Design

====After analyzing the survey that the Web Wizards created for the staff at Chapin High School, we came to the conclusion that there were four main categories that we wanted to include in our web page training guide. The four categories are: 1) proper design, 2) Web 2.0 tools, 3) content/organization, and 4) media tips. The specific objectives within each category and based on our analysis of the staff are: 1) Design a website that follows proper design principles and is therefore professional and attractive. 2) Expose teachers to Web 2.0 technology as an instructional strategy. 3) Organize a website so that information is clear, logical, and appropriate for intended audience. 4) Provide teachers with media tips to enhance a website. Each objective is accompanied by goals that each member of Web Wizards will add to the project. Creating and maintaining a website while having several other responsibilities can become overwhelming. Once you add in the factor of not knowing how to actually create a website, this now becomes a high anxiety and stressful situation. The Web Wizards are trying to reduce this overwhelming and stressful feeling by selecting the four categories and breaking each down to provide as much help as possible. ====

====The first category is proper design. Proper design is important to have on the website because the overall look needs to be enticing to viewers yet not completely overwhelming them. Within proper design, the graphic design principles are covered. The principles are as follows: proximity, alignment, repetition, contrast, and typography. Each of these is of equal importance as the others. Proximity is the explanation of why related items should be grouped together. Alignment tells us why everything on the page should be visually connected to something else on the page. Repetition is where design elements are repeated throughout the entire website. Contrast is important because this is the explanation of where, when, and why contrast should be used on a website. Finally typography explains proper typography options for websites. Some other areas in proper design that will be covered are aesthetic principles and media as well as examples of “good” and “bad” websites. The aesthetic principles and media cover space and color. The good and bad examples are important as well because they will help the creator see websites that are using proper design principles and websites that are not using proper design principles. ====

====The second category is Web 2.0 tools. This is an emerging technology category in the education world. More and more teachers are using are attempting to use Web 2.0 tools in their classroom and this will help them learn more about it. The two questions that appear with these tools are //What is Web 2.0? and How can we use Web 2.0?// Before teachers can properly use the tools it might be beneficial to actually know what exactly a Web 2.0 tool is and it is important to know how to use it. This way the teachers can enhance their websites as well as lessons in the future. ====

====Category three covers organization of the content and the overall website. Organization is key to knowing where everything is and making things easier on the soul. When one is organized, life is not as stressful. Some key points for the organization category will be: decide what materials or content to post, divide content into chunks of information, determine a "maintenance plan", decide how often the teacher will update the information, stick to it, and finally keep and "old school" folder or notebook to brainstorm ideas for the site. Lastly, we chose media tips which includes audio and video clips. Media can help enhance a website if it is used properly. Overusing media can slow the website down as well as be overstimulate users. Within this category, the Web Wizards will provide information about how to add audio and video clips as well as ways to add sound effects. ====