Techie Tuesday: Using Blogger to Create a Class Website

Are you looking for a free, quick way to create a class website and still have the ability to personalize the design?  Blogs are a great way to take your class online.  I recently merged my personal blog, student blog, and class website into one site~the one you are reading now;)

Before you get started, you need to think about a few things:

• Objectives for creating the website
• Know your audience
• Think of possible challenges
• Research

One of the best research avenues is having a variety of examples to get an idea of what you want.  You will also want to look at this as building your own website and follow those basic directions such as what not to do, gathering a list of items to include, plan, and evaluate. While evaluating, make sure you are think about the accessibility of the site.  I am honestly still working on this step, and the previous accessibility link is exactly where I am starting.

 I spent most of my time looking at sample class websites.  After I created a great doodle of what I wanted to include such as pages, column sections, and widgets, I searched and searched for just the right template. You would think this would be easy, but I soon found out that I was pretty picky...ok, I actually knew that, but finding the right artist was a challenge.  Here are some of my favorites:

• http://www.giselejaquenod.com.ar/blog/blogger-templates/
• http://shabbyblogs.com/
• http://www.thecutestblogontheblock.com/

My absolute favorite was Louise Franks Designs.  She has an awesome collection of free blogger templates, scrapbook kits to make your own, and  even Blogger tutorials.  If you have seen my classroom, you know she has "hit the nail on the head" with the design she created for my class website!!

Well, it's time for you to go get started! My class would love to visit your site when finished or as it evolves, so post a comment with it's link.