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CreatingaWebsiteasaPedagogicalActivity

ETEC53265B
UniversityofBritishColumbia
DavidMcMullan
87369147

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Thecreationofawebsiteasaneducationalactivitycanbeapowerfulwayto
combinethelearningofcontentcontentandmedialiteracythatfacilitatesstudent
engagementthroughcollaborativeandsituatedlearning.Itisnotwithoutitschallengesas
educatorsdealwithvariedtechnicalskillandaccesstotechnology.Byexaminingtheuseof
websitesasapedagogicaltoolbyasocialstudiesteacherprovidedasanexamplebythis
class,aEastBronxAcademyteacherandmyownexperience,theadvantagesand
challengesbecomeapparent.
InlookingatthisactivitythroughthelensofGoldfarbsstudentsasproducersone
canseethebenefitsofstudentsconstructingawebsite.Throughthemakingofawebsite
notonlydotheylearnthebasicsofwebdesignbutwaystocriticallyexaminethewebsites
theyvisit.Withtheexampleofsocialstudiesteacher,studentsdevelopedwebsitesusedby
otherteachersfortheirclassesaswellaswebsitesusedforlearningcontent.Inbothcases,
studentswouldhavetothinkaboutwhattheyasstudentshaveusedandwhatwebdesign
wouldbemostbeneficialtothemasusers.Thestudentsinthiscasedescribedtheactivity
asenjoyable.
Inanotherexample,EricOdom,ateacheratEastBronxAcademy,describeshisuse
ofcreatingwebsitesas,puttingthecurriculumwherethekidsaregoing(TeachingChannel,
2006).Odomwasabletoengagestudentinterestbytappingintothetechnologythatthey
wereusingathome.Bycreatingawebsitefortheirschoolstudentscollaboratedtogetheron
differentpartsoftheproject.Odomrecountshowstudentswouldmayfinddifferentareasof
theprojectthatwouldcapturetheirinterest.Forexampletheymaybemoreinterestedinthe
journalismaspectoftheprojectandgooutandinvestigatesomethingabouttheschoolto
presentonthewebsite.
Inmyownexperience,Ihaveusedthistypeofprojecttodevelopstudentsmedia
literacyskills.Inajuniorliteracyclasswecreatedawebdesignfirmtoreviseanexisting

communityrecreationalsportwebsite.Studentswereresponsibleforresearchingthe
differentpartsofwebsitedesign,forexample,layout,imagesortext.Thestudentsthen
madechoicesbasedontheirresearchandpitchedtheirideastothelargergroup.Oncethe
decisionsweremade,thewebsitewascreatedbythestudentsusingWeebly.Theproject
allowedstudentstosituatetheirlearninginarealworldcontext.InboththeEastBronx
Academyexampleandmyexperience,studentspaidgreaterattentiontotheirwritingasthey
knewthattheirworkwouldbeviewedbyawideraudience.
Thistypeofprojectisnotwithoutitschallenges.Accesscanbeanissuedepending
uponwhetherornotthistypeofprojecthasworkassignedoutsideofclasstime.Asseenin
theexampleofthesocialstudiesteacher,studentspointtoaccesstocomputersathome
andlimitedaccessatschoolasanissue.Teachersalsocomplainofthetechnological
infrastructureattheirschoolsforexample,theamountofbandwidthofwifitohandleclass
usageofwebbasedprograms.Theotherissueisthatiftheprojectisbeingworkedon
duringschooltime,studentswithmoreexperiencewithtechnologymaydominategroup
activities,leavingstudentswithlimitedtechnologicalskillsfeelingleftout.Abalanceneeds
tobestruckbetweenchallengingmoreexperiencedstudentsandsupportingthosewhoare
newtothetechnology.
Activitieslikecreatingawebsiteallowstudentstopullbackthecurtainonhowthe
mediatheyconsumeisproducedwhichgivesthemtheexperiencetolookcriticallyatthe
mediatheyuse.


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References

Goldfarb,B.(2002).Studentsasproducers.InVisualpedagogy:Mediaculturesinand
beyondtheclassroom(pp.5783).Durham:DukeUniversityPress.

TeachingChannel(2016).Creatingawebsite[videofile]Retrievedfrom
https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/socialstudiestechnology