Web Authoring
There are so many ways to create a web page these days. Basically there are three methods:
1) Web Site Providers
Use one of these if you need server space and don’t mind having advertisements on your site:
* FreeWebs (examples: http://members1.freewebs.com/page.jsp?page=exampleSites)
* Geocities by Yahoo (examples: http://pages.yahoo.com/)
* Google Page Creator (You’ll need a Google account for this one.)
* Homepage Builder by Scholastic (tutorial: http://teacher.scholastic.com/chb_tutorial/tutorial.htm)
* Tripod by LYCOS (tips: http://www.tripod.lycos.com/about/)
* Weebly (two examples are on this linked page)
* See many more examples at Shambles.net.
2) Blogs, Groups and Wikis
Use one of these if you like a professional-looking template model that would allow multiple users to post to the site. I’ve created this web site using a blog. This is great for folks who don’t have server space and would like the option of having students post their own work. There may be advertisements on the site. View the commoncraft videos on blogs and wikis for more information.
* Edublogs (video tutorials: http://edublogs.org/videos/ ; Introductory Manual)
Marlboro School’s web site was created with WordPress.
Two of Orchard School’s fourth grade classes are communicating with each other this summer through a blog.
Some Chamberlin School students wrote stories for their blog after reading Spitfire by Kate Messner. Classmates commented on the stories as the writers went through several drafts.
There is a fabulous blog, created by Pamela Burke, the librarian at Marlboro School, for this year’s DCF books. It’s here. Last year’s blog was at Blogspot.com (now Blogger) and it can be seen here.
* Blogger (tour: http://www.blogger.com/tour_start.g)
* Google Groups (tour: http://groups.google.com/intl/en/googlegroups/tour3/index.html)
* Yahoo Groups (examples: http://dir.groups.yahoo.com/dir/Schools___Education/K-12/Elementary_Schools)
* Wikispaces (tour: http://www.wikispaces.com/site/tour#introduction)
* PBWiki (tour: http://pbwiki.com/content/tour)
WebTools4U2Use is a fabulous wiki created specifically for school library media specialists, but it would be useful for all educators. It’s purpose is to provide information about Web 2.0 tools. It also gives examples of how these tools may be used with teachers and students. There are even downloadable flyers you help promote this site to your teaching colleagues.
3) Creating Your Own
Use one of these if you want more control of your web site and you have server space to upload and store your site:
* KompoZer (”KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding.”)
KompoZer User Guide by Charles Cooke
How to Design and Publish a Site with KompoZer by Christopher Heng, thesitewizard.com
* FrontPage
Here are a few good tutorials for FrontPage 2003:
FrontPage 2003 from Kent Schools in WA
Web by Design from Indiana University
Creating a Webpage and Website Using Microsoft FrontPage 2003
Designing an Autobiographical Webpage Using FrontPage 2003
Some Free Web Images and Backgrounds Sites
Summer 2008 Web Publishing Camp for 4th – 6th Graders (Directions created using Jing.)
* Dreamweaver
Here are a few good tutorials for Dreamweaver:
Dreamweaver Basics and Tutorial
Learning Dreamweaver 4
Getting Started with Dreamweaver
Using Dreamweaver to Create Webpages
* SchoolFusion – The South Burlington School District will be using this for its web site beginning next year. We will be migrating present web pages during the next school year.
Evaluating Web Pages
Here are some sites for evaluating web pages:
Kathy Schrock’s Guide for Educators – Critical Evaluation Information
Rubric for Classroom Web Pages (from University of Wisconsin)
Evaluating Web Pages (from UC Berkeley)
Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools (from Cornell University)
CyberGuides for Web Evaluation
