1. Educator Websites Friend or Foe? Presented by Jeff Gullion Instructor, Information Technology Des Moines Area Community College IBEA Conference October 15, 2005

2. The Good The Bad The Ugly The Good –What you like and what most people like about websites The Bad –What you dislike and what most people dislike about websites The Ugly –Oh my gosh! Somebody really paid money for that?

3. What do you like about websites? “The Good”

4. What do you dislike about websites? “The Bad”

5. The Ugly Learn from the worst! –http://www.webpagesthatsuck.comhttp://www.webpagesthatsuck.com –Books –Articles –Web sites

6. Website Design Guidelines Websites are about communication Websites are about content! Depends upon how you intend to use it. Efficiency and Usefulness are the key! –Usability –User Friendly –Useful Content

7. Website Design Guidelines Design is about personal preferences What one person doesn’t like the next one will. –You can’t please them all, just try not to irritate most of them! Style your site for how YOU will use it Experience is your best bet! Use and do what you like!

8. Content Suggestions Syllabus Assignments Reading suggestions Class related materials Time sensitive material Resource Links –Related material or websites –Other instructor websites –Other courses or related courses –Other schools

9. ‘Cool’ Tools Instant Messaging or IM Blogs Message Boards Polls –Class related –Humor –Current eventshttp://www.aol.comhttp://www.aol.com Quizzes –Daily comprehension checks Practice questions

10. ‘Cool’ Bells & Whistles Videos –Mouse?Mouse –Keep them small and limited –Give your visitor a choice! Audios –Are they relevant and small? –http://jeffglover.com/ss/sucky02.phphttp://jeffglover.com/ss/sucky02.php –Give your visitor a choice!!

11. Do’s and Don’ts Match the Content to your class/course! Use it! Use it in your class! Use it yourself!

12. Do’s and Don’ts Don’t ignore it and hope it goes away! Don’t make fun of it. Don’t make it bigger than you can keep updated Don’t make it something you can’t use.

13. Do’s and Don’ts Have a purpose and a goal for your website Be able to discuss what it will do –for you as an instructor –for your students –for your class or course

14. Most Annoying Issues Msspellings and Typose Too wide for standard monitor “horizontal scroll” Poor legibility –Hard to read font –Poor contrast between font and background Busy Background –http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/9448/b ack.htmhttp://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/9448/b ack.htm

15. Most Annoying Issues Home page without content –http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion/babb/http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion/babb/ –Home page / Splash Page Advertising –Ads –Pop Ups –Pop Unders Broken Links

16. Most Annoying Issues If the page isn’t finished don’t display it!!! –http://www.cs.utah.edu/~gk/atwork/http://www.cs.utah.edu/~gk/atwork/ –Do you really want to tell people you haven’t done this yet? Oh, my house isn’t clean yet! –Google 154 million pages with “under construction”

17. Most Annoying Issues Any blinking icons! Hit counters –Bad for small sites “Doesn’t anybody come here” –Too easy to ‘set’ Distractions from your website’s purpose!

18. Print Media vs. Web Media Print media is different from Web Media Text presentation on a web page –is broken up by headings –is shaped into lots of punchy, single idea paragraphs –puts key phrases in bold face –bullets key points –avoids jargon and rhetoric –is straightforward, and –is short. Paper – Eye’s focus on upper left corner Monitor – Eye’s focus on center of screen

19. Best Practices – Summary Know what your website will do for you! Know what you are willing to do for your website Make the content useful to you and your students Keep it simple and focused Grow it as your usage grows

20. Best Practices – Summary Learn the tools as you need or want them Use the website! Believe in what it will do for your and your students! Have fun! Go to class! Learn new things from your students! Use the Internet where appropriate.

21. Educator Websites Your Friend! Presented by Jeff Gullion Instructor, Information Technology Des Moines Area Community College IBEA Conference October 15, 2005 jhgullion@dmacc.edu