Creating Valuable Class Web Sites FRANCK-BOSTON ©ISTOCKPHOTO.COM/ By Elizabeth (Betsy) A. Baker Copyright © 2008, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education), 1.800.336.5191 (U.S. & Canada) or 1.541.302.3777 (Int’l),
[email protected], www.iste.org. All rights reserved. 18 Learning & Leading with Technology | May 2008 ven those teachers with the best your classroom. Don’t panic. Even for teachers (e.g., Scholastic.com), intentions of taking advantage if you don’t know where to begin, or and some are available to anyone (e.g., Eof the Internet to support learn- consider yourself insufficiently savvy FreeWebs.com). Often the free provid- ing may have obstacles before them. about technology to take on the task, ers include advertisements on your Creating Valuable Class Web Sites In researching the problem, I’ve heard you can do it. Creating a classroom Web site. Other providers are adver- their complaints and understand some Web site is not as difficult as you tisement-free but charge a nominal fee of the difficulties. Here are the typical might think. (e.g., TeacherWeb.com/$29 per year). laments: The methods listed here are incre- The advantage of using Web site pro- mentally more difficult. Thus, if you viders is that you can have a Web site “I know that my students would are tentative about the Internet (for in a few hours or less. The disadvan- benefit from doing more with example, if you are able to turn on tage is that you do not have as many computers—but we don’t have your computer but not much else), options for design and content as you the time.” you will want to use Method One: do with the other two methods.