That there website!Kris McDanielCS4

Find this PPT online at:http://bit.ly/CS4Website

Timeline• Tech Committee formed at

2011 CS4 meeting• Initial online meetings in

spring 2012.• Survey to members in March

2012• Work completed over the

summer• Rollout fall 2012 – but ran out

of time at conference• Since then, we’ve just been

perfecting it.

Survey: What do you want in a CS4 website?• Clean & usable/easy to access• Easy to engage in conversation with

colleagues• Links to state DOE newsletters/our

own listservs or newsletters• Public vs. private area• Blog/wiki/message board (17 of 19

responses)• Searchable membership list (16 of

19)• Secure area for resource sharing (14

of 19)• Storage of archived material (12 of

19)

NCSS as umbrella• Since we are an NCSS group,

we looked at what CUFA & NSSSA have as their website.

• Ability to sign in just once and access all NCSS + all CS4.

• Must be an NCSS member to access most areas.

• Must be a CS4 member to access private area.

• http://connected.socialstudies.org/CS4/Home

.

(Issues at this point)• Our membership lists via

NCSS are inaccurate.• Not all non-regular

members continue to pay NCSS + CS4 dues.

• Although list is searchable, it is confusing.

• http://connected.socialstudies.org/CS4/Directory/CS4Directory

Lists• Current State Dept of Ed members:

http://connected.socialstudies.org/CS4/Directory/CurrentListofStateDeptofEdContacts

• Current List of Associate members: http://connected.socialstudies.org/CS4/Directory/CurrentListofAssociateCS4Members

• (Easier to just get there from the main page)

• According to NCSS member rolls, there are no current, there are NO affiliate or organizational members right now

.

About CS4

Discussions versus Announcements• Discussions go to

everyone who is registered as a CS4 member via email. These would be the wiki/message board component.

• Announcements land on the front page only.

Resources

Resources• Is there interest in

another section on resources to share other than in discussions? (ex: Robert’s TOP info – these seem to get kind of buried)

• Any member can upload resources.

Blogs• There is a section on the

site – no one in our community has posted a blog, so nothing is showing up.

• (I need permission from the agency to post blogs. Sigh.)

Other things• There was a request to

have photos of members – that can be done in your profile on the NCSS Connected site.

• Private messages – through your profile. It’s not an “IM”, though.

Issues & Discussions• Directory – still an issue• I need at least one other person to learn

how to update the website. I don’t mind doing it, but it really shouldn’t be just one person.

• Role of Tech Committee. • Who chooses “official” content on the

website? • Who keeps the “official” directory?• It can be confusing to find things. How

could this be made better?• Do you like the digest that comes in your

email? What else?• Online CS4 meetings/webinars for our

teachers – everyone said yeah, sounds great, but hasn’t launched. - survey

•

Homework• Please take your printed ¼ sheet

and make sure everything is correct on there. It would be AWESOME to be able to have this all updated. This includes how long you’ve been with CS4 and if you’ve been a member of the exec board!

• If I do not have a half sheet for you, that means we don’t have you down as a member (for a possible variety of reasons). Please contact me and we’ll get you set up on there as soon as I can.

Your Technology Committee• Kris McDaniel, WI –

kristen.mcdaniel@dpi.wi.gov • Kristie Littlefield, ME -

Kristie.Littlefield@maine.gov • Michelle McLaughlin, NC -

Michelle.McLaughlin@dpi.nc.gov • Brenda Barr, NGS -

brbarr@ngs.org • Cricket Kidwell, CA -

cfkidwell@tcoek12.org