It can be used in a number of ways.
1. to take a quiz either in the class or at home
2. to find out about a lesson. kind of like a self evaluation tool
3. to find information about the students. what they like and dislike
4. among your colleagues. find out how they feel about something.
I can think of more ways. I really like the Google Form. I guess the haves and the have nots would be my only concern. I know that their are still kids out their that cannot access the internet. However, they should be able to do something at school at some point. I will most definitely be using this in the near future.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
What I would change on your form!!!
Well the first thing I would change would be to make it more inviting. The templates that are offered are neat and may actually appeal to students.
Now on a more serous note:
1. You have 2 questions one that says "name" and one that says "enter your name." This in my book is the same question repeated. I would clean this up. Besides only one of the name questions is actually required. Regardless I would think that name information would be required.
2. The phone number questions. This is information that most people don't give out. I really did not want to give the info myself. Depending on the situation it may be relevant.
3. The experience question was really vague. I wanted to choose never done it and want to learn more about it. However, you only allowed me to choose one of the options. Maybe you should have chosen the "check all that apply option."
4. Additional comments......
should this be required. In most of these forms the additional comments box is usually not required. In this case I thought it did not need to be required.
I never caught onto the relevance of the whole form. Something that I think the person completing the form should know about.
Now on a more serous note:
1. You have 2 questions one that says "name" and one that says "enter your name." This in my book is the same question repeated. I would clean this up. Besides only one of the name questions is actually required. Regardless I would think that name information would be required.
2. The phone number questions. This is information that most people don't give out. I really did not want to give the info myself. Depending on the situation it may be relevant.
3. The experience question was really vague. I wanted to choose never done it and want to learn more about it. However, you only allowed me to choose one of the options. Maybe you should have chosen the "check all that apply option."
4. Additional comments......
should this be required. In most of these forms the additional comments box is usually not required. In this case I thought it did not need to be required.
I never caught onto the relevance of the whole form. Something that I think the person completing the form should know about.
Interactive element
Wow! I thought the Google form was easy to create and easy to implement into the website. I am very glad that I have had the chance to learn how to create one of these. So far Google has been a great tool. One would think you could offer a course on how to implement Google Tools in the classroom. I think I might teach a PD for my school on implementing google.
I hope to implement at least one survey from Google Form. I would also like to implement a video activity from united streaming/ discovery education. On this site I can create the video and then have a quiz that the kids can take afterwards.
I already have the search box on my website. So I guess I already have one tool.
I wonder if a webquest would be an interactive piece?
neat stuff!!!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Google Wave
From what I can gather at this point, it seems that google wave just may be the future of emailing. However, I cannot see the change coming in too near a future. As a society we have a problem accepting change. I can't see enough interest to change the current status Que for at least 3 more years. The reality is that we have to learn how to use the programs that we have now before we change to a totally new system. I for instance, am still learning more things about email each year that make me more effective at teaching and communicating. I would rate myself as an above average technology user. Those can use Google wave are more than above average they understand the flow of thinking. I would guess the average user on any word processing or spreadsheet software uses about 40% of what is actually available. The average email person would probably have a hard time sending an attachment in an email. My parents don't even have a computer in their home. In my opinion Google Wave is the future but not right now.
Articles I read
Pro article
In this article you will find how the web has to used to meet the demands of a growing educational philosophy. "WBI can be used to meet the needs of a more diverse group of students"
Con article
In this article we learn a little something about reality. The reality being that even with the influx of new and innovative software we are still as educators unprepared to use it and to use it effectively.
Articles I read
Pro article
In this article you will find how the web has to used to meet the demands of a growing educational philosophy. "WBI can be used to meet the needs of a more diverse group of students"
Con article
In this article we learn a little something about reality. The reality being that even with the influx of new and innovative software we are still as educators unprepared to use it and to use it effectively.
Site Structure
First I hope you got a chance to look at my changes, because I changed my template back to the original template. The color contrast were starting to give me a headache :)
Too design or Modify that is the question???????
-Well I feel that I will more than likely modify my web page. I think that I do not know enough about the CSS or HTML to design my own page. Besides that templates that are provided are really good ones in my book. I also reminded of Nielsen's article about keeping things simple and consistent. I think that the templates that are provided have been chosen because they are simple for the average user in mind. They are also good in terms of usability/consistency. Many of my students are used to the navigation practices that accompany the templates that are provided. With my knowledge of HTML and CSS it would be a mistake to attempt to design something that could potential ruin my web page and my goals.
CSS or HTML
- I am guessing that my web site which is powered by web host has what I guess is an over all HTML script with access to CSS sheets. I say this because when I modify the sheets it gives me the CSS sheets and then I have an option to view the HTML code with the embedded CSS code. I could have the explanation backwards but I am not sure. Maybe you could feel me in on the correct answer to this question.
Site Structure
-I think that you have to keep things simple. I know I have said this time, and time again. If the web page uses terms and pages that my students are unfamiliar with then I am asking for a headache (mirror images, what they hear and see in class with what they will read and see on the web page). I think you have to do and use things that are familiar with my students. Not to mention I have students that are on different learning levels (a language that everyone can understand). If I were to make my web pages complex that would be fine for my gifted kids but the other 2 thirds of my classes would be completely lost and frustrated. Again consistently simple. The complexity can come in the variations of the assignments not in the navigation and location of them.
Finding my web page
-I have been currently using my name or "rmccann" as a tag. Many of my passwords that my students need to remember for web assignments have the rmccann as a user name. So it is easier for them to remember and I think is should be consistent. The only problems I have found is that my kids cannot always spell my name correctly :( Anyways, the name recognition has worked for me so far.
Page Header
-my name and the ninth grade school and tab to all my pages as well as a sitemap page for ease of navigation.
Scan Columns
-I am using one that is not exactly a scan column but a drop down column that includes the subpages that can be found on my main pages. For instance when you scan over the class header you get class assignments, homework, class notes, bellringers etc....
Content on my pages
-right now I am using basic template that has a header complete with all my main pages. then you can navigate to these pages that have separate pages for viewing all the while at the top of any page is a list of my main pages in case one gets lost.
Footer?
- not sure what should be in the footer besides contact info and the info that comes with the template design. I don' t want to delete anything that should be on the footer because of copy right laws....
Internal pages
- I already have a few pages designed please locate my earlier drawing to view my webpage
here is a link to the site that is mostly under construction. webpage
Too design or Modify that is the question???????
-Well I feel that I will more than likely modify my web page. I think that I do not know enough about the CSS or HTML to design my own page. Besides that templates that are provided are really good ones in my book. I also reminded of Nielsen's article about keeping things simple and consistent. I think that the templates that are provided have been chosen because they are simple for the average user in mind. They are also good in terms of usability/consistency. Many of my students are used to the navigation practices that accompany the templates that are provided. With my knowledge of HTML and CSS it would be a mistake to attempt to design something that could potential ruin my web page and my goals.
CSS or HTML
- I am guessing that my web site which is powered by web host has what I guess is an over all HTML script with access to CSS sheets. I say this because when I modify the sheets it gives me the CSS sheets and then I have an option to view the HTML code with the embedded CSS code. I could have the explanation backwards but I am not sure. Maybe you could feel me in on the correct answer to this question.
Site Structure
-I think that you have to keep things simple. I know I have said this time, and time again. If the web page uses terms and pages that my students are unfamiliar with then I am asking for a headache (mirror images, what they hear and see in class with what they will read and see on the web page). I think you have to do and use things that are familiar with my students. Not to mention I have students that are on different learning levels (a language that everyone can understand). If I were to make my web pages complex that would be fine for my gifted kids but the other 2 thirds of my classes would be completely lost and frustrated. Again consistently simple. The complexity can come in the variations of the assignments not in the navigation and location of them.
Finding my web page
-I have been currently using my name or "rmccann" as a tag. Many of my passwords that my students need to remember for web assignments have the rmccann as a user name. So it is easier for them to remember and I think is should be consistent. The only problems I have found is that my kids cannot always spell my name correctly :( Anyways, the name recognition has worked for me so far.
Page Header
-my name and the ninth grade school and tab to all my pages as well as a sitemap page for ease of navigation.
Scan Columns
-I am using one that is not exactly a scan column but a drop down column that includes the subpages that can be found on my main pages. For instance when you scan over the class header you get class assignments, homework, class notes, bellringers etc....
Content on my pages
-right now I am using basic template that has a header complete with all my main pages. then you can navigate to these pages that have separate pages for viewing all the while at the top of any page is a list of my main pages in case one gets lost.
Footer?
- not sure what should be in the footer besides contact info and the info that comes with the template design. I don' t want to delete anything that should be on the footer because of copy right laws....
Internal pages
- I already have a few pages designed please locate my earlier drawing to view my webpage
here is a link to the site that is mostly under construction. webpage
Home page
-main page with links to
Monday, February 15, 2010
Interface/Navigation Design
1. Paths- at the top of my page their are (right now) 5 different paths a user can navigate
Home, Class Schedule, About, Sitemap, and News
2. Regions-each page listed above has its own unique attributes. eventually these pages will give way to; HOMEWORK, CLASSNOTES, BELLRINGERS etc...
3. Nodes-I think I have made my site pretty basic so their should not be too much confusion. If their is I have a sitemap page that can help with navigation mistakes. also I have a search box to help search for certain tag words.
4. Landmarks- as you navigate from each page you will coninue to see the main navigation pages on the top of your screen sort of like the breadcrumb idea but not exactly.
Navigation tools and why?
I like the fact that the main pages never disappear. If my users get lost then they can refer to the top tool bar to find their way back. I also like the search box. This way users can search tag words. I would eventually like to have some kind of calendar with links to the days on the calendar. I think this would be a very usefull navigation tool. Kids could look specifically at the days that they missed or did not understand and get caught up or extra help.
Wayfinding Metaphor?
I think that this is where you can go overboard. I have read some of Nielson's articles about teens and usability and I think that this element if done incorrectly could really hurt you web page. I think that at first I would stick to one image that "defines" my home page. But if I use a web page that automatically shows my tool bar at the top would I even need an image that would help with navigation? I am confused. I guess in the end it would be nice to have som sort of image on each page that navigated to my email. So that my students would be able to email me from any page without having to navigate back to the main page. I can see that the images would help a little but other than the stereotypical "house" representing homepage, i am not sure how this will help me if I have a page that keeps a "breadcrumb" at the top of it.
Enterprise?
I believe the big aspect here is keep it simple and keep it consistant. I would have to incorporate some of the navigation features that my school district has on their web site. Having mine look and act differently ma cause confusion and worst of all frustration. However, what if my distirct has it all wrong and they neew to be more user friendly. Right now I would have to say they have some fixing up to do. I find our district page very hard to navigate. Other things that I have to consider are my classes. Do I want to specify a different look for different classes? Some of them are at different places in the content? Not sure how to answer this other than to keep it simple and consistent with other pages that share the same goals as mine and my district.
Basically this is what I think I want right now.
Will it work?
I have found that the blog site is great for information. I could use it for notes and day to day things. However, I think a more in depth web page it needed for assingments and extended lessons. I like what I have so far. It is the "F" approach that both W3C spoke of and Nielson in his interview. Where the audience reads across the top and down the left hand side. I also like the site map within my page and the fact that the top tool bar stays present throughout the search. these are charactoristics that my district uses on its page and to keep the "enterprise" happy I will try to do the same. So many things to think about and do. I love the CSS and HTML stuff how can anyone remember how to do all of it. So many steps.....:)
Home, Class Schedule, About, Sitemap, and News
2. Regions-each page listed above has its own unique attributes. eventually these pages will give way to; HOMEWORK, CLASSNOTES, BELLRINGERS etc...
3. Nodes-I think I have made my site pretty basic so their should not be too much confusion. If their is I have a sitemap page that can help with navigation mistakes. also I have a search box to help search for certain tag words.
4. Landmarks- as you navigate from each page you will coninue to see the main navigation pages on the top of your screen sort of like the breadcrumb idea but not exactly.
Navigation tools and why?
I like the fact that the main pages never disappear. If my users get lost then they can refer to the top tool bar to find their way back. I also like the search box. This way users can search tag words. I would eventually like to have some kind of calendar with links to the days on the calendar. I think this would be a very usefull navigation tool. Kids could look specifically at the days that they missed or did not understand and get caught up or extra help.
Wayfinding Metaphor?
I think that this is where you can go overboard. I have read some of Nielson's articles about teens and usability and I think that this element if done incorrectly could really hurt you web page. I think that at first I would stick to one image that "defines" my home page. But if I use a web page that automatically shows my tool bar at the top would I even need an image that would help with navigation? I am confused. I guess in the end it would be nice to have som sort of image on each page that navigated to my email. So that my students would be able to email me from any page without having to navigate back to the main page. I can see that the images would help a little but other than the stereotypical "house" representing homepage, i am not sure how this will help me if I have a page that keeps a "breadcrumb" at the top of it.
Enterprise?
I believe the big aspect here is keep it simple and keep it consistant. I would have to incorporate some of the navigation features that my school district has on their web site. Having mine look and act differently ma cause confusion and worst of all frustration. However, what if my distirct has it all wrong and they neew to be more user friendly. Right now I would have to say they have some fixing up to do. I find our district page very hard to navigate. Other things that I have to consider are my classes. Do I want to specify a different look for different classes? Some of them are at different places in the content? Not sure how to answer this other than to keep it simple and consistent with other pages that share the same goals as mine and my district.
Basically this is what I think I want right now.
Will it work?
I have found that the blog site is great for information. I could use it for notes and day to day things. However, I think a more in depth web page it needed for assingments and extended lessons. I like what I have so far. It is the "F" approach that both W3C spoke of and Nielson in his interview. Where the audience reads across the top and down the left hand side. I also like the site map within my page and the fact that the top tool bar stays present throughout the search. these are charactoristics that my district uses on its page and to keep the "enterprise" happy I will try to do the same. So many things to think about and do. I love the CSS and HTML stuff how can anyone remember how to do all of it. So many steps.....:)
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Web Accessibility
Perceivable:
This web page was very hard to look at. The color of the background was basically the same color as the text. The blinking was distracting as was the music. I was unable to listen the the video bacuase the music would not stop playing so loudly. Also the marquee was a distraction. Basically the whole web page was a distraction. Visually I had a hard time trying to navigate the page with my eyes. Had I not gone to the webinar I would have had a hard time viewing the page. If had a page like that for my special needs students they would not be able to scroll down the screen for all the distraction they are incountering. The ADD would kick into high gear.
Also their were no alternate text for the images or anything on the page. I tried using Microsoft sam on the page but he could not get to anything. He was unable to read the page to me. A blind student would have a hard time reading this page.
Based on the Wave test and the Cynthia test the web page is in need of some work. The main problem that web sites picked up on we the alternate text for images as well as link within the page.
Operable
This is hard to answer becuase I am so used to using my mouse. However, upon further investigation I was able to use the sift tab function to navigate but again it would be pointless if their were no narration to tell me what I am doing. The alternate text are very important for this keyboard function to actually be of assistance to visually impaired students. I could not understand the order that the sift function went in. If were guessing I would say that it started me at the bottom of the page as opposed to the top of the page. I would this that this order does not make any since and would be confusing.
Understandable
lets face it the text and the background are the same color. the music is loud. the marquee could be too fast for some readers and their is no way to stop it and their is no subtitles to help. The video seems to be out of place. Maybe if the the video opened in a new window you could actually hear it. The music was just too loud. Man I seem to be over focused on the music. I was just hoping after a few minutes it would stop.
Robust
Not sure how I would answer this question. I would think that since their are errors in the operable phase and the perceivable phase that this web site would not pass the robust phase. However, in basic terms I would have to say that the majority of individuals would be able to access the page but they would be confused about the navigation, and over all presentation of the material.
Other thoughts.
First off the Html code. I am not sure how you would fix it in terms of tags but you would need to tag the images with some kind of alternate text tag. That way people can understand what and where some objects are within the page. I found the table to wrong also . Not sure how it should be fixed but the alignment seemed off. The marquee does not have a scrolling speed? or does it? I could not see it when I viewed the source. I am not great at the Html code stuff, but it seems the images at the bottom for the Wave page and the Cynthia says web sites were coded wrong.
After running the page through the filter pages. I was surprised to see that their weren't that many mistakes. The Wave filter basically said that their were 4 mistakes. mostly dealing with header tags, blinking text, and not having alternate text. The Cynthia says site came up with more mistakes but they were way more picky. I did find that My schools web page has a ton of mistakes 38 in all most of them dealt with alternate text and tables and navigation errors.
My web page:
Wow each time I think I have something figured out and I am thrown another curve ball. Not only do I have think about people accessing my web page but I have to specially think of my kids. I can tell right now that my main problems would be forgetting to use alternate text for images and tables etc... Unless I am prompted each time I add something to my web page to add alternate text then I am certain I will forget. I noticed however that when uploading images etc.. that you are sometimes prompted by that particular web site. Other problems that I can see coming is operability. I think that I will have something that is too complicated to navigate trough. I need to remember to keep it simple. Start with the basic needs of my class on the web page and branch out as I can more confidence in my abilities as a web teacher.
Now that you have given the chance to use the WAVE and CYNTHIA SAYS web pages I think I will use them to make sure my web site is up to par with some of the WCAG standards. Of course no one can help me better than feed back from my kids and colleagues that visit the site. Using their input alone will help. Especially early on and later for quality control
This web page was very hard to look at. The color of the background was basically the same color as the text. The blinking was distracting as was the music. I was unable to listen the the video bacuase the music would not stop playing so loudly. Also the marquee was a distraction. Basically the whole web page was a distraction. Visually I had a hard time trying to navigate the page with my eyes. Had I not gone to the webinar I would have had a hard time viewing the page. If had a page like that for my special needs students they would not be able to scroll down the screen for all the distraction they are incountering. The ADD would kick into high gear.
Also their were no alternate text for the images or anything on the page. I tried using Microsoft sam on the page but he could not get to anything. He was unable to read the page to me. A blind student would have a hard time reading this page.
Based on the Wave test and the Cynthia test the web page is in need of some work. The main problem that web sites picked up on we the alternate text for images as well as link within the page.
Operable
This is hard to answer becuase I am so used to using my mouse. However, upon further investigation I was able to use the sift tab function to navigate but again it would be pointless if their were no narration to tell me what I am doing. The alternate text are very important for this keyboard function to actually be of assistance to visually impaired students. I could not understand the order that the sift function went in. If were guessing I would say that it started me at the bottom of the page as opposed to the top of the page. I would this that this order does not make any since and would be confusing.
Understandable
lets face it the text and the background are the same color. the music is loud. the marquee could be too fast for some readers and their is no way to stop it and their is no subtitles to help. The video seems to be out of place. Maybe if the the video opened in a new window you could actually hear it. The music was just too loud. Man I seem to be over focused on the music. I was just hoping after a few minutes it would stop.
Robust
Not sure how I would answer this question. I would think that since their are errors in the operable phase and the perceivable phase that this web site would not pass the robust phase. However, in basic terms I would have to say that the majority of individuals would be able to access the page but they would be confused about the navigation, and over all presentation of the material.
Other thoughts.
First off the Html code. I am not sure how you would fix it in terms of tags but you would need to tag the images with some kind of alternate text tag. That way people can understand what and where some objects are within the page. I found the table to wrong also . Not sure how it should be fixed but the alignment seemed off. The marquee does not have a scrolling speed? or does it? I could not see it when I viewed the source. I am not great at the Html code stuff, but it seems the images at the bottom for the Wave page and the Cynthia says web sites were coded wrong.
After running the page through the filter pages. I was surprised to see that their weren't that many mistakes. The Wave filter basically said that their were 4 mistakes. mostly dealing with header tags, blinking text, and not having alternate text. The Cynthia says site came up with more mistakes but they were way more picky. I did find that My schools web page has a ton of mistakes 38 in all most of them dealt with alternate text and tables and navigation errors.
My web page:
Wow each time I think I have something figured out and I am thrown another curve ball. Not only do I have think about people accessing my web page but I have to specially think of my kids. I can tell right now that my main problems would be forgetting to use alternate text for images and tables etc... Unless I am prompted each time I add something to my web page to add alternate text then I am certain I will forget. I noticed however that when uploading images etc.. that you are sometimes prompted by that particular web site. Other problems that I can see coming is operability. I think that I will have something that is too complicated to navigate trough. I need to remember to keep it simple. Start with the basic needs of my class on the web page and branch out as I can more confidence in my abilities as a web teacher.
Now that you have given the chance to use the WAVE and CYNTHIA SAYS web pages I think I will use them to make sure my web site is up to par with some of the WCAG standards. Of course no one can help me better than feed back from my kids and colleagues that visit the site. Using their input alone will help. Especially early on and later for quality control
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