Tech Tips for Creating the Virtual Museum

• Set Objectives
  
  What kind of web site do you envision? 
  Do your goals for the web site relate to the curriculum? 
  How can you best integrate technology to facilitate learning?
  link: http://www.germantownacademy.org/academics/ls/3/Colonial/workshop/index.htm
  Can this project grow? 

• Organize
  
  Objectives will influence structure.  Folders will reflect themes - activities. 
  Putting images into icon and image folders will minimize chaos.  Remember - you will be talking about hundreds of files eventually.
  Plan ahead and storyboard.  Students respond very well to this technique.
  Plan ahead for archiving potential.
  Establish naming conventions that all participants agree to adhere to
  Establish navigation conventions - links to previous page, project index (front room-table of contents), grade level,  school main page.
  Insist that people insert title tags.
  Have files in a networked location that facilitate collaboration.

• Assign Roles
  
  The younger the children, the more adult participation is necessary.  By Middle School, students can take active roles as curators and decision makers.  Adult supervision is essential no matter the age or expertise of the students. 
  
  Roles on the web site will mirror roles in a classroom museum:

  Researcher Fact Checker Searcher Artifact collector

  Copy Writer Designer Graphic Artist Photographer

  Editor Display Organizer Docent Demonstrator

Gather > Select > Interpret > Organize > Display

Students will constantly be making decisions that will directly engage them in learning:
What does this mean?  How does this relate?  How do I best present it?   

• Establish Responsibility
  
  Understand and respect copyright.  Always get permission, especially when working with museums.  Do not use any material without thoroughly reading copyright information.
  GA's Copyright Tutorial - Internet Delight
  link:  http://www.germantownacademy.org/summer/internetdelight/copyright.htm
  
  Using digital photographs and original student work is a good way to handle copyright issues. 
  Be sure that you follow the safety and privacy guidelines for your school.
  
  Site sources properly.
  
  Double check for accuracy.  You are now information providers.  Children take this responsibility very seriously.  When a new section of the web site is posted, devise an assignment that has them review the site closely.  They are very good editors.
  
  Spell check religiously.  Make editing and revision an essential part of the process.
  
  Double check links - often.  Follow up.  Maintenance should be a part of the process.  Links not only go dead they turn into porn sites when previously legitimate domain names are sold.

Delete unnecessary or discarded files.  Even if you don't link to them they can be accessed through a search engine.

Date last updated and contact name should be posted on each section.

• Emphasize visual coherence
  
  Visitors to your online museum should always be able to orient themselves.  This is essential if the site gets very large.
  Keep backgrounds - header & footer graphics - and navigation conventions consistent.
  
  Making templates will streamline work and help with organization.   Templates work well for the table of contents pages.  Students will want to do their own thing on their pages. 
  
  By using the same graphic elements the images will be cached and load quickly.  Long load times is one of the key  frustrations for visitors.
  
  Graphics should signify.  Icons and photographs are more effective when informative as well as decorative.  The photographs on our site provide detailed information as well as visual interest.  Student art work is also a popular option. 
  
  Take the time to size and to optimize (compress) images.  This makes an enormous difference in load times.

(Find a graphics program that will batch process.   PhotoShop 6 is a favorite.  You can use it to create contact sheets, and in doing so size and optimize the image.  Fireworks and DreamWeaver are also effective).

Simple Design Tips
link:  http://www.germantownacademy.org/Oursite/AreaResources/design.htm

• Necessary Tools

Editing software - useful programs are:    Front Page, DreamWeaver, GoLive, PageMill, Netscape Gold.  We use Adobe PageMill with younger students.

Graphics Programs - Photoshop 6, Fireworks, KidPix

Adobe Acrobat is a useful option.  It will turn your word documents into pdf files which will load on the web.  You can imbed graphics and links into these files. 

Graphic Organizers - Inspiration, Timeliner, KidPix, PowerPoint all export web documents.

Free Online Programs:

• CoolText to make banners and buttons
  link:  http://www.cooltext.com

• Venn Diagram Maker
  link:  http://www.venndiagram.com/

• Discovery School Puzzlemakers
  link:  http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com/

 

Germantown Academy
P.O. Box 287
Ft. Washington, PA 19034

Andrea Owens, home page coordinator & Micki Vieille, 3rd grade technology coordinator 
© 1999-2004

Last updated  05/03/2004

Colonial Study  |  3rd Grade  |  GAnet