ict - creating a history department website

ICT – Creating a History Department Website Christian O’Connor, HTAI Conference

October, 2012

1 © Christian O’Connor, HTAI Conference, Oct. 2012

Introduction

You don’t have to be an IT expert to build a subject department website!

Key Questions

• What are the benefits?

• What skills do I need?

• What are the features of a good subject website?

• What tools are required to build website?

• Who will host website?

• What are the basic steps to publishing a Weebly website?

• What content can be included?

What are the benefits?

• Promotes history in a time of uncertainty

• Improves student motivation – ‘awe factor’

• Student work can be displayed digitally

• Forum for collaboration [Blogging, Twitter]

• Great resource for new/student teachers

• Teacher motivation – sense of professional development

• Learning objectives are extended beyond classroom

• Acts as a hub for relevant, subject specific content

• It’s fun!

What skills do I need?

As long as you are comfortable using an internet browser, basic computer skills are all that is

required (saving, editing, opening and closing files).


What are the features of a good subject website?

Appearance

• Good use of colour

• Text that is easily read

• Quality photographs

• Keep simple – avoid clutter

Usability

• Minimal scroll

• Consistent layout

• Prominent, logical navigation

Content

• Visitors are looking for substance

• Should be informative, relevant

• Result – student confidence in your knowledge and competence

Functionality

• Everything should work as expected – hyperlinks, contact forms etc...

• Error-free copy – facts and figures/spelling grammar

What tools are required to build website?

Essential

• Desktop/Laptop with internet access

• Web Browser e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer / Google Chrome/Firefox

Optional

• Digital Camera

• Scanner

• Smart Phone [I-Phone or Android]


• I-pad

Who will host website?

• Wordpress

• Blogspot

• Tumblr

• Weebly

Step by Step Guide to Creating a Free Subject Website Using Weebly

Step 1: Go to Weebly and Sign Up

Type http://education.weebly.com into your internet browser [Firefox or Google Chrome work

best]. Go to ‘Get Started Now’ and type a user name, password and your e-mail address. Accept the

terms. Click ‘Sign Up’.

Step 2: Get Started

First, you will be asked to fill out an information form. You may enter your name, school name and

your country. There will be an option to skip this step if you wish. You will then be presented with

three options (see below). Choose ‘Create a Website’.

Step 3: Site Title

Then you will be asked to create a title for your new site eg. St. Mary’s History Department. This can

be changed later if required. Click ‘Continue’ to progress.

http://wordpress.com/

http://www.blogger.com/

http://www.tumblr.com/

http://www.weebly.com/

http://education.weebly.com/


Step 4: Choose Website Domain

You will be asked to choose a website address. This will be a free subdomain of weebly eg.

http://historymatters365.weebly.com (If you wish to register a new domain, this will involve a cost).

Keep trying until weebly indicates that your proposed address is available. This is the address you

will give to people so that they can find your site. Click ‘Continue’ to progress.

Step 5: Website Builder [Weebly Editor]

You will be presented with a series of tabs on the top of your website builder:

Elements_Design_Pages_Editors_Settings

The first tab ‘Elements’ is where you will find the content you want to enter into your

website. Basic elements include multiple columns, paragraph, picture, paragraph with

picture, title etc... Multimedia elements include Youtube clips, files [word documents, pdf or

powerpoint presentations] and an audio player. Other elements include RSS Feed Reader,

Contact Form, Student Submission Form and much more.

http://historymatters365.weebly.com/


The second tab you will see is ‘Designs’. This is where you will select the layout for your

website. You will be presentated with a wide choice of layouts.The layout you choose can be

changed at any time.


Another tab is ‘Pages’. You can go here to add the different pages for your website such as

Home Page, Contact Page, First Year History etc...

Step 6: Add a Page

Click ‘New Page’. Give your page a title. Click ‘Save’. You can add as many pages as you wish. Pages

can be edited, deleted or moved around at any time. The ‘Pages’ tab can also be used to add a blog

to your website.

Step 7: Add Content

Once a page has been created, you can now begin adding content to that page. I would recommend

starting with basic elements. Remember, almost everything involves drag n’ drop. I suggest the

following to get you started:

Select the Home Page.

Drag n’ drop the title element onto your page. Type your page title eg. Welcome to

the History Department Wesite of St. Mary’s.

Drag n’ drop the column divider onto your page for ease of layout.

Now, try dragging the picture element onto your left column and the paragraph

element onto your right column.

To add a picture simply double click on the picture element and upload from your

files. The picture can be resized by dragging the corners.

Click on the paragraph element on the right column so that you can start adding

text. Here you could enter an informative paragraph about your website. As you

begin typing you should notice that you have access to a quick html editor which you

can use to change the colour, size, font of your text.


Step 8: Publish Site

You now need to preview your site. Click on the orange button ‘Publish’ on the top right of your

tabs.

The following message will appear: ‘Website published’. You will be encouraged to register a

domain. This involves a cost. There is no need. You can remain a subdomain of weebly at no cost.

Simply ignore.

Click on the website address to see your site live: http://stmaryshistorydepartment.weebly.com .

Your site will open on a new web page.

http://stmaryshistorydepartment.weebly.com/


Well done! You have now created a subject department website.

Step 9: Add More Content

You now need to return to your Weebly Editor and add more content to your website. Add a second

page and/or start a blog.

A mixture of time, creativity, trial and error, persistance and a love of history are the key traits you

will need to build a great history department website!

Step 10: Share

No-one should be working in a vacum. Share your subject website with fellow history teachers.


What content can be included?

• Text

• Pictures

• Photo Galleries

• Slideshows

• Video


• Youtube Clips

• Powerpoint Presentations


• Word Documents

• Audio Files

• Hyperlinks


Glossary of Terms

Domain Name - A domain name is a unique name that identifies a website. Each website has a

domain name that serves as an address, which is used to access the website. Whenever you visit a

website, the domain name appears in the address bar of the web browser. Some domain names are

preceded by "www" (which is not part of the domain name), while others omit the "www" prefix. All

domain names have a domain suffix, such as .com, .net, or .org.

Drag and Drop - Using the mouse to grab and move objects such as graphics and blocks of text from one location to another on the computer is known as drag and drop. To drag and drop an object, put your mouse (or graphics pen) pointer on the object then left click and hold the mouse button while dragging the object across the desktop to where you want it to go. To drop it, release the button. At its simplest, drag and drop is how you move icons around on your desktop or how you grab a text block at the top of a page layout and move it to the bottom of the page.

Hyperlink - A hyperlink is a word, phrase, or image that you can click on to jump to a new document

or a new section within the current document. Hyperlinks are found in nearly all Web pages,

allowing users to click their way from page to page. Text hyperlinks are often blue and underlined,

but don't have to be. When you move the cursor over a hyperlink, whether it is text or an image, the

arrow should change to a small hand pointing at the link. When you click it, a new page or place in

the current page will open.

Navigation Bar - A navigation bar is a user interface element within a webpage that contains links to other sections of the website. In most cases, the navigation bar is part of the main website template, which means it is displayed on most, if not all, pages within the website. This means that no matter what page you are viewing, you can use the navigation bar to visit other sections of the website. A website navigation bar is most commonly displayed as horizontal list of links at the top of each page. It may be below the header or logo, but it is always placed before the main content of the page.

Twitter - Twitter is an online service that allows you to share updates with other users by answering one simple question: "What are you doing?". In order to use Twitter, you must first sign up for a free account. Once you have created your account, you can post your own updates and view the updates others have posted. You can search for people to follow or you can let Twitter select random users. Once you have selected a number of users, their most recent posts, or "tweets," will show up on your Twitter home page. Likewise, your own latest tweets will show up on the home pages of people who have decided to follow you. Twitter limits each tweet to 140 characters, which means there is no room for rambling.

Upload - While downloading is receiving a file from another computer, uploading is the exact opposite. It is sending a file from your computer to another system.

Web Host - In order to publish a website online, you need a Web host. The Web host stores all the pages of your website and makes them available to computers connected to the Internet.

For a comprehensive list of terms associated with ICT - http://www.techterms.com

http://www.techterms.com/


Useful Links

History Matters

http://www.historymatters365.com/index.html

An example of a history department website created using Weebly. The site is visually attractive,

subject specific, interactive and jam packed with resources. It contains seperate sections for junior

and senior history. The site includes a Leaving Cert Blog as well as a linked twitter account. The site is

always under construction.

Weebly


Recommended web host. The key feature is a simple to use drag n’ drop website builder.

Weebly Support

http://help.weebly.com/

This link will bring you to the Weebly Support page where the most frequently asked questions are

answered. These include: How do I change my site’s address? How can I invite other people to help

edit my site? The page can also be used to send direct questions to Weebly Support should you have

any problems. Toggle the categories on the left for detailed user instructions on various aspects of

Weebly including blogging and forms.

Weebly Video Tutorials

http://www.youtube.com/user/DivTagTemplate/featured

Excellent video tutorials on all aspects of using Weebly. For example, learn how to create a blog or

add slideshows to your website.

NCTE

http://www.ncte.ie/

National Centre for Technology in Education – The role of the NCTE is to promote and support the

integration of ICT in education. They provide online courses for teachers on Web 2.0 technologies

such as blogging, podcasting and the use of Wikis.

NCTE Advice Sheets

http://www.ncte.ie/ICTAdviceSupport/AdviceSheets/

NCTE advice sheets on a range of areas relevant to ICT in education including scanners, digital

cameras and blogs.

Youtube

http://www.youtube.com

http://www.historymatters365.com/index.html


http://help.weebly.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/DivTagTemplate/featured

http://www.ncte.ie/

http://www.ncte.ie/ICTAdviceSupport/AdviceSheets/

http://www.youtube.com/


Video sharing website jam packed with clips relevant to the history classroom. Try embedding clips

from youtube into your website!

Google Images

http://images.google.com

One stop shop for sourcing images for your website.

Wordpress


Simple to use web host. Very good alternative to Weebly.

Tumblr

https://www.tumblr.com/

Another great alternative to Weebly. Perfect for hosting a subject website.

Contact

E-Mail: [email protected]

Twitter : https://twitter.com/His_Matters

Website contact form : http://www.historymatters365.com/contact.html

http://images.google.com/


https://www.tumblr.com/

mailto:[email protected]

https://twitter.com/His_Matters

https://twitter.com/His_Matters

http://www.historymatters365.com/contact.html

http://www.historymatters365.com/contact.html

ict - creating a history department website

Documents

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