Today, I’ve decided to pick a recent technology and discuss how I feel about it for personal and educational use. No research. Just thoughts.
I have been working with Google sites some recently. Google Sites provides a means for the layman (or laywoman) to create a decent website for free with little to no experience in Web design whatsoever. That alone, is still amazing to me. It’s amazing to me because 1) It’s free, 2) It’s incredibly easy to setup and use, and 3) I can’t help but see how much easier and robust this Web design tool is than the tools I was using 10 years ago.
You see, I started my Web design with a handy website called Geocities. Do you remember that one? Yahoo made it defunct when it bought it out a few years back, but that didn’t stop people from archiving thousands of sites prior to its demise. Back when it was the hot place to create a site, I created a basic website with the necessary page counter, slot machine widget, and guestbook. Whatever happened to the guestbook!? Did people stop caring about who came to their sites or what? Of course I’m being facetious. I think 50% of people spent more time with an “Under Construction” image on their pages than actual content. The Web has certainly evolved.
Back to Google sites. If you have a Gmail account, you’re almost there with having your own website. Visit http://sites.google.com to get started. It’s really so simple, your grandma could do it. The other great thing about Google’s resources is that Google typically does a great job educating users step by step in using their products. If you want a basic, professional website, Google sites is a great option. It can easily be used to create eportfolios or quick learning units for your students using images, videos, and text.
Have you used Google sites? Have you created anything with it for educational purposes? Feel free to share in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment