#classroom website

All that and a bag of chips ….

Are you looking to build a powerful website but have no idea how to start? Are you trying to create a page where students can go to access webquests and other projects and you want it to look nice? WIX is where you will be able to do this. The webpages that you can develop at WIX are professional looking, using the many templates that they have to offer or you can create one from scratch from a blank page. You can easily drop in your own photos or stock photos from the site and viola! You have an amazing webpage.

The Basics ....

This post features all the resources I used to create my Chrome App (The app is actually only a link to my website.). You can download the app at the Chrome Web Store.

Resources I used to create my Chrome app:

1. First, I created my Chrome app image with Google Drawing.

2. Second, I converted my image to a Chrome icon with IconJ. You must have specific dimensions for your PNG icon.

3. Then I used the Chrome tutorial, "Create a Chrome app," to build, text, and pack my app.  Here is the example Google provides you with for your manifest.json .txt file.

4. Next, I used the Google Developers tutorial to publish my app.  This process included registering to Google Checkout Merchant, paying the developer signup fee, and verifying that I was the owner of the website. Since my website domain, davidleeedtech.org, is under Networks Solutions, I had to complete a specific process to verify my website. After verifying my website, I published my app at Google's Webmaster Tools. 

Creating a Google Site is a great way for students to demonstrate their knowledge of any academic concept. However, I don't think it is a good tool to use as a class site. Yes, Google Sites allows users to effortlessly integrate Google documents, presentations & drawings into their site, but it isn't too friendly to other types of files. Additionally, the web-based tool is not intuitive. Different settings are confusingly placed in different areas of the site, and the customization of the site is extremely difficult. 

However, there is one thing that makes Google Sites a good tool to use to create a class site: The ability to give editing permissions to students for specific pages. 

A 3rd grade teacher at my school has given her students permission to edit their own page on her site. This allows the students to add their work onto their page so that the teacher can assess their work. Additionally, parents can visit the class site and see all their children's work and progress. 

Here are the steps you would need to take to enable this feature:

1. Click on "More" and then "Share and Permissions"

2. Click on "Enable page-level permissions"

2. Turn on Page-Level Permissions

3. Click on "Use custom Permissions"

4. Add all your students and allow them to VIEW the site. 

RULES TO LIVE BY FOR YOU CLASSROOM WEBSITE IN 2013

Transparent Backgrounds

No Cliche Textures (like bricks)

No Extreme Gradients

I just ran acrossed it and am thinking of using it this summer because it looks amazingly easy and useful...I'm going give it a try right now!