When I first read this assignment, I immediately said to myself, I should use my high school Alma Mater of Emerson High School. But upon further debate with myself, I decided that I should broaden my horizons and choose a different school district. Using the wiki website, I decided stayed within the 'GH' District Factor Group that Emerson also belonged to and decided to choose a school district that I had never heard of. That is how I came to decide to explore the Jefferson Township Public Schools website (it didn't hurt that the link to their website was right in the middle of my screen lol).
I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of detail to their webpage which seemed to have been recently upgraded (according to the District News its happened around 11/29/10). The front page of their website had all of the "trimmings" of a professional website and at the heart of this page was their district's "Philosophy of Education." On top they had a banner with your typical "school spirit" graphics, but directly underneath the banner was a scrolling ticker with updated news. For example, "Tuesday, February 1...All Jefferson Township Schools will be closed today. All afterschool and evening activities are canceled." was scrolling at the time I looked at the site. The site seemed very accessible to the public as it had tabs on the top of Schools, Parent's and Community, District Offices, Board of Ed., & Central Office and Superintendent, all of which had drag down sub categories with links. Furthermore, there are even quick links on the left side of the page with links to relevant information that parents would like quick access to (Teacher Web Sites, Lunch Menus, Athletics etc.). Of course the front page also has upcoming District Events as well as links to those events.
As per the assignment, I decided to delve into the teacher webpages of the district and found my way to 3 different math teachers webpages. All 3 of them had very similar webpages though it did seem that each teacher was able to have free reign in the design of webpage. Yet despite the aesthetic differences of Mrs. Millano's, Mr. Petric's, and Mr. Stager's websites, all of the sites conveyed the necessary information (such as contact information, upcoming homework assignments, classroom etiquette, etc.)
After spending over an hour looking at many of the different pages and links of the district, I can say with confidence that this website easily meets James McKenzie's "Four Goals for a School Website". However, my major concern with this is the relevancy of the article. As I stated in my previous blog, technology is changing exponentially and are the expectations of a school website 13 years ago the same as they should be today. That's a discussion for another time. SCHAMA SIGNING OFF.
Though the article is 13 years old, it actually hits at the center of what makes a website useful and effective. One point Dr. McKenzie makes is that the website should be interactive - connect to content of students. The website should be an extension of the teacher and classroom, drawing students and even parents to check it out on a regular basis. Class blogs, webquests, custom search engines, etc. can be linked to the page so students can launch into assignments and projects.
ReplyDeleteIt’s nice to see that you decided to go with a school district that you didn’t know even thought it was in the same District Factor Group. I think when we make choices we tend to lean towards the safe familiar choices. I am going to keep this in the back of my mind throughout further evaluations that we all have to do.
ReplyDeleteI think you raise a valid point in your brief discussion of the rate at which technology changes. This is a contention that I myself have thought about a lot as an educator and consumer of technology The speed at which things change in this globalized society is intimidating to someone who is trying to remain up to date and literate in the latest technologies. One of the things I've realized about my own learning of technology is that the more practice I have with current technology the better I am at learning to utlize and embrace the latest innovations. For me, trial and error with technology has really served as a jumping off point from which I have learned to feel more comfortable and willing to try something that is new to me.
ReplyDeleteI thought to look at my H.S. also, but when I visited the website I thought it could have used some work. I guess the immediate thought for assignments like this is to just research your own High School, but as I am going through this class, and my other classes at MSU, I am finding that it is not always the best choice. I have been enjoying looking at other schools and comparing them to the articles we have read - it is refreshing to know there are some schools that are working hard to keep up with the technology curve.
ReplyDeleteI think using your old High School or district is a great starting point for comparing school web pages. For my blog post I talked about the school district I attended. Even if everyone in the class did the same thing, when we come to reply to the blog posts we can get a much better idea on how these websites vary.
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