Creating a Website Reflection

Websites for Primary School Learning

Our next task for ICT's was to create a website using Weebly.  (Not to be confused with the Weebles, as my daughter did.  She suffered quite the disappointment when she realised I was not actually going to make a Weeble.)  

The aforementioned Weebles.
Image Source: Amazon

But I digress.  Now the best thing about ICT's for Learning Design is the fact that no matter how terrifying you find new technologies, you just have to put on your big girl pants and get on with it.  And so it was onto Weebly.  

Turns out I needn't have worried.  Weebly is designed for people like me who shudder at the sight of HTML code.  In that you don't even have to look at any code unless you want to.  Big plus in my book.  The site itself is quite straightforward, and uses a simple drag and drop function for the elements you want to add to your site.  

For my site, I chose to make a class website for a fake Prep class, at M.F.S.S. (Marina's Fake State School).  You can check it out here.  I designed it to be a space where the teacher can upload class announcements and homework sheets for parents to download.  If I was building a website for a real class I would include much more, but for now I think I've got the basics down pat.

So in terms of the pros and cons in a classroom situation:

PROS: 

• Content is decided by one person and cannot be edited by anyone else.  This means they can control what goes on the site, and the potential for misuse faced in wikis does not apply.
• Provides an clear and organised space to display information.  Websites (if done correctly) are attractive and easy to navigate. 
• Best for displaying information for others to access and are accessible 24 hours a day.
• An effective method for students to display their work, a website can be used as an online portfolio of sorts.

CONS:

• As they are controlled by one person, they lack collaboration which has been shown to increase learning outcomes. 
• While they are an effective method of presenting information, they do not support others to contribute, extend upon, correct or suggest new knowledge.
• Most websites can be accessed by anyone, raising privacy and intellectual property issues.

I think that websites certainly have a time and place in education, but probably aren't the most effective method.  I would argue that they are best kept as a basic way to communicate class information to students and parents, and while they can be used by students to organise their work, a blog would be a better option for this.  Wikis are definitely more effective than websites in terms of collaborative learning, which seems to be the best way to facilitate online education.