Leading Learning using Google Sites

Setting up your class / subject site

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“We acknowledge also the purposeful approach to visibility of teaching, in ways likely to identify and promote effective practices.

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Therefore, we recommend that this process continue, including the most recent observation data to consider the role of the teacher [highly effective teaching], the nature of the assigned tasks [SAMR], the nature of the sites accessed [rich multi modal opportunities] and the degree of student choice and collaboration.....” [options/choices (multimodal) for creation and presentation] - Rebecca Jessen (Woolf Fisher Research, Auckland University) 2014 report

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Visible Teaching

Manaiakalani Research Presentation: Manaiakalani Hui: 26.08.16

- Rebecca Jesson, Aaron Wilson,

Five affordances of Learn Create Share in a digital learning environment...

• engagement
• teaching conversations
• cognitive challenge
• visibility
• scaffolding

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Affordances causing accelerated SHIFT

• One-stop hub for learning
• Learning is accessible anywhere, anytime, at any pace
• Rewindable learning supported
• Personalising learning via multiple opportunities to access content and the learning process
• Visible planning and teaching
• Hub of information about events, groupings and progressions for both learners and parents.
• Weekly overviews and timetables
• Learning from home during lockdowns

We use Google Sites to empower Visible learning for our Digital Learning Environments

Purpose of a Learning Site

1:1 iPads

1:1 Chromebooks

1:1 Chromebooks Secondary

Consistency through all year groups

Getting and keeping your audience hooked

Visual Appeal

Layout

• Think about keeping page layouts similar as this makes it easier for the learners and you.
• You will want to plan each page and its context before creating it.

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Theme:

• Pick main colours, these may match you header.
• You could use this site to find complementary colours.
• You may also want to get colour from an image you can use the extension Colour Pick.

Fonts

• Try to keep fonts consistent throughout your site and if possible embedded items.
• You will want no more than two fonts.

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Ensuring your site works well

Functionality and Access to Learning Tasks

Access to Learning

• Many different ways to enable access:

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Navigation

• Ensuring that learners can get from your homepage to their relevant learning in 3 clicks
• Careful thought in the navigation of the site (Buttons, links, menu bar)
• How are your groups displayed?

Recipe for success

Things to consider when developing your learning site:

Visual Appeal s

• Engaging your audience
• Multimodal
• Encourage Creativity
• Photos
• Are you visible?
• Is all embedded content visible?
• Connections to blogs and school site

Site Functionality

• Ease of navigation
• Multitext content
• Ubiquitous access to learning
• Learning is found easily
• Effective teacher practice
• How is content from previous terms archived?

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Learners navigating their sites

Examples of Learning Sites

Sites for Distance Learning

Distance learning has impacted the way that teachers use and organise learning content on their learning sites. Providing links to Meet sessions, regular video updates from teachers and the need for carefully thought out instructions have become even more essential for learners to connect with their tasks and one another.

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