The course embedded assignment for EDLD 5366 was to create a website with a group of peers in the class. The website would encompass all of the skills we had been working on in the previous weeks. These include the four design principles of Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity (Williams, 2008), logo design, and animation.
Throughout the course we were introduced and taught to use different Web 2.0 tools to complete the assignments. I started this class thinking that I knew most of the Web 2.0 resources I would need, but quickly came to the realization that I did not know much about graphic design. This is an area that I am weak in. I have never been able to purchase or learn Photoshop. To my surprise, I discovered GIMP, as a decent replacement for Photoshop and it is FREE. Another big thing I learned in the class was utilize YouTube to find tutorials on any piece of software I needed to learn. I am amazed at what is available. This will be directly implemented in my classroom as I lead my students to use YouTube to find their own tutorials on anything they need. I will also try to extend this by allowing my students to create their own tutorials to share with the world.
To start our group website, we utilized Google Docs and other collaboration software to brainstorm our ideas. It was suggested that we create a fake Charter School and design a website based off of that. I suggested that we make it funny like the “Derek Zoolander Center For Children Who Can't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too” (Stiller, 2001). But that idea was vetoed and we decided to make a serious effort at what a good school would look like. There are some funny tidbits hidden in the pages as inside jokes, but that was just for our group members. Each team member picked a page to focus on and we all went to work. I chose to work on the General Education/Teacher page because that is what I currently do and I felt comfortable sharing my knowledge in this area. I listed every website and resource I have used in my classroom and shared the ideas and uses for each piece of technology. I chose this approach because this is how I would want a Teacher page to look. It cuts right to the chase and gives examples of how to implement in the classroom. What it is lacking are resources I am not familiar with. As I stated earlier, I do not know everything and this page probably leaves out some very good resources that I have not come across, especially resources used in ELA and Social Studies. To improve this page, I would need to collaborate with other teachers from other subjects to compile a more complete list. The page should also include a place for people to suggest new or previously unknown resources. This way the page could stay fresh and up-to-date.
I believe the group website was a great project to incorporate everything we had learned in class, collaborate with my peers and create a product that can be shown to others. These are all real-world tasks that can easily be used in any field and should be taught to all students.
References:
Williams, Robin (2008-02-12). Non-Designer's Design Book, The (3rd Edition) (Kindle Location 1050). Pearson Education (US). Kindle Edition.
Stiller, B (Producer & Director). (2001). Zoolander [Film] Los Angeles: Paramount Pictures.
