back to but the main objective of using the technology will not have been reached, the only thing this would show is that my students can follow directions. The importance of trial and error, communication with other classmates, creativity in coming up with a research question and synthesizing all of these skills is the reason why creating a website will be worth the time exerted. This technology will allow students to be excited about learning and foster intrinsic motivation because the students will be encouraged to have control of what they research and also how it is presented. These are skills that are essential to life on the journey to becoming independent.
I would definitely recommend this technology to other teachers. I think that creating a website is something that can be done in a wide variety of contexts in everything from English Language Learning to art class, and it will create skills, motivation for learning and something students can be proud of in the end.
I would definitely recommend this technology to other teachers. I think that creating a website is something that can be done in a wide variety of contexts in everything from English Language Learning to art class, and it will create skills, motivation for learning and something students can be proud of in the end.
What do you think?
If you have any questions or want to brainstorm some ideas about how to incorporate this technology in your classroom, then please drop me a comment or send me an email to [email protected].
Comments are welcomed, I would love to hear your thoughts on if you think a website in a classroom is a good idea for integration of technology in a classroom.
Comments are welcomed, I would love to hear your thoughts on if you think a website in a classroom is a good idea for integration of technology in a classroom.