From wikis and onto websites and integrating them into the classroom.

Group 1 tools online spaces - Websites

Using websites in an educational context.
As I've discovered Wikispaces area  great way to encourage collaborative learning

However next I I investigated creating a website to familiarise myself with this type of online space. I found that this was a lot easier than I imagined it would be.
I used Weebly to create my website, and this sort of interface provides templates and tutorials to make it much easier to design a website.
My initial view of websites are to see them as a less interactive online space, one that suggests a use as some sort of online cork board such as a notice board to display classroom information. Similarly to this websites seem to suggest themselves as a way for teachers to stay organised and manage classroom information. To this end they can be used for things such as

• Announcements
• Class Calendar
• Homework Assignments
• Supply Lists
• Pictures
• Post Student Work
• Parent Involvement/Volunteer Opportunities
• Classroom Rules and Policies
• Links
• Your Bio and Contact Info

(Klingensmith, n.d.)


 As a learning manager the value of websites for me would be the ease of being able to connect to the learning community and the parents and other stakeholders involved in my classroom. With the proper due care given to using photographs of students, a website becomes a colourful place to display an up to date record of classroom activities.

Webquests may be a way to use websites in a more interactive fashion. Through using a webquest students have access to a website where a series of tasks are set, with provided resources. These provided resources may be other websites, or digital tools or spaces.
The use of websites in the way of webquests provides scaffolding to students through their design.
To use technology effectively scaffolding needs to be thought of by the learning manager. The technology itself is not enough to provide to the students, in some ways learning about the topics covered in a webquest could be done without the online environment through searching in books and with search engines, however the use of a specifically designed webpage that includes appropriate links allows the learning focus to be on opportunities to practise skills and search for information in a structured way to enhance learning.
Here is an example of a webquest developed for younger learners.

Similarly to the webquest, webpages can be designed to be classroom spaces for publication through the use of multiple pages. One way I would use a website like this in a classroom space could be through the use of the site as a publishing tool for class work. A writing task such as producing a school online news paper could easily utilise a website in this way, as in this example "Yesterday's News". This use of a website produces a tangible link to real life experiences.

Although I think websites are a less interactive than other online spaces, as a learning manager I am convinced of the usefulness of websites within the classroom