Faculty Websitesa presentation by Dr. Tamara Fudge August 2008

Invitation

Kaplan University Faculty

Personal web pages

Now

World Wide Web

Invitation

• Value added to class information• Personal connection with students,

other faculty

Venue: Geocities

• If you have a Yahoo! e-mail address, you’re already signed up for free web service

Geocities: 3 ways to the web

Geocities: Control Panel

PageWizard

Geocities: PageBuilder

Webpages from Word

Geocities: upload & manage

Geocities: upload & manage

Geocities: wrapping up

Pros• Easy and free with Yahoo! e-mail signup• Use templates or change Word docs into web pages• Can easily download pdfs, PPTs, other file types• Can edit with HTML• Add-ins available 

 Cons• Limited hourly use for downloading • Too much traffic = shut down for an hour• Limited disk space (15 MB)• Long URL (ex: http://geocities.com/fudgelink/tfudge.html)• Ads: don’t choose Education as your “area”

Venue: GoogleSites

• Sign up for gmail free at google.com and you have access to free web hosting

GoogleSites

GoogleSites: design

Plus choices in fonts and layout

GoogleSites

GoogleSites

GoogleSites: wrapping up

Pros• Convenient, familiar-style toolbar for design features,

easy to switch design and layout• Can create pages here to use on your own domain• Can make site open to the public or open by invitation• No ads• 100 MB storage

Cons• Long URL (ex: http://sites.google.com/site/fudgelink/tfudge)• Changes in design are for all pages• Layout is limited

Other free web hosts

• Tripod

• Specialty hosts such as RootsWeb

• http://www.free-webhosts.com/ … reviews of web hosts

Using an XHTML template

A ready-made template and color-coded instructions are available to you:

The template

example page #1

example page #2

WYSIWYG Software

• Adobe® Dreamweaver CS3

• Microsoft® Expression® Web 2

• Pablo Software Systems WYSIWYG Web Builder5

Design considerations

• Include headers so your organization is clear• Light and dark contrast work best with large

blocks of text for readability (light background, dark text)

• Fancy fonts may not show on all browsers – keep it simple – read about font families

• Color is important: check for accessibility • Proofread for organizational/design errors or

inconsistencies

Finding a Host

Expect $5-8/monthLook for • Tech support 24/7• Amount of data transfer allowed• Secure and reliable backup of your files

Number of domain names, cost• Guaranteed uptime• Goodies such as e-mail accounts, FTP, forums

and chat, streaming audio and video support, submission to search engines, more

Top Ten Hosting

Sites

Paid Web hosting: wrapping up

Pros• Your own domain name (shorter URL)• Large variety of file types can be uploaded• No ads• Can use software such as Dreamweaver to create files• Can prevent search engine listings• Many more design options

Cons• Cost• Some HTML knowledge is recommended• Design and execution likely will take more time

Content Ideas

Identifying information• Name and title (or preferred moniker)• School, Department• Course(s) taught• A brief resume or link to another page is possible

Contact information• E-mail address• AIM• Best modes/hours of contact

Content Ideas

Misc. Personal• Links to or descriptions of publications• Hobbies, etc. if appropriate• Photos if you are comfortable sharing

Be concerned about privacy issues … avoid cyberstalkers by thinking

about what you post before posting

Content ideas

Consider writing about or linking to• Course-related topics• Major-related or industry topics• Items of general interest

Be concerned about

copyright issues and plagiarism so we send the right messages to our students

Content ideas

Creative ideas• “A day in the life of” scenarios• Book or website reviews • Tutorials• Practice “quizzes” to help students study for exams

(here’s a free multiple choice quiz maker)

Content ideas

Add-ons or special links• Blogs• Wikis• Calendars• Flash presentations• Gadgets (often available from your webhost)• Clocks, site counters, weather conditions, google

search box, calculators, Amber Alerts, and more are available free here

Last but not least

• Proofread for spelling and grammar • Check for broken links on a regular basis

• Remember that what you put online is a reflection of both you and the University. As such, it is recommended that faculty websites not be used for promotion of political, social, or religious issues unless they are an intrinsic part of the course(s) you teach.