Web Sites and Teaching

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Web Sites and Teaching

• Requests for this talk
• Web site construction Nick Jason
• PowerPoint Keenan
• MovieMaker - Jason

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Web Site Construction

• What can we use web sites for in the classroom?
• What tools should we use to build them?
• How to build a web site
• You will build a web site

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Web Quest

• Student online research project
• Guided but open ended, activity based
• WebQuest is a template, reminding you of possible
  content

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Digital Modules

• Self-directed learning module
• Specific instructional objectives and learning
  outcomes
• Associated online or paper activities
• Includes assessment

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Digital Module examples

• Go to
• http//www.cust.educ.ubc.ca/programs/tsed/dpp/
• To see digital modules built last fall by the
  Tech and IT cohort
• Check for usability, engaging pages, range of
  material

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Digital Module Advantages

• Web of information not linear
• Can look outward - Links to other sites
• Interactive possibilities
• Animation and Graphics

• Time to build?

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More Elementary Uses

• Course materials assumes access in class
  computer lab
• What works in the lab?
• Provide reference material for student access
  assumes access at home
• E.g. Course Outline, bibliographies

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How about class web sites?

• Pictures, (online) finished student work, student
  group work
• Avoid need to update all the time
• Cant make access public usually if site contains
  personal info

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Whats in your typical Web Site?

• Some graphics, some text
• Multiple pages linked together with navigation
  buttons - links

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Typical Structure
Home Cartoon Poems Writing
Home Cartoon Poems Writing
Home Cartoon Poems Writing
Home Cartoon Poems Writing
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Tools for building Web Sites

• Lots Netscape Composer, Microsoft FrontPage,
  Adobe PageMill, Macromedia Dreamweaver
• Check this out go to Google and type in
• Web site construction tools
• Find http//www.schoolnet.ca/grassroots/e/resource
  s/toolkit/build2/tools.asp

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How about HTML itself?

• Simple, Fun
• Kids learn it quickly
• Requires only the Notepad for editing do it
  anywhere
• Thousands of people can do it

Reality itll take you some time to learn it
from scratch
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Not ready for HTML Coding? Try using MS Word

• Steps for doing it
• Create separate MS Word documents - content
• Save as Web Pages separate directory!
• Create links in all pages
• Test your Web!
• Move all your pages to your web space

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Saving as web pages

• Open all word documents at once
• Create a new directory for your web say myweb
• Save the main one as a Web page within myweb.
  Call it index.htm
• Save the others in the same directory.

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Create links to pages - 1

• In one of the pages create a list of the page
  names youll convert them to links to the other
  pages
• For each page name
• highlight it
• Choose Hyperlink from the insert menu
• Choose browse for file from the dialog
• Select the correct file you are linking to
• Include a page linking to itself
• Save the file

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Create links to pages 2

• Highlight the entire list of names the links
• Copy it
• Paste it into each of the other documents
• Add links to web pages outside your little web
• Save each document

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Test Your Web

• Open a browser
• Choose Open from the file menu
• Select the file option
• Navigate to directory with all your web pages
  myweb
• Choose index.htm

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Move all your pages to your web space

• Use an FTP program (or other mechanism)
• Copy ALL of the contents of the web directory
  notice that it has directories underneath it

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Challenge Use MSWord to create a simple web

• A home page with your name, address
• A page with a picture/graphic on it try clipart
  inside MS Word
• A page with some of your writing on it

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Pros and Cons

• Pros
• Easy, familiar tool, can use backgrounds, tables,
  graphics, can even use frames
• Editing within MSWord of html document
• Cons
• Pages are simple looking, fancy buttons hard to
  use, page styles harder to manipulate at once
• No access to cool stuff
• Pages are bulky for transmission, download