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EDU 300: Educational Media & Technology

Student Web Pages Fall 2005

The Internet is becoming an indispensable medium for instructional design and delivery in schools. Your future work in the field is likely to require that you integrate the principles of effective instructional design with technical abilities to design Internet-based learning experiences for children. You will also find it useful, both personally and professionally, to design and maintain a web presence. The final project for this course provides you with an opportunity to do just that while applying the skills you have acquired in the course. This project will give you experience in learning to use the Internet to access and manage information. Here is an overview of the final project and standards.

PROJECT GOAL

Design a Web Site which includes a Home Page, Personal Page, Teacher Page, Kid Page, Multimedia Page and Online Lesson Pages. The Home Page will be your gateway to other pages you create. Your personal page will become anything you want it to be- a place for you to manage those resources you use in your personal life. The Teacher Page will include 10 or more web sites for teachers which you find to be excellent resources for educators. The Kid Pages will include 10 sites for children which you judge to be outstanding for a certain developmental level. The Multimedia Page will include 10 sites that present an interactive, user-controlled experience utilizing various multimedia applications. The Online Lesson Page will present a lesson to a student which integrates safe and meaningful web sites.

Your complete web site will be published on the USM student web server as a published product and you will be on the Internet! It will also be presented by you to your peers at the end of the course (presentation is required). A self-evaluation must also be completed.

Here is a graphic organizer of your web site. You will design one Home Page, and at least five Subpages. All pages must be linked to each other with a navigation table and all must include text, graphics and links.

 

PERSONAL PAGE

You have complete freedom on the design of your Personal Page. There are no requirements other than that it contain five or more personal links to favorite sites and some basic design work, including 3 or more images. You may also wish to include your resume on your Personal Page.

TEACHER PAGE

You also have freedom to create this part of your site. It must include at least 10 links to sites for teachers with a graphic and brief description for each site. You may also include links to the University or professional organizations. Please try to locate sites other than those on the Course Resource Site by using search engines. Here is an example of one of your ten entries.

KIDS PAGE

Your Kids page should be designed to appeal to children of a developmental stage of your choosing. If your Kids Page will be for teens, for example, design it with graphics that will appeal to that age group. For younger children you will design it differently. All sites must be reviewed by you and be age appropriate and educational. They must also be from a reliable organization (always listed in the "contact" area of the site). Please follow the same model for each entry as the Teacher Page.

MULTIMEDIA PAGE 

 

This assignment asks you to search the web for rich, dynamic multimedia content that is interactive and educationally sound. The Internet has evolved from simple text and images to very powerful multisensory content. The ability to compress audio and video, and the expansion of broadband (high-speed connections) have allowed developers to create wonderfully rich material.

 

There are now vast multimedia resources on the World Wide Web. Many are designed for learning and offer learners opportunities to interact, or have some control. For example, log on to the Discovery website at http://kids.discovery.com/games/whizzball/whizzball.html and enter user name; then create puzzles using critical thinking skills and logic. This is an example of a multimedia site that offers true interactivity.

 

Please locate 10 outstanding interactive multimedia web sites for children. You may choose to find sites for primary, intermediate, middle or high school, or a few of each. The content can use Shockwave (Flash), Quicktime, Windows Media, or Java. Avoid sites which require registration or have commercial content such as ad banners or pop-up windows.

 

Use COMPOSER to list the web sites you have located, link them, and include the level, address and a short description. Please don't include graphics on this page.

 

IMPORTANT: Your ten links must take the user directly to an interactive activity, not to a home page with a collection of links. In some cases, the user may have to click a link to go to the activity, but not have to navigate to find the content. For example, a child could go to www.discovery.com and eventually find the Whizzball activity; but your link should take the student directly to the activity.

 

Here's the model required for this assignment:

 

 

SITE: Discovery

 

LEVEL: Elementary and Middle School

 

URL (Address): http://kids.discovery.com/games/whizzball/whizzball.html

 

DESCRIPTION: This site offers students rich entertaining and challenging opportunities to create logic puzzles using various tools. It is an open-ended game which can challenge learners of all ages.

 

Please inlude this in your web site as a separate page.

ONLINE LESSON

The Online lesson page is a page you can develop which will include an instructional task that is Internet-based and designed for children to perform a specific learning task. It will include a Student Activity with instructions for students and links to sites you select

Here is a model of one a student did. It is offered as an example.

http://students.usm.maine.edu/suzanne.viola/studentpage.html

Please include the following in your design.

 

LEARNER INDEPENDENCE	To the extent possible, design your online task to promote learner independence and self-direction. If it is designed well, the instructions will lead the learner through specific, well thought out steps to achieve the objectives. If your design is for young children or initial readers, take that into account thoughtfully as your design instruction.
PAGE	Design a page which provides motivational images and text to introduce the unit or lesson. This page should be simple in design yet effective, it will serve as the "cover" of your unit design and will have links to other pages in your site that are organized logically. Attend to the elements of effective visual design.
OTHER PAGES	Your site may have additional pages linked to the Main Page. The number of pages you develop will depend on your design and the logical means you devise for the user to navigate through the learning experience. It can also just be one page.
ELEMENTS OF GRAPHIC DESIGN	Your site must include appropriate images and graphical layout that will support the content. Images which help to organize information, direct the user and improve aesthetics are important. Attend to the principals of sound visual design such as the use of white space, font style and size, and color. Please use tables, rules, appropriate backgrounds, bullets and buttons to visually enhance your design. Your pages should have a visual theme. Attention to the standards of effective written communication is expected. You should also consider users who may have a visual impairment and design accordingly.
ONLINE RESOURCES	Your module must include appropriate online resources for students to access as part of the task(s) you are designing. Use your skills in conducting effective Internet searches to select online resources. Remember to select sites which allow the user to be active; try to locate multimedia, interactive sites if possible. Your design should lead the learner to the online resources in a logical way. Use your skills in evaluating online resources to assist you in choosing sites.

MODELS

You may want to browse some models of web sites students have done in previous semesters. Keep in mind that the requirements for this project have changed over time, but these will give you an idea of the quality of the web sites. There are some outstanding ones, some average, and some of "other quality." Also, some have onlines lessons and others do not. The Multimedia page is a new requirment this session.

2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2000
Spring 2005	Spring 2004	Spring 2003	Spring 2002	Spring 2001	Spring 2000
Summer 2005	Summer 2004	Summer 2003	Summer 2002	Summer 2001	.
	Fall 2004	Fall 2003	Fall 2002	Fall 2001	Fall 2000