COURSE WEB SITE

Web pages can provide an interesting graphical look but are time consuming to develop and maintain.  Once the structure of the site has been created however, it can be used and updated year after year. 

Here is an example of a course website.   Notice that the link takes you directly to the course website where as a class conference requires a login.  So, the course website is open for the world to see where as a conference is private (within the GA community). 

There are two ways to produce a course web site.  The simpler way is to create it directly in First Class in the Home Page folder.  You'll have less options for layout and graphics but it is easier to updates.  The more complicated way is by using a web editing software like Dreamweaver.  Once again, teachers should think about how much time they are willing to devote to creating and maintaining their site. 

For information on creating web pages, click the links below.

Web Page Design Notes and Tips
Posting Web Pages on First Class
Introduction to Dreamweaver

CLASS CONFERENCE

A course conference is easy to set up, can be linked to the web and can accomplish what a web site can but you sacrifice the look.  It is basically a repository for course materials and a good way to exchange materials with students.  You can set up drop boxes within the conference where students can send their homework, etc. 

Here is an example of a class conference.

Students can access class conferences through their First Class email account and they can be linked to the web.  Either way, accessing a class conference requires a login using one's GA email user name and password.  This means that the conference is relatively private within the GA community. 

For Upper School, your class conference will likely include Brunswick students and to include them you will need to forward their names to Joe Knowlton.

For information on setting up a class conference, click below.

Creating and Using Class Conferences (MS Word document).