HOW Do I Make My Website Useful!?!

The education of an educator is exciting, situational, and far more complex than most people could imagine. At some points, the practice methods (lesson or unit development for example) are the most important components. At other points, the public speaking or affective domain abilities become far more important. Teachers need to be able to speak just as effectively in public as they do in one-on-one situations. They need to be feeling, sympathetic, organized, and motivated. Just as genius in art, music, and oration calls for just the right combination of well-honed abilities, a good educator is defined by their overall product.

Over the past week in my Digital Portfolio class we have been reviewing presentations that were developed by many of the classmates. The presentations were reactions to a chapter in our class text, "The Connected Educator", that discussed the difference in qualities found in good and bad websites. What makes a website good and why on earth should we as readers visit your site? After the reading of this chapter, many students completed a presentation using a screen cast apps. They reviewed a good website and bad website using the information provided in the textbook chapter. I have provided links to my five (personal) favorite presentations and I have also included commentary that would help both the author and myself improve the next time we have to create online presentations.

Nicole's Review Good v Bad Juice Websites - Good: There was a good mixture of website examples and powerpoint-driven images/text . -
Improve: Maybe it was a bit too casual and maybe a little too much detail. Instead of reading every flavor of juice that they have to offer, just state that they offer the flavors at the bottom of their page.

Natasha's Review - Good v Bad Car Dealing Websites - Good: Organization and choice of detail was very helpful and the color schemes made it very easy to pay attention. Improve: Actually demonstrating the websites would be helpful. While your descriptions were clear visuals are helpful for many learners in different ways.

Christina's Review - Good v. Bad Furniture Websites - Good: You use pausing very well to add to the effect of your presentation. You are not rushing and it makes the listener/audience feel comfortable. If this does not happen with you during face to face conversations, I would suggest that you use this talent in the future! Also, I think it was a very good idea to use your image in the corner of your presentation. It gave the feeling that I was listening to a real person and I felt that it was easier to listen Improve: The room you chose to record/the microphone you used gave an echo effect that made it harder to understand the sound

 Olivia's Review - Good v. Bad Tattoo Parlor Websites - Good: I loved how you talked about the bad website in terms of your experience rather than dictating how the audience should feel about the sites. Reader's are supposed to be learners and not followers when it comes to blogging and you provide a personal contribution rather than a demand.  Improve: It seemed as though you were scanning the website for the first time because I felt like you were just going through everything the site had to offer in detail. In the future, I would chose a few things to highlight throughout the site. Touch on these things quickly and concisely, making sure to close your statements with a brief summary of the information reviewed.

Matt's Review - Good v. Bad Hotel Websites - Good: Very concise and specific. If a reader has a specific question, they will definitely be able to find that detail in your presentation. Nothing that you have to offer is missed -- However, it would definitely help to break up your criticisms for the auditory learner. You flow very seamlessly from one topic to another, and while that is good for academic writing, it helps your audience to perceive the end of one thought and the beginning of another.

It was a wonderful experience to listen to these presentations and I hope that through listening, you can learn a thing or two that will help beef up your website and attract some traffic!

Our Globalized World

While the direction of my blog is primarily guided by my own personal interest in the field of education, the content of each post was inspired by a specific chapter in "The Connected Educator", a book written by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach and Lani Ritter Hall in 2012. Chapter 4 in particular digresses from the typical rhetoric found throughout the rest of the book, and in doing so it perfectly captures the idea that the authors were trying to convey.

Instead of discussing specific individual web based resources and things of that nature, the two authors truly delve into what supported the backbone of their entire book writing experience. They discuss the nature of face-to-face relationships, their development, and the adaptations that should be made to construct a similarly productive relationship using an online platform. They hadn't met in person before completing their book and they have only the power of the internet to thank for this success. In this day and age the internet is everything besides a limitation. Its an open door that continuously beckons the eager and informed learner. "Technology has thinned classroom and school walls, blurred the boundaries of time and space, and has provided opportunities for authentic teacher learning in networks and communities" (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 2012). They gained immensely from their experience and the authors hope that educators (like you readers and myself!) can learn how to foster productive online relationships that can better foster learning for all internet users of any age.

(Acknowledgments - Paragraph 1)

"Our first acknowledgement is to the power of a connected collegial relationship and the technology that made that relationship and this book possible. Two connected learner leaders, separated geographically by more than five hundred miles, availed themselves of technology to collaborate, share insights, and generate ideas. Using Skype led to words flowing on Google Docs as each chapter of this book emerged and evolved" (Nussbaum-Beach & Ritter Hall 2012).

Collegial Relationship- The sharing of academic information and development between colleagues

Congenial Relationship- The sharing of humanly and polite interaction - in accordance with literally any topic

People have needs and among those needs is the need for human interaction. We as humans, want empathetic people in our lives and we as humans are motivated by these positive human interactions in a variety of ways. Herein lies the authors' connection between the world of learning and the world wide web. Herein lies the secret to the authors' success. After the advent of internet based learning, teachers have been challenged by their willingness to adapt to their surroundings. Can teachers effectively deliver concepts that, to them, are completely foreign? Can an educator born in an cyber-hypotonic solution of a generation genuinely be ready to pioneer a 21st century education? Yes. Yes, they can. It merely requires a little bit of commitment and a great deal of appreciation for the power of internet tools. If we can sufficiently learn about these internet tools and maximize our utilization of these resources, then the internet has been used to our advantage as users.

Finally, none of this is relevant unless there are many users that are willing to come together to collaborate ideas. Just like the authors, internet learners need to collaborate to really be taking advantage of the power of the internet. Users that are just passive learners and that don't share their ideas are missing a major component of what 2017 technology has to offer. So, teachers encourage your students to collaborate using collegial and congenial relationships on as many online platforms as possible and use the internet to its fullest potential.

Good luck learners!

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