Reflections+-+EDLD+5365

EDLD 5365 Web Design
Web Design is another one of my favorite classes. I teach Web Mastering, this class gave me practical insights and lots of helpful information that I continue to use. One of the first things we were assigned to do was to use the Web-based word processor in Google Docs to create a Web policy that addressed security, legal and ethical issues. This caused me to update my policy to include consequences for infractions (Teacherweb, 2010). This was my first time to use Google Docs even though Google is my favorite search engine. I created several more Google Docs for this course and created a Google web site. I also created a web site using the WYSIWIG editor, Amaya, and now understand the challenges to creating web-ready documents. I have created web site before using FrontPage. Amaya, though not difficult, is not as easy as using FrontPage which is a Microsoft product. This year, because FrontPage was removed from our computers we used Kompozer, which is open source web design software. I also learned about Drupal, but have not used it beyond the lesson due to its learning curve. This open source program will take time to learn. I also wrote a to NewSchoolSpaces.net requesting the installation of collaborative editing tools, the ability to upload HTML and image files (without having to learn FTP), post to blog, upload podcasts, and set up RSS feeds from your school’s site. This was challenging to create. I also learned to create a podcast. I had to create my script for the podcast. I also had to record and re-record, many, many times even though I was not satisfied with my final product. C'est-la-vie. I learned about and successfully used the Content Management Service at NewSchoolSpace to complete the following tasks: upload HTML and image files, post to blog, and create a podcast using Audacity. I also drafted a Content Management Procedure for my classroom, school or district.
 * Self-Assessment**

I looked at the role of the web design team at our school. I learned that the web site team did not exist! According to the authors of Deliver First Class Web Sites, 101 Essential Checklists (Kaiser, 2006), "If you look closely at professional, successful web sites that serve their users well, such as Amazon.com, you’ll find that the details of these sites’ offerings, functionality, audiences, and so on have been considered and addressed, and that the sites work flawlessly" (page 2). Our school Web site is horrible! When I offered to help keep the Web site relevant a few years ago, there were too many strings attached. The person responsible for the site also had to teach a full load of classes and keep up with the digital signage at the football games. This included the animations and the camera for the JumboTron scoreboard. I found that the Salt Lake City's Web Guidelines is a great source for putting together a web design team. I tried to use some of the information as I put together a web site team to update our school site.

I shared the following font principles found in Effective Typography (Kaiser, 2006, pp. 246 - 254) with my students: • To avoid using more than two font families on a page. This will be hard for my students. They love mixing font families... they may start their site with Times New Roman and switch to Verdana and then add some other font, like Jokerman, to the same page. I remind them that older computers may not be able to display fancy fonts so the resulting page will appear in Times New Roman or Arial. • To use highly stylized novelty fonts sparingly, and if you use them at all, to test it on to make sure it you like the mood and look and feel of the resulting display. Student love to go to sites to create funky fonts to add to their sites! I must admit, I love their creations and creative spirits. • That using two contrasting fonts will provide greater visual impact. • To use boldface only for strong emphasis and avoid all-bold and all caps. This is another area that my students need reinforcing; they break these rules constantly. • To avoid using huge type. Another area that I have to work on with my students, but most use fonts that are too small. Most of our sites are created in HTML, so that could be an issue. (Kaiser, 2006, p. 246). My students understand design principles. Font and font faces are areas where they really love to be creative.

"To be literate today involves acquiring new skills, including those of using technology, understanding science, having global awareness, and most important, having the ability to keep learning, which involves gathering, processing, analyzing, synthesizing, and presenting information as well as communicating and collaborating. Free, online tools can play a large role in helping students acquire these skills" (Solomon and Schrum, 2007). According to the Open Source Initiative, "Open source is a development method for software that harnesses the power of distributed peer review and transparency of process. The promise of open source is better quality, higher reliability, more flexibility, lower cost, and an end to predatory vendor lock-in." Open Source is here to stay. The Texas legislature is embracing open source as outlined in Chapter 66. State Adoption and Distribution of Instructional Materials. The State of Texas' Acquiring Instructional Materials for School Year 2010-2011 states that, "The Agency may offer school districts state-developed/state-owned open-source textbooks that are available for downloading from the Internet at no charge to a student and without requiring the purchase of an unlock code, membership, or other access or use charge, except for a charge to order an optional printed copy of all or part of the textbook."

Solomon and Schrum (2007) states that "Web 2.0 signals a transition from isolation to interconnectedness - not just for programmers but, more importantly, for end users." An important aspect of open source is that it is a way for schools and districts to save money on technology and in Texas (and other states), textbooks. Open source resources allow students to be creative in many ways at home and at school, free of charge in most cases. For example, GIMP can be used, free of charge, to create and edit pictures. I like using PhotoFiltre (which is free) for photo editing. OpenOffice is a free alternative to Microsoft for word processing, spreadsheets, and slide shows. There are many free Web design programs, including Amaya, which we were introduced in this week's lesson. Open source allows students to connect and collaborate with students in across the room or in another country. Open source programs empower students to be successful and remove funding barriers.

The implications for podcasting, according to Solomon and Schrum (2006), include student's being able to replay the audio of traditionally delivered information to review or catch up (p. 57). They further state that students can create podcasts as a way of sharing their expertise and opinions, to keep notes, to reflect on the day's lesson, or to keep track of project activities (Solomon and Schrum, 2006, p. 57). I did not get a change to allow students to create podcast; I will try it in the very near future. I also think that administrators can use podcasts for teachers who need to review information from faculty meetings or staff developments. The authors state that, "Anyone with a simple computer, microphone, and access to the Internet can create a podcast and make it available online" (Solomon and Schrum, 2006, p. 57). According to Educause Learning Initiative, "Podcasting allows education to become more portable than ever before. Podcasting cannot replace the classroom, but it provides educators one more way to meet today’s students where they “live”—on the Internet and on audio players (EDI, 2005)." One drawback I foresee is blocks by the District server. Another concern would be abuse by students. Other than that, podcast are a valuable resource for students and teachers.

I tried to create a functioning Web Oversight Committee at our school. There is a need for a Web site committee before we can have an oversight committee. Our school's Web site has been out-of-date for about 2-years. All of the other schools in the district have up-to-date information on their sites; MHS' site became static when the Web Master changed schools. I volunteered to help work on it, but there were too many other things that would be added to an already big job. People who do not work on Web sites do not understand how important it is to keep the information current and how that task alone is exhausting. Because we are a high school, the Web Oversight Committee would be made up representatives from all stakeholders, including parents, students, teachers, administrators, business, and community leaders. To establish such a committee would require commitment from all involved to invest time and talent on the committee. These people will need to be willing to help create, edit, and proof read, and test the site prior to launching any page or changes to existing pages on the now defunct site. The committee would not need to know how to create a Web site, but will have vested interest in making sure that the information on the Web site is accurate. The committee would have to be involved in all aspects of testing the site prior to launching it. This is important because there is nothing worse, to me, that a Web site that has numerous errors. So, to establish the Web Oversight Committee, I would recruit people who do not mind giving (these would be volunteers) time to the project. Each person on the team will have tasks. I would train the person or persons responsible for typing to use a Web design program and also how to read code to troubleshoot. I would recruit English teachers (or any person willing and good with grammar) for editing and proofing. I would need persons to collect content that is appropriate for the site. This would include ads, schedules, information pertinent to parents, students, teachers, and the community. I would offer incentives for students including the fact that designing the school Web site would look good on their resume. We would have to meet weekly prior to launching the site. This would involve testing each aspect of the site, including images, hyperlinks, pages of content, ads, color, and all design issues. We would use checklist to help our designs, content, markup, procedures for cross-browser, cross-platform testing, and discussions on testing labels, functionality, security, accessibility, and usability (Kaiser, 2006, p. 302).

The assignments were challenging but fun. I enjoyed the challenge of creating; my students do this all of the time. I feel that I could have done more to complete the campus web site. The sections I did complete required a lot of time. I tried to work with faculty to update the campus web site. Many did not really have a clue how they could help me. I finally drafted five students for the task. One stuck with it until the end. The others felt it was too hard and gave up. I also had to work closely with the school secretary and one other teacher who is familiar with code. Together, we got some of the rudimentary stuff done to update the site.
 * Learn as a Learner**

I will continue to use some of the technology I learned about. For instance, even though I do no t use Amaya, I am using an open source HTML editor, Kompozer. I used Kompozer to update the campus web site. I will have to continue to work with colleagues and students to get the campus web site where it needs to be. I spoke to the new principal, and he wants to get started on it pretty quickly. Questions for future research: How can I keep the web site from getting stale and static? Who would make good members of the Web Oversight Committee? How can I encourage teachers to create their own web sites and link them on the site?
 * Lifelong Learning Skills**

7 things you should know about…Podcasting. (2005). Educause Learning Initiative. Retrieved June 17, 2010, net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7003.pdf Kaiser, S. (2006). Deliver First Class Web Sites: 101 Essential Checklists.SitePoint Pty. Ltd. Open Source Initiative. Retrieved from http://www.opensource.org/ Salt Lake City School District. Web Guidelines. (2009) Retrieved May 31, 2010, http://www.slc.k12.ut.us/policies/guidelines.html Solomon, G. & Schrum, L. (2007). web 2.0 new tools, new schools. Eugene, OR. International Society for Technology in Education. Teacherweb. (2010) Hope Scott syllabi for secondary. http://www.teacherweb.com/TX/MemorialHighSchool/HopeScott/Syllabi-Secondary2010_11.pdf