Workshop:
The Acceptable Teacher Website
NEIRAD enilno edition
“I really enjoy using Mr. Marrash’s website because it has daily notes, homework, and answers to the homework. Whenever I am sick I am able to check the homework without any problem,” senior Graham Hotchkiss said.
Hotchkiss is one of the fortunate few to find a website that serves his academic needs. While websites are a district requirement, they are not necessarily met with student satisfaction.
Each year different expectations are outlined by administration. One requirement is that every teacher has to have an operational website. District rules state that a teacher’s website must have five elements: a class syllabus; teacher schedule; a teacher’s course schedule; office hours and rules/expectations for each class.
A Neirad investigation in November of 2009 found eight teachers did not have a website. Those eight teaches now have working websites. However, those eight teachers - along with 23 others – still do not have sites that meet district requirements.
According to the faculty list there are 78 teachers who teach math, science, history, foreign language and English. Going through each website Neirad Enilno found the websites have a wide range of quality. Thirty-one teachers are missing one or more of the required five elements on their website. We found 30 teachers who have websites meet the five district requirements but are hard to navigate. The remaining 17 teachers have websites that are well organized and easy to navigate.
Biology teacher Sean Otterspoor’s web presence is one of the best according to student and faculty. He has a lot of helpful information including notes, handouts, worksheets, supplemental material including study guides and review quizzes and extra work including optional extra assignments and a function that will text assignments to students and parents. His role as the DHS webmaster gives him an edge due to his facility with technology.
Mr. Otterspoor said many teachers opt to use blogs in lieu of a website. The blogs are easier to use because the teacher does not have to code his own website. Instead of using Dreamweaver, for example, to create the Web page the teacher opts for a more use- friendly option such as Wordpress where the information can be easily typed in and posted with a simple click function. “Even though teachers don’t have to learn how to use a blog they are sometimes easier to use and more user friendly than actual websites,” Mr Otterspoor said.
One thing Mr. Otterspoor has noticed is the manner in which students interact with websites. The feedback he has gotten has led to one solution: simplifying websites is better and easier for students to navigate and explore. He has received positive feedback. He said having the most complex website is not always the best. Having the best website is a balance between information and complexity.
Spanish teacher Juan Arango is another teacher with a strong Web presence. At the top of his website are categories that direct students to homework, quizzes, games, Spanish recipes, and his class syllabus.
Mr. Arango has a different view on how a website should be designed. Mr. Arango believes the site should aim to help students make interdisciplinary connections. He thinks a website should provide options to go more in depth in the subject. Mr. Arango accomplishes this goal by putting up everything from a Spanish entrée dish to Nobel Prize winning literature.
“Technology allows teachers to make instruction more challenging and fun as well as practical” Mr. Arango said.
Mr. Arango believes technology should be a resource to help teachers teach and students learn. Putting everything up on a website has another perk; it saves a lot of paper and money. Mr. Arango he has been able to go virtually paperless through technology.
Another advantage that Mr. Arango has on other teacher sites is his portfolios. He makes electronic portfolios which allow users to accurately track and measure progress during their four years of high school. “These portfolios make learning more personal and meaningful,” Mr. Arango said.
Now to the sites that lack Mr Arango’s technical savvy. One major problem is a lack of organization. Many of these less effective websites direct the user to a main page showing all the homework for the year. This makes it a challenge for the student to sort through old assignments from the beginning of the year to ferret out the current work. The websites also have random links to miscellaneous games instead of a syllabus and class expectations.
Conversely, the user-friendly sites do not make the student work to figure out where to find information. All of the good websites greet the viewer with a main page with links to their schedule, the daily assignments, and useful links.
Another name that appears at the top of the list of effective sites is math teacher Laura Young. Her website has a main page that clearly navigates the user to her different classes. Each link on the left side is clearly labeled with simple navigation. One of the links directs her students to her schedule showing free periods: another district requirement. When the viewer clicks on each class they will find the syllabus containing class expectations.
They will also find a calendar showing various assignments. One small but notable feature is the format of the calendar. Ms. Young has the calendar arranged in chronological order starting with the newest month which is convenient for the students not to have to scroll all the way down to check homework. “I try to update my website twice a week with test and quizzes, upcoming assignments, review keys, and homework solutions” Miss Young said.
The following is a graph showing the specific number of teachers who have bad, ok and good websites in each of the subjects:
With the new technological world, teacher websites are becoming more and more important. Each teacher should meet district requirements. Even the slightest reorganization will help the students more easily navigate the website.
Senior Andrew Mauboussin has seen everything from an amazing website to a horrible one. Mauboussin has come up with five suggestions for teachers to help improve their Web presence.
Top Five Things to Avoid On a Teacher Website:1.One page of information where everything is piled on that page
2. One calendar that has all 12 months
3. Many useless links
4. Maze of information that is hard to navigate
5. Idle page that is not updated
