Design is exhausting!
I feel like I have a fairly good grasp of my audience, and what I want to accomplish. I know I want to promote the use of ICT in primary classes and encourage those teachers who might be hesitant, to consider using ICT in an innovative way. I would like to create a space where teachers can collaborate and share ideas, and I have chosen a BuddyPress site to do this.
I chose BuddyPress because I discovered my district uses it. I know that teachers who set up blogs through the district are given WordPress sites, so I assume it is a similar set up to UBC: users can have their own blog, but also use their login to connect with groups. I decided to work within the existing infrastructure because it would be familiar to some teachers, and provide me with a structure. After going through the design process today, I am hopeful that our district technology support team will help with some of the more technological set up of users and forums.
Setting up BuddyPress has given me some challenges. I don’t really understand the network portion of it, although the theme I chose allowed me to install some things automatically like the member page. I am also seeing the limitations of WordPress themes. I finally found one that had lots of customizable options, but it still didn’t give me everything: I wanted static pages, combined with a blog on one page. This proved to be a challenge, but I learned how to create page templates with the help of a forum and some coaching from my husband. Now I can say I have created a php file! I am glad I have gotten to know the ins and outs of WordPress better, but if I were to make a website from scratch again I would use Weebly, it allows for a much more visual page designing experience.
I got quite caught up in the design aspect of my site today. I wanted it to look good, to be laid out well, to have pages ordered a certain way, with links that worked. I’m a bit worried that I haven’t put up any real content yet, but I know that design is an important aspect to consider. Primary teachers care about aesthetics, we like our classrooms to be warm, inviting spaces for our students. I wanted to create a friendly space online. I hope I have done that with the colourful straw painting header, soft gray menus, clean fonts and uncluttered layout.
Amazing job getting the aesthetics of your website to fit your target audience. It can be difficult to establish a site for collaboration when you’re starting out on your own (or with a group of four people who may have forgotten to post something on your site). I was reading an article online about the idea of crowdsourcing where projects rely on the input and expertise of multiple people in order to be successful. It sometimes feels like you need to recruit a collaboration group to get things started on a small scale. Once the ball is rolling, you can recruit others, tweet out some cool posts, give a presentation at your school. But when first starting out it’s tough to sell an empty (or nearly empty) site. I’m in the same boat with my final project. In need of some inspiration for how to “launch” it to bring it to its full potential!
I can’t believe how far you have come with this project! Buddy Press? I have heard of it but I don’t actually know what it is or how it works. I am glad you are using district resources. That way, you can give your district tech team feedback on what teachers actually need and can use. I believe that has been an important missing piece of the technology in schools puzzle. Yes, you are right, design burns up the little gray cells alright, but it is worth it when you have an engaging, living space to inspire conversations and educational growth.