Website+Creation

= Examples of Website Creation =

Jimdo
Kristen Hall

Jimdo is a site that allows users to create a basic webpage for free. If the user wants a more professional looking website, he or she can pay an additional fee per month to access advanced features. The main page features an instructional video that covers the basics of webdesign on Jimdo; this makes creating a website far easier than blindly navigating. To begin website design, the user must register for a Jimdo account with a valid email address. After accepting terms of use and entering a temporary password sent via email, the user can begin creating a webpage. The Jimdo user can upload photos and videos, create a guestbook, and post news.

Jimdo would be a great way for teachers to share class information with parents and insure that they are an active part of their children's learning experience. Although this website could be ideal for individual classrooms, the free basic package is a little to simplistic to function as a school's website. This tool is far too advanced for young children to use on their own, but the children could select pictures to upload and the teachers could guide them through the process. Older children could use Jimdo to create their own websites for school projects or merely to express themselves.

@http://www23.jimdo.com/app/1567206/532034954/

Homestead
Jamie McFarland

Homestead is a website creation service where anyone can create their own website. In order to create a website, you must pay a small monthly fee. There is also a 30-day free trial to use in order to test out the service to see if it will be beneficial to you. I used this technology tool to create a website for a school. When you create a webpage with this tool, you choose from a wide selection of website designs. After you choose your design, you can edit each aspect of the website. The tools are easy to use and the instructions make sense.

I think this tool would be best used for teachers to create websites for their classrooms to keep parents up to date on what is going on in the classroom. This option would be great for all teachers and even for schools looking to create a school website that keeps parents informed on the school's activities. However, I think this tool may also be used in the classroom for children to create their own webpages. Older children would be able to easily navigate this tool and use their creativity to make their own websites. Younger children might be able to help the teacher create a website by choosing the design, images, and helping her to write the text. However, younger children will need more supervision with this tool because it may be a little bit complicated for younger students.

[|View my Homestead Webpage]

Google Sites
Katie Whitaker

Google Sites is a great, basic free website creation site. All you need is a Google Account. It can be used to create a very simple website or one that is much more complex. I used this for my EDIT 2000 class and really liked it (and the website I created for that class is linked below). It was fairly easy to use and the help center is written clearly and easy to understand. You can choose from existing templates or create your own, you can create links, embed videos, add pictures and texts and much more. One of my favorite features is gadgets (I really like the slide show and countdowns).

There is a challenge using Google Sites directly with young children; an adult would have to be sitting with them inputting the information while the child directed them for best results. The teacher could manage the page for the class and as a group, they could decide what kinds of things to put on it. For young children the teacher could help direct them to the site and have games and other information pertinent to their class curriculum for them to explore. Middle to later elementary aged children would be better equipped to create their own website. An excellent use of this site would be communicating with parents, teachers, or other professionals.

[|View my Google Site]

Wix
Michelle Pederson

Wix is a site where anyone can create their own website. It is free, after you create an account. This site is very user-friendly, giving you steps to follow to set up your website, and it gives you the freedom to design your website however you want. Some of the commands, like linking one page to another page, can be somewhat confusing (it took me a few tries to get it to work correctly!) but there is a help page that answers all kinds of questions. You can add text boxes that scroll, picture slideshows, words that change colors or fade away, a comments box, links to other websites, and numerous pages on the same site, as well as many other things. Anything you want to do with a website seems possible with Wix.

With children, especially preschoolers, this website creation tool could be rather confusing. You have to drag text boxes and pictures to where you want them, and you have to choose what items should be at the front and which should be at the back. Also, it would be difficult for young children to understand what they are putting on a website, so it is important for teachers or parents to guide the children in order to keep important information safe. For an older child who is familiar with the way websites work, Wix could be a fun tool for school projects or for classroom websites. Children could contribute ideas to create a website full of activity ideas, like in my example: Michelle's Wix Website. (You do not need an account on Wix to view this website). Overall, I think that the best uses of this website creator would be to create a classroom website of activity ideas, a website for teachers to show parents what is going on in the classroom, or a site used for children to show off their projects or papers.