Class 7: Website Creation

So you think you're creative enough to make a website.  You have all sorts of ideas of colors, fonts, widgets, links, and hypertext running around in your head but you don't know where to start.  Lucky you, that's what Class 7 is about.

Website Creation
It's kind of entertaining that there are websites that have websites that you can have.  There are free sites like Google Sites, Weebly, and Yola who do two things for you: host your site and help you create it.  There are sites like Wetpaint who let you only make sites on topics you are interested in.  There are sites like GoDaddy where you can purchase a domain name (like webstermiddle.org or whatever name you want your website to be called), and purchase a separate package for creating your site, and/or another package for email from your site, etc.  It all depends on what you want and how individual you feel like getting with your site.

Widgets
A widgets is a separate application that goes on any webpage, including a blog.  When you were learning iGoogle, you put widgets on that page to personalize it.  Widgets can tell the time, give a fact of the day,  sports scores, or anything else you can think of.  Here are some widget sites:
Yahoo! Widgets
Feedzilla
Apple Widgets (only for Apple computer dashboards)
Google Widgets (awesome for your blog or iGoogle page!)

Assignment:
Create a website on one of the free sites.  Add a widget or four.

Class 6: Google Fun!

Last class we began with some fun applications from Google.  This week we're going to play with some more!


Google Reader
Google Reader is a great place to collect blogs like the ones you looked at last week.  Sometimes you might not have time to traipse all over the web looking for what our friends or other interesting personalities wrote, so having one website with all your favorite blogs on it is definitely a time-saver.  


If you have a Mac, you might want a program like Gruml.  This gets downloaded onto your computer and allows you access to your blogs from Google Reader.  Just as for any program you want to download, ask your parent or guardian if it's all right first.


Assignment: Sign in using your Google account.  Add Book Talk with Mrs. Bender to your Google Reader.


iGoogle
For a fun way to look at blogs-and everything else you're interested in--check out iGoogle. iGoogle is, basically, a website designed by you for you.  It can be your homepage every time you sign in!  Google has all sorts of fun things to go on your homepage: movie showtimes, weather, news, comics, and much, much more.  


Assignment: Create an iGoogle page.  Include Google Reader and Google Docs.


Google Products
Google Products has a ton of programs and applications you can use.  You can read free ebooks, look at your house on Google Earth, and compare the trends like which is more popular: vampires or zombies?  Check them all out.


Assignment:  Search Google's vast array of applications.  Using Google Trends, which IS more popular today, vampires or Zombies?  Which is the #1 city by zombie?

Class 5: Web-Based Publishing

Web-Based Publishing
Web-based desktop publishing allows us to write and save our documents on the Internet rather than leaving them on a computer or depending on a thumb drive to carry them around.  Perks include having all documents available at any computer.  Negatives include lack of availability if the Internet goes down.  Some web-based publishing sites are Zoho and Google Docs.

Assignment:
Log in to Google Docs.

• Create a document.  Write a note to me.  Share it with me.
• Create a survey about something.  Your first question should be "Name?".  Invite me. 
• Create a presentation on something you are interested in.  Share it with me. 

Assignment:
The first of your four book trailers will be created using Google Presentation.  See the Book Talk with  Mrs. Bender blog for an example. 

If you want to work offline but store the same work on different computers, you may want to download (you have to download it on to each computer) and then create an account on Dropbox.  It will save your information to a server, and then when you log on to each Dropbox on each computer, your work will be there.  You can store PDF's as well as photographs here.

Weblogs
Weblogs, or blogs, are online journals, like the one you are reading now.  Anyone can write one, and there are many free blog sites like Blogger, LiveJournal, and Wordpress.  There are even special blogs just for kids!

Assignment:
Read some of the following blogs:
Book Talk with Mrs. Bender This is where your book trailers will go!
Blog Search Engine Just like a web search engine, but for blogs