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7 - Developing learning websites for student use - design and tools

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2018

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Summary

Introduction

This chapter focuses on teachers and teacher librarians as the creators of customized learning websites in school. There is a plethora of information on the web relating to the subjects being taught in schools. There are also examples of learning websites designed by other teachers and teacher librarians on the web. Although these sources can be useful, they often have to be adapted and are not designed to meet the needs of a particular group of students in a particular school. The advent of easy to use tools now makes it much easier and quicker for teachers and teacher librarians to design their own learning websites, which can be designed to be much more relevant and personal to students. For example, a learning website designed by a geography teacher and a teacher librarian which states that it was designed for year 8 students in School X studying climate change, and which includes the opportunity for student input, is much more likely to be seen as valuable by students than a general website.

The aim of this chapter is to provide teachers and teacher librarians with examples of tools that can be used to design learning websites of a particular kind, providing students with a package that contains elements of what they are studying, the assignment to be completed, mediated resources related to the topic being studied, and information literacy advice on learning from these resources and about completing the assignment. This approach is different from one that provides students merely with a list of websites related to their topic. The focus of this chapter is on designing such sites and learning to use a range of tools. Chapter 9 will focus on the content of learning websites and discuss examples of content.

This chapter provides this author's definition of learning websites and the benefits derived from developing such sites, evaluates approaches to website design, examines a range of tools for developing learning websites, and offers an example of an in-service session on developing learning websites.

Learning websites

This author defines learning websites as websites developed in a particular school, for a particular group of students who are studying a curricular topic. They may also be termed local learning websites as, although they may be adapted for use in other schools, they are focused on the needs of a local group of students.

Type
Chapter
Information
Improving Students' Web Use and Information Literacy
A Guide for Teachers and Teacher Librarians
, pp. 91 - 108
Publisher: Facet
Print publication year: 2010

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