Elementary Classroom Web Sites
I definitely agree that “classroom web sites can provide children with literacy opportunities.” Having links on the website can allow children to play games, collaborate with other kids from across the country and the world, and even look at books that are recommended for children specific ages. One thing I found somewhat surprising was that governments around the world are “supporting their citizens so they can compete in the information-based global economy.” While it might offer positive benefits, I think it might create very negative feelings. If students are competing against one another in a game or a project online, good sportsmanship may not be exhibited if a kid loses or wins for that matter. Another good point that was made in the article was about the literacies of different cultures and how no two students learn the same. That could also be very bad when competing online against other students, especially if one student is at a “disadvantage” because of different learning abilities and reading levels. The new literacies part of the article was very informative; I think teachers and administrators could learn a lot about the benefits of using these new literacies in the classroom, especially on a school website and how students from the school, the district, and beyond could learn and improve their literacy skills from what is on the school website.
Making the Most of Your Class Website
I think class websites are very useful tools. It gives teachers a chance to let families and community members an idea of what is going on in the classroom, upcoming events, homework assignments, etc. Since most teachers have access to a computer, whether in their classroom or somewhere else in the school, it almost makes sense for teachers to set up a classroom page. Most school districts have links that take you to a place to search for faculty and staff, and most of them have set up a classroom page. Some keep it simple and only list a few things on their page while some go all out, have links to authors, have slideshows of things going on in their classroom, etc. Because most schools have places on their websites where teachers can set up a classroom page, it’s kind of unnecessary to make a separate website. If teachers want to go all out and the school website doesn’t allow it, then it would be fun to get acclimated to and set up a new website. I think that classroom websites can be very beneficial for everyone: teachers, students as well as family and even community members to support the school. It helps students get more out of their learning and it allows teachers to use technology to reach out beyond the classroom.
Using Websites Wisely
I definitely agree that teachers need to make clear what kinds of websites their students should be on when researching a topic. When I was student teaching, one of the activities in my unit was a research project on recent geological disasters, and it was important that I not only gave the students a guideline on how to do the project, but also gave some websites such as CNN and other news websites that students could research the geological disasters. It was important to give the students an idea of where to go so they could get as much information as they could, and they weren’t just searching on random websites that wouldn’t help them. I really liked that this article gave some examples of informational websites teachers can give to their students as well as some of the information that’s on these websites. I also liked how the websites featured in this article had an age range, making it more appropriate for viewing for specific reasons. The Science Website for Kids site seemed like a fun way to learn about science through different games mainly focused on science. I think students would find the subject much more interesting after checking a website like that out. I definitely agree with the very last quote of the article: “By concentrating on key learning goals and performance-based skills, teachers can design tasks and supports that make students’ online work meaningful and worthwhile.”
School-Based Websites
This article started off like the “Making the Most of Your Class Website” article by stating the benefits of having a website through the school. I definitely agree that they “may help foster a deeper understanding and commitment from the community at large, developing communication across classes, grade levels, cultures and even continents.” Since diversity is quite common in classrooms nowadays, students who are from different countries or have family in other parts of the world can tell their family members about the teacher’s or school’s website. The family members can then check out the website and get an idea of what is going on in the classroom, school, and community. I also agree that when planning a class website, teachers need to keep in mind the audience targeted as well as the content on the site. I looked at the table which showed specific features usually seen on school websites, and I thought about some of the school websites I’ve seen and some don’t even have everything on that list. I think the one thing that a lot of school websites lack is teacher/staff biographies/email addresses. I would understand not having biographies on the teachers, but teachers should at least list their email addresses somewhere on the website. If a parent needs to get ahold of a teacher during the day, usually an email is the way to go. As I read through the article further, I noticed that after the study, most people within a school district didn’t know what should be on a school website or didn’t have a lot of the recommended features. I think that it might be because people who aren’t technologically savvy might be afraid of messing something up, or it could be because school officials don’t want to divulge so much information. Whatever the case may be, I think having more information about the school on the website can be beneficial for people who want to learn more about the schools or the district, find teacher websites, and just be very informational to whoever comes across the website.
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