Quickly and Easily Build a Free Website For Your Classroom
by Kyle Kipp, LHS faculty
Nowadays, it is so easy to create your own website, blog, or wiki. With today's technology and free online applications, anyone can have a sharp looking page that is easy to update and maintain in minutes.
This hands-on workshop will show you how. By the end of this two hour session, you should have a live webpage that is ready to use. It is so easy, you could have your own students creating their own fun sites in no time, too!
Nowadays, it is so easy to create your own website, blog, or wiki. With today's technology and free online applications, anyone can have a sharp looking page that is easy to update and maintain in minutes.
This hands-on workshop will show you how. By the end of this two hour session, you should have a live webpage that is ready to use. It is so easy, you could have your own students creating their own fun sites in no time, too!
Why should you "digitize" your classroom experience and differentiate learning?
Need more great reasons to use websites, blogs, and wikis in the classroom? Click this link!
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Where do I go to start building my page?
There are so many choices out there for free web page editors, where do you start?
I highly recommend starting with Weebly.com
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Where do I go to start building my page?
There are so many choices out there for free web page editors, where do you start?
I highly recommend starting with Weebly.com
- Year after year, this award winning web hosting site has, hands down, been acclaimed for being the fastest, easiest, and best-looking way to have your own site.
- Read more about the Weebly company here.
- Maybe you've heard about Weebly on television (click here for their commercial).
Weebly For Education
Another bonus is that Weebly offers educator perks so you can do more with your page and access more features for free. For example, you are given up to two totally different free webpages, all under the same account. This is convenient if you want to have one website for your classroom, and maybe another website for extracurricular activities and other interests.
- Access their Weebly For Education platform and sign up by clicking this link.
- They even offer special logins for your students.
Web Viewing and Editing On The Go!
Weebly offers a mobile app, so that people can nicely view your site on their mobile devices.
- It is also very easy to edit your own site on the go: edit your own site on your phone or iPad.
Getting Started on your own Weebly site
To get started, you need to supply: your name, email, and password.
- You will need to verify your account, and then you are off to the races!
- You simply drag and drop the "elements" you want onto your page and plug in the info.
What should I have on my website?
The best way to get started is simply by clicking around the site and experimenting. Nothing will publish live to the web until you tell it to, so don't worry about making mistakes.
- Don't worry about saving your work, either, because Weebly auto-saves every couple seconds for you.
- Also, remember that a webpage is expected to be a "living document", meaning that it will be changing and evolving over time based on the needs of the site and it's users.
I recommend building the following features into your initial site:
Start with at least these three (3) different pages/menu tabs:
Going further: after those first three pages are created, think about adding the following pages and features:
Also, I highly recommend adding at least one relevant image to each page to keep it interesting.
Putting The Icing On the Cake:
If you are wanting to embellish your website more, start by considering the following tips.
Need "inspiration" to get creative on your new Weebly page?
Want to learn how to build a superior Weebly site?
Roadblocks along the way?
If you need expert help or troubleshooting tips for your Weebly site, click this link.
Start with at least these three (3) different pages/menu tabs:
- a "home" page (this is your "landing page" that people first come to when they access your site)
- an "about me" page, a "how to contact me" page
- maybe a page with a few of your photos on it (use the "gallery" element)
Going further: after those first three pages are created, think about adding the following pages and features:
- an "about me" or "bio" page where you explain yourself and your classroom a bit
- class "syllabus" page that may include classroom expectations and norms
- documentation of former "successes" or "projects" - post photos and captions of your classroom projects and activities
- an "assignments" page - you can also upload printable documents to these pages
- a classroom calendar - you could create a separate calendar in your Google account and embed this in your page
- add a social media button - if you have Facebook or Twitter feed, they can link to it with one click
- add a contact form - visitors can send you questions or comments without needing your email
- embed some relevant videos or audio files - these can be played directly on your site with one click
- embed downloadable documents, such as your class syllabus or assignments
- create a form or survey - Need to get an organized list of responses quickly? Then create a form!
- hyperlink images and text to relevant external sites
Also, I highly recommend adding at least one relevant image to each page to keep it interesting.
- Be sure that you are not breaching copyright laws! Use images that are "open source/public use"
- If you would like help learning your way around fair use, etc., feel free to ask me!
Putting The Icing On the Cake:
If you are wanting to embellish your website more, start by considering the following tips.
- Make your pages "media rich" and stimulating by adding relevant images and videos.
- Use Canva to create quick and easy (and free) graphic design images for your site.
- Add captions to your images.
- Streamline the layout of your pages and menu configuration.
- Start a blog section - this can be added into your existing page; it is great for posting regular updates, articles, supplemental resources, etc.
- Add a photo gallery.
- Create more hyperlinks to external resources.
- Embed your classroom calendar into a page so that your students can access the "public view."
- Embed other media into your site, such as audio clips or screen-casts.
- Install a "search box" so that people can search your site for what they are looking for.
- Create links to your social media outlets (if you have them) such as Twitter, Facebook, etc.
- Play around with background images, colors, tints, and other page design features.
- Optimize font style, size, color, etc.
- Try out different page "themes".
- Investigate the "advanced settings of your pages" and see how you can make your pages more "find-able" in search engines, etc.
- Upload documents that your students can download.
Need "inspiration" to get creative on your new Weebly page?
Want to learn how to build a superior Weebly site?
Roadblocks along the way?
If you need expert help or troubleshooting tips for your Weebly site, click this link.
- "Like" Weebly on Facebook for daily tips and tricks on how to have a better site.
Step-by-step online tutorial: "Beginner's Guide to Weebly"
This expert narrated video will walk you through, step by step, the basics on how to get a nice Weebly site up and running.
Other highly recommended web hosting and web builder companies:
- Google Sites - this is already built into your Google/Gmail account
- Jimdo
- Wordpress
- Squarespace
- Wix
Want to start building a Wiki?
What are the benefits of using a wiki in the classroom?
Remember: you can start building a free wiki right within your LCS Google account.
What are the benefits of using a wiki in the classroom?
- Using Wikis for Learning and Collaboration
- Advantages and disadvantages of a wiki
- Click this link to learn about some of the most highly recommended free Wiki sites.
Remember: you can start building a free wiki right within your LCS Google account.