Monday, January 19, 2015

Thing 13: Web Presence

This was one of those topics that I thought about switching to a new track. I already use Weebly (which I love), and I just recently sat with a member of our technology department to figure out how to add a live Twitter feed to my website. However, as hard as I try to make my site a "hub" where students, parents and administrators visit, I always strive to get more traffic and make it more visible and vital to the users. Therefore, I decided to stick with this track to see what new ideas and tools I could use.

At first, I clicked on the Richard Byrne's link and read over his brief summary of different options for creating websites. I was tempted to try out a new option, but thought about how I agree with Richard that Weebly is very intuitive and easy to use. Besides it is not that I don't like the layout of my website (I actually love it), it's more that I want to get more traffic to it. That's when I decided that I need to really think more about the students needs. When I really reflect on what Joyce says and the tips that are posted on the wiki for Thing 13, I worry about my site becoming a "Junkyard". I already have a student showcase section on my website for student work that I have a hard time keeping up with and although valuable, if I am not going to keep up with it, I really need to think about whether I want to keep it or get rid of it. So, when thinking about adding to my site, I want to make sure that it is something that is not only valuable, but that I can maintain.

"What will bring users to my site?" One thing that I think would make people come to my site is book reviews. Students are always looking for that next book to read. After looking over the options of tools to try I decided to use Smore for thing 13.  I created 2 book recommendation posters using Smore, then I added a new page to my Weebly website and embedded the flyers. My goal will be to eventually get the students to create their own book recommendations using Smore. Here is a link to my site and the 2 "Smores"that I have created for it up to this point.

I was a little skeptical about using Smore at first because of the structured layout. However, I really don't want anything complicated because as I mentioned earlier, I am having trouble keeping my "showcase" page updated because it is a lot of work. I think by using Smore, it won't take much work on my part to create the recommendations, which will make it more likely that I will be able to keep it updated. Plus it grabs the readers attention and certainly serves its purpose. On my next flyer I am going to use the video option which hopefully will be even more appealing for the reader. The video might also be a better option for the younger readers as well.

In closing, I am very excited about my new addition to my website. I truly feel that this will not only meet the need of my users, but also increase the flow of traffic to my site (who knows they may discover something else useful while they are visiting :) ). The only area of concern for me at this point is that Smore only allows a limited number of flyers before they charge. I guess I can hope that that becomes an issue, because that will mean I am having success!