Do these Web sites work? Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Learn what our digital duo (Odvard Egil Dyrli and Charles Shields) say is right, and wrong, with these district Web sites.Rocky Point Rocky Point may refer to:
NAVIGATION Some school Web sites make you feel like a new kid who can't find anything: the library, the attendance office, and so on. The Rocky Point Schools site is definitely not one of those. Here, on the homepage, the directory of topics is handsomely designed. And under each topic are subtopics, many of them clickable clickable adj (COMPUT) → cliqueable clickable adj → cliccabile , as well; e.g., School Profile, Directions, Community Involvement, District Phone/Fax Numbers ... And if this grand menu design isn't enough, the site map reads like a triple-columned table of contents.--CS The site is very easy to navigate (1) "Surfing the Web." To move from page to page on the Web. (2) To move through the menu structure in a software application. , and offers multiple avenues to get to specific information. These include hot-linked topics under major section heads on the opening screen, and menus at the top and bottom of subsection subsection Noun any of the smaller parts into which a section may be divided Noun 1. subsection - a section of a section; a part of a part; i.e. pages. The prominent site map also makes it convenient to overview site contents and jump to selections without paging through menus, and the integrated search tool allows users to find content by keyword.--OED QUALITY OF THE INTERACTION WITH THE USER The site offers an amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. selection of district documents, policies and hand books, particularly in PDF (Portable Document Format) The de facto standard for document publishing from Adobe. On the Web, there are countless brochures, data sheets, white papers and technical manuals in the PDF format. form, which may add an additional barrier for some users, but many resources are also displayed in html formal. It might be good to scale back some of the voluminous amounts of information, however, and re-organize some of the content for user groups including teachers, students and parents. There is a combined section for students and parents, but the needs of the two groups are quite different.--OED SCHOOL-TO-HOME INTERACTION District resources useful for parents and students ore presented throughout the site, and everyone is kept well informed about policies, events, activities and information of interest to families ranging from sports schedules to daily lunch menus. The site offers searchable directories for contacting administrators and staff and an e-mail link to the Webmaster A person responsible for the implementation of a Web site. Webmasters must be proficient in HTML as well as one or more scripting and interface languages such as JavaScript and Perl. They may also have experience with more than one type of Web server. See Web administrator and Webmistress. for questions, comments and suggestions.--OED UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION If it sounds like a lot of work updating a long page like this, quarter by quarter, keep this in mind: the work of getting a referendum referendum, referral of proposed laws or constitutional amendments to the electorate for final approval. This direct form of legislation, along with the initiative, was known in Greece and other early democracies. passed is much easier if the word is out in the community that your school is a great place. Starting from scratch is deuces hard. Think of a current, engaging, and informative Web site as an investment in the well-being of your school.--CS DESIGN The central portion of the opening screen consists of district news announcements with few Web links, whereas the main menu is relegated to the left-hand portion of the page. It would be helpful to move the menu to a more prominent position, and link headlines for the news items to a separate page with room to develop the content. Also, the menu sections targeted to students and parents offers useful but limited resources, and site content targeted to teachers and administrators should be better differentiated. It would also be helpful to make design elements more consistent from page to page, since the sections for each of the five schools vary significantly. A disclaimer (networking) disclaimer - Statement ritually appended to many Usenet postings (sometimes automatically, by the posting software) reiterating the fact (which should be obvious, but is easily forgotten) that the article reflects its author's opinions and not necessarily those of the on the opening screen states that the Web site is "now and always will be a work in progress," and acknowledges that areas ore incomplete and others will be developed. It would be better to promise less and deliver more.--OED The design of the Wilmington site has not made the jump from print to Web site design yet. All the pages are standard newsletter layout--and conservative at that.--CS NAVIGATION The site provides valuable district and school information but specific content is not always easy to find, and there is no search engine or site map to help users. While the main menu is carried over to major section pages, which makes it easy to move to other areas of interest, it would also be helpful to title each of the pages to let users know where they are among the selections.--OED QUALITY OF THE INTERACTION WITH THE USER Page selections are painfully slow to load, especially when paging backwards and forwards through earlier selections. Since the lack of menus forces users to return to popup screens to move to other content, even within sections, it is easy to get lost.--OED A major point that makes tech people in schools wince, but must be said: The site has to be 100 percent everyday. Five years ago, the thinking among school administrators was that a site would be a nice service for community-an add-on. Now, the site is the school the way Amazon is a bookstore. By the time word circulates that a parent has called and said, "Something's wrong with your Web site," a couple dozen community people have discovered the same thing, but were too busy (or annoyed) to alert you. Imagine 30 adults dropping into your building on a bad day and drawing their own conclusions. That's what happens when visitors go to your site and its shirt is untucked and shoes don't match. See that your site is healthy and dressed for work everyday.--CS SCHOOL-TO-HOME INTERACTION The "teacher and staff spotlights" is a good idea for generating community interest, though only one individual is featured so far. Parents would appreciate having links to class Web pages with curriculum information and examples of student work, but most of these are not yet developed.--OED CREATIVE USE OF ONLINE TECHNOLOGIES The site is quite text oriented o·ri·ent n. 1. Orient The countries of Asia, especially of eastern Asia. 2. a. The luster characteristic of a pearl of high quality. b. A pearl having exceptional luster. 3. , though many of the pages include graphics and photographs. A major next step would be to enhance the content with multimedia elements related to district activities, including speech, music, film clips Noun 1. film clip - a strip of motion picture film used in a telecast photographic film, film - photographic material consisting of a base of celluloid covered with a photographic emulsion; used to make negatives or transparencies , live cameras, online tutorials and interactive simulations.--OED UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION The district features weekly highlights on the opening semen semen or seminal fluid Whitish viscous fluid emitted from the male reproductive tract that contains sperm and liquids (seminal plasma) that help keep them viable. , and provides searchable district calendars that can be viewed by date, week of month. It also offers ma up-to-date athletics athletics or track and field also track-and-field games Variety of sport competitions held on a running track and on the adjacent field. It is the oldest form of organized sports, having been a part of the ancient Olympic Games from c. section with sports schedules and competition results, and individual school pages are kept current with news and announcements. However, other areas need Updating, such as the the parental advice for Halloween night.--OED Web site evaluation panel: Odvard Egil Dyrli is senior editor and emeritus e·mer·i·tus adj. Retired but retaining an honorary title corresponding to that held immediately before retirement: a professor emeritus. n. pl. professor of education at the University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut is the State of Connecticut's land-grant university. It was founded in 1881 and serves more than 27,000 students on its six campuses, including more than 9,000 graduate students in multiple programs. UConn's main campus is in Storrs, Connecticut. . Charles Shields is a contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. and a 20-year veteran educator. |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion