Google Sites Could Save You Work!
As many of us know, school district want us to be more connected to our parents, community and students outside of the classroom. Due to this new requirement from many different districts, many teachers are turning to online websites as their method of reaching these audiences. One of the new resources that teachers are turning to is Google Sites.
Google Sites is a great way to make a website without all of the hassle of knowing how to code html and be able to build a website from the ground up. Creating a Google Site is as easy as a couple of clicks and is very intuitive. Molly Schroeder presented how to create a Google Site and showed examples of what a finished product looks like.
How to Create a Google Site
One of the great things that I really liked that she talked about was the argument that you will get from teachers who are nervous about creating a website. She talked about how everyone at this point has a digital footprint. If you don’t have a positive place for parents to go to then they might be able to find negative information or information that is false. An example she gave was about things like ratemyprofessor.com that are now being read by many in the public. She believes that we can curtail negative information by giving them other positive information first. By having your site out there, you are controlling what is going out and what is being said.
There are other free website building tools out there that are free such as Wix but if you are in a school district that has gone Google then building a Google Site will be one of the easiest ways to get your website up and running.
Reasons Google Sites Is A Great Option
- It communicates with other Google Products
- Changes made in other Google Services are changed on your site immediately
- ie - When Google Calendar is updated it is instantly changed everywhere you have your camera synced.
- Time saver by easy Google Integration
- Easy to create new materials
- Easy to change old materials
- Easy to have professional development on creating and maintaining Google Sites
Scan Or Click Below To Get Started
Several of my students have began using Google Sites to create portfolios and resumes. I have been thoroughly impressed with how interactive and professional some of the students sites look. I think this puts a unique spin on a traditional resume.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Although the ePortfolios were a bit of a headache, they definitely offer students a unique opportunity to build a professional digital footprint.
DeleteIt is so interesting to see just how quickly our ePortfolios have transitioned into something new and better. When I graduated in 2010, NKU had just begun using digital platforms for our final projects, but I'd love to go back and see what they are suggesting or allowing students to do now.
DeleteI too have been impressed with Google Sites. I have used Google Sites for my classroom website, and found that Google sites is a great tool for students to create sites. I especially like the tool that allows my to give permissions for sub pages for different students. Great for differentiation! I will say, however, that Google sites isn't the most aesthetic option. I've recently found wix.com and really enjoy using its interface.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you to a point that you can't always make Google Sites look the exact way you want. However I do think there are a lot of customizing options available that many are unaware of. In the manager site tool bar, users are able to change much of the color schemes and other parts of the site. By combining that with exploring different themes and layouts, you can create a truly unique site. I do agree this could all be a little cumbersome to do without prior experience.
Deletegoogle sites are easy to connect with, they can be very aesthetically pleasing if you put a little time into it. My students loved them, however, I do miss the assessment aspect like Moodle has.
DeleteI feel like I have been making so many new Google Sites for this class, and although I had created one or two before, I have a new appreciation for all that you can do on it. To really understand Google Site's capabilities, you simple have to log on and mess around with it. Like Dion said, it's so easy to link and embed other documents (especially google products) and makes your site so much more interactive. I'm going to work this summer on converting my moodle site to a Google Site.
ReplyDeleteAndrea, I like google sites as well, but I wouldn't be so quick on the trigger to spend all of your time converting your moodle site to a google site if you haven't spent time researching other learning management systems. I'm not recommending any site in particular or saying google sites is not the answer, however, I'm just saying that with all the different options out there (like schoology, wordpress, and others) it's worth investing some time to investigate all those options and see what would work best for you and your class.
DeleteI agree that to really get a thorough understanding of how Google Sites works you have to really get in and begin working with it. I think that we could come up with a quick tutorial for beginners but to really get the full impact of what Google Sites can do, you really need to spend some time playing around with it. I also think that it can really help teachers learn how to build a website as well as Christian mentioned.
DeleteGoogle Sites is a great way to get started with creating web content. It is very easy to use, especially with those who use the other Google products. However, it also serves as a good way to learn the basics of web. I see something like Google Sites being the foundation for students and teachers where they can start here and eventually work their way up to more advanced web content platforms such as Wordpress and eventually hand coding sites.
ReplyDeleteGoogle sites is really a good app within the google apps for education suite. I personally feel like it is pretty intuitive and and easy to use. I really like the templates it provides it's users. For those of us that don't really have the design scheme in mind, it's very helpful. I also like the automatic updates that the entire google suite provides. One thing that I like about that is it really trains people on how to adapt to change...if that makes sense. They tell you it's coming and give you time to use it before they force you to use it.
ReplyDeleteLove me my Google Sites! https://sites.google.com/a/ohlsd.org/mr-marx-ap-us-history/ Love it. I shared my page with you, it was a huge help, and my students really enjoyed it
ReplyDelete