As media specialists, we must always look for ways that we can …shall we say… market ourselves and our services; websites/blogs offer us excellent opportunities to showcase our abilities of collecting, organizing ,and presenting information in a cogent and cohesive way.
Many schools are now requiring their instructional faculty to setup and maintain websites. I have noticed that while this endeavor is admirable, it often seems that once the decree has been made that there will be websites, there is little in the way of support or training that is allotted to assisting the teachers in their website challenges.
Because of this, many teachers have issues setting up websites that are well functioning. This is where we step in! I think it would be quite easy to justify the allotting of highly coveted Professional learning Units (PLUs) for in-service seminars on websites, and everybody knows that incentives assure success! Since the best resource in a school is its faculty, it would be an excellent idea to setup an in-service that utilized the expertise of members of the faculty. The media center could host the seminar. I know in our library there are 24 computers at two separate tables and 2 mobile laptop carts that house 24 computers each. There is also a connected computer lab that has 30 computers. I would have different areas set up for different issues. One could be for utilizing different website services. One could be for technical issues and another could be set up for general use. Of course, it would be a good idea to send out an email requesting help and asking for issues that need to be covered. It is also important to note that most centers have LED projection systems that could be of great help in conducting a seminar of this type.
Web sites offer users the ability to communicate information in an easily accessible manner. Teachers can use them to post assignments for absent students, notes from lessons, links to helpful sites, and maintaining communication. Media centers can use them for collection listings, event planners scheduling, notices, communication and as compendiums of general information and paths to it.
There are quite a few website/blogger sites that offer free pages. Just remember that free pages do not come with all of the bells and whistles of the pay for services. However, they are more than enough to make an attractive, user friendly site.
Two of the sites that I have found to be the easiest to use are:
Weebly
I found the video tutorials for Weebly to be excellent.
Blogger
Offered by Google
Quite an impressive address!
Blogger is very intuitive to use.
I'm having trouble posting through my google account, so I'm having to post through another one...how frustrating!
ReplyDeleteYou bring up some excellent point!
First and foremost, the media specialist is pretty much in the marketing/advertising profession because if we don't sell what we've got, our materials and professional skills get passed over. One way for media specialists to market their skills is by offering professional learning for faculty. Particularly in areas where the district does not provide appropriate training.
In our school system, they have all kinds of professional learning classes for Excel, Activeboards, Powerpoint, etc. But there is literally no training on how to build webpages. Not even for teachers who are being told they have to use e-learn!
The teachers aren't aware of the different features that are available unless they take the time to play around with the software or template themselves. And that is very time consuming, let me tell you!
I agree that the media center along with the technology lab/specialist can play an integral role in getting the school and faculty up to speed. After all, we have the technology. Why not use it to its fullest potential? Polling the faculty for topics and troubleshooting issues will ensure that the most important needs are covered. And offering different stations for various issues such as browsing useful websites, designing websites, and troubleshooting will ensure that time is used efficiently.
Great ideas! I can only hope more schools and their faculties come to realize the potential of the technology they already have access to through the diligence of their specialists!
Joyce Reid
I agree! Websites are a great tool for teachers to use, but many do not know how to set them up and incorporate them into their classroom. Conducting a seminar is a great idea, especially if you could use a projector to model the steps of setting up a website. I think that it is easier to learn how to use software and other computer programs if I can see and follow someone else’s direction. Teachers always need PLU’s, so offerings this as professional learning is an extra bonus! I am pretty familiar with Blogger, but have never used Weebly, I will have to check it out….thanks for the suggestion!
ReplyDelete-Rebecca
Blake-
ReplyDeleteYou make some great points as to how websites can be integrated into the classroom. My daughter is now in 7th grade and I really appreciate being able to check in on a teacher's webpage and see what the class has been working with.
I liked your idea of PLUs being offered for in-service training on creating webpages. I think that's a great incentive and I liked how you gave a brief sketch of how you might implement and inservice.
With so much information available to our students, a well-designed mc webpage could really do a lot to help our students become more tech savvy. Implementing one and helping teachers learn to do the same is an excellent "value-added resource" for us to offer as LMS.