It's startling to think that the course of the term is about half over already. It feels like it just began, but we're already finished Week Four. The work begins to pile on as projects become more and more engrossing and assignment due dates, once seemingly so distant, become too close for comfort ...
Making a Website via Weebly:
For the most part, Weebly seems to be a very simple, yet powerful tool for making a website that is both attractive and functional, especially for someone with little experience in making a website. It's a delight to be able to pull down simply elements from the top bar in order to create individual pages, as well as an intuitive interface for making and ordering websites. I'll be using Weebly for my e-portfolio and, through the magic of an alternate email address, will actually be using it in my personal life to power a website for a tabletop roleplaying campaign that I run.
There are, however, a few criticisms that I would make about Weebly. It does not seem particularly easy to make a good-looking table in the website, though it's possible that I just haven't discovered the "trick". To me, tables seem like they could be a discrete element. Also, there are some issues with formatting and spacing that, while I was able to resolve them, caused minor headaches. Overall, however, I was able to make a far more attractive and functional website in a far shorter time using Weebly than I would have imagined possible only a short time ago. Literally anyone with basic Internet navigation skills can learn to make a website on Weebly that would serve their purposes.
It is a tool that I intend to be using in my classroom, not just for myself, but for my students. I see no reason why a Grade Four student, or group of students couldn't make a simple website using the tools offered on Weebly, and it would be simplicity itself for tech-savvy Middle or Senior Years students (in which case, the content would be more important than simple construction). Though I chose to make a topical rather than a personal website, one of my intended projects in the near future is to create a personal website to use as a portal until I get a job at a school division (and then replicate, as best I can, the website on their space).
Google Docs vs. Wikis:
Now that we have experience making both Google Docs and wikis, I can compare the two in terms of their usefulness for collaborative work and speculate on their proper use, both in general and in the classroom.
For the purposes of a short-term collaborative project in which people are likely to be working simultaneously, there is no question whatsoever that Google Docs are superior. Our group ran into several headaches with wikis regarding updating, and while we eventually nominated Kristin to be the primary editor and publishier of group-sourced content, this created new headaches. Meanwhile, doing the same manner of project with a Google Doc was not only far easier, but actually fun. The medium seems to lend itself to a fairly lighthearted atmosphere and I think a class group would have a lot of fun working on projects together using a Google Doc.
The primary advantage of a wiki, I believe, is in its permanance and online status- a Google Doc can be made open, but is not typically so and it functions primarily as an online equivalent of Microsoft Office. While I don't have a lot of experience with wikis yet, I would speculate that they are probably more powerful than Google Docs in terms of being able to construct a large and durable webportal. The difficulties with collaborative work on a wiki disappear if the people who are collaborating are distant from each other and not typically working at the same time.
While I certainly had an easier time with Google Docs, I do not want to dismiss wikis, nor do I want to put up my hands and refuse to learn more about using them. After all, one of the most popular and useful websites in in the world, Wikipedia, is a wiki.
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