Transcript Presentation - fudgelink.com

Faculty Websites
a presentation by Dr. Tamara Fudge  August 2008
Invitation
Kaplan University Faculty
Personal web pages
Now
World Wide Web
Invitation
• Value added to class information
• Personal connection with students,
other faculty
Venue: Geocities
• If you have a
Yahoo! e-mail
address, you’re
already signed up
for free web service
Geocities: 3 ways to the web
PageWizard
PageBuilder
Using Microsoft
Word
Geocities: Control Panel
PageWizard
Geocities: PageBuilder
Webpages from Word
Geocities: upload & manage
Geocities: upload & manage
Geocities: wrapping up
Pros
•
•
•
•
•
Easy and free with Yahoo! e-mail signup
Use templates or change Word docs into web pages
Can easily download pdfs, PPTs, other file types
Can edit with HTML
Add-ins available
Cons
•
•
•
•
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Limited hourly use for downloading
Too much traffic = shut down for an hour
Limited disk space (15 MB)
Long URL (ex: http://geocities.com/fudgelink/tfudge.html)
Ads: don’t choose Education as your “area”
Venue: GoogleSites
• Sign up for gmail
free at google.com
and you have
access to free web
hosting
GoogleSites
GoogleSites: design
Plus
choices
in fonts
and
layout
GoogleSites
GoogleSites
GoogleSites: wrapping up
Pros
• Convenient, familiar-style toolbar for design features,
easy to switch design and layout
• Can create pages here to use on your own domain
• Can make site open to the public or open by invitation
• No ads
• 100 MB storage
Cons
• Long URL (ex: http://sites.google.com/site/fudgelink/tfudge)
• Changes in design are for all pages
• Layout is limited
Other free web hosts
• Tripod
• Specialty hosts such
as RootsWeb
• http://www.freewebhosts.com/ …
reviews of web hosts
Using an XHTML template
A readymade
template
and colorcoded
instructions
are
available to
you:
The template
example
page #1
example
page #2
WYSIWYG Software
• Adobe® Dreamweaver CS3
• Microsoft® Expression® Web 2
• Pablo Software Systems
WYSIWYG Web Builder5
Design considerations
• Include headers so your organization is clear
• Light and dark contrast work best with large
blocks of text for readability (light
background, dark text)
• Fancy fonts may not show on all browsers –
keep it simple – read about font families
• Color is important: check for accessibility
• Proofread for organizational/design errors or
inconsistencies
Finding a Host
Expect $5-8/month
Top Ten
Look for
Hosting
• Tech support 24/7
Sites
• Amount of data transfer allowed
• Secure and reliable backup of your files
Number of domain names, cost
• Guaranteed uptime
• Goodies such as e-mail accounts, FTP, forums
and chat, streaming audio and video support,
submission to search engines, more
Paid Web hosting: wrapping up
Pros
•
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•
•
•
•
Your own domain name (shorter URL)
Large variety of file types can be uploaded
No ads
Can use software such as Dreamweaver to create files
Can prevent search engine listings
Many more design options
Cons
• Cost
• Some HTML knowledge is recommended
• Design and execution likely will take more time
Content Ideas
Identifying information
•
•
•
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Name and title (or preferred moniker)
School, Department
Course(s) taught
A brief resume or link to another page is possible
Contact information
• E-mail address
• AIM
• Best modes/hours of contact
Content Ideas
Misc. Personal
• Links to or descriptions of publications
• Hobbies, etc. if appropriate
• Photos if you are comfortable sharing
Be concerned about privacy issues
… avoid cyberstalkers by thinking
about what you post before posting
Content ideas
Consider writing about or linking to
• Course-related topics
• Major-related or industry topics
• Items of general interest
Be concerned about
copyright issues and plagiarism
so we send the right messages to our students
Content ideas
Creative ideas
•
•
•
•
“A day in the life of” scenarios
Book or website reviews
Tutorials
Practice “quizzes” to help students study for exams
(here’s a free multiple choice quiz maker)
Content ideas
Add-ons or special links
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Blogs
Wikis
Calendars
Flash presentations
Gadgets (often available from your webhost)
Clocks, site counters, weather conditions, google
search box, calculators, Amber Alerts, and more are
available free here
Last but not least
• Proofread for spelling and grammar
• Check for broken links on a regular basis
• Remember that what you put online is a
reflection of both you and the University. As
such, it is recommended that faculty websites
not be used for promotion of political, social,
or religious issues unless they are an intrinsic
part of the course(s) you teach.