First thing first. I am a Gen Xer. I am a digital migrant. I grew up in between the age when the Internet was only thought of as a military intelligence surveilance tool and Apple, after going bankrupt, was only making a come back that Windows worshipping tech people scoffed at. So you know my context and my experience, I am not as tech savy as I appear to be.
But, I love learning. I ask questions. I am moody and easily triggered. You don't call us Xers for nothing. So here I am in the midst of a global health catastrophe, figuring out how to make online distance learning work, going through mid-life crisis in my mid-forties and managing mental health all at the same time. I need to whip up a space for students to find sustainability, a sense of permanence and continuity of learning.
Enter Google's G Suite for Education. It is amazing! Don't worry about the tech and the tools that go with it. It is there. It will grow in leaps and bounds. Where to begin? Here are broad strokes to begin with.
1. Know your purpose. Know your audience. Who you are creating a website for is as important as knowing the why. The how will follow. Plan and do a bit of research and development.
2. Know the technology. Understand the tools. Be sure you have the support of the school leadership and that a tech help desk is just within reach. Google has links and cheat sheets and you can learn from these resources, but nothing beats in-house knowledge of your learning community. It comes form years of experience and professional practice.
3. Plan your content. There are so many cool tech out there. Media is the message. But the content you put out there is still King.
4. When you make a plan, do everything necessary to make the flow of information clear and coherent. Do not forget citations, attributions and yes, courtesy if you are to use content made and created by other experts.
5. Make a time table. Two weeks for research and development. Another week for learning the tech. Two weeks for putting everything together.
6. Work with a team. Use your staff or colleagues who are part of the library and tech system in your school in organising content, building the site and communicating it to the community. At the get go, they should be on board where roles and duties are equally distributed.
7. Have a dry run. Be open to feedback. Change and revise as necessary.
8. Once the edits are done in the website, plan for a launching to the community. This may be done during library orientation periods and or sessions where the library is presented to the learning community.
9. Do not forget to make a quick guide. Never assume that everyone is a digital citizen.
10. Reflect. Assess. Evaluate. Take Action. The cycle of creation goes on.
These are for now. There will be more sharing of insights and processes in the future so, keep visiting the blog. I am also on Facebook, Twitter and IG. Often, I cross post and link my blog articles to my social media sites. See you online!
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