Module 4 Blog

I think our school web site meets most of the criteria for an effective website. We are a K-12 school, and the district website has links to both the elementary and middle/high schools. I like that all the sites follow the same format, so if a parent has a student in elementary and middle/high, they would follow the same links. I also think they fit into the less is more category. They have links to different things, but do not overwhelm those accessing the site. One thing I feel they do not always do is keep the site up to date. I know that reports I have looked for have often been dated, but I also know that with so much going on, it can be difficult to remember those things.

I will be using Weebly to create my website. One of the reasons is that I have a lot on my plate right now, and I am already familiar with the set up based on the design I made for this class. I feel that it is will be more beneficial to me, at this time, to work on learning that tool more, and develop my proficiency with that, as opposed to trying to learn another site. My goal is to learn how to add to the site information for my parents and students, while still making the website easily accessible and user friendly.

I plan to design my site to include resources for students and parents as individual tabs, links that will be useful, and contact info. My site would be arranged categorically, as I feel that is the best way to organize educational information. Based on experience, I would say it will be hierarchical in nature, most likely the hub and spoke format, with a main page with links from there with quick return to home options on succeeding pages. I am not a visual person, so I think sketching out ideas for layout will be how I think about things. As I see options available, I would have to "play" with the formatting, but I would begin with a general drawn layout.