Riverside Academy West
MEMORANDUM
TO:
Riverside Academy West Staff
FROM:
Nour Altahif
RE:
Fall 2011 Professional Development Activities: Using Weebly for WebQuest and
Classroom Website
DATE:
December 9, 2011
Dear Former Colleagues,
During the Fall 2011, I have developed and implemented a professional development related to
the use of Weebly, which is a website creation tool. The sessions concentrated on ways Weebly
can be used for instructional purposes. The following report contains information about the
activities that were conducted and implemented. The surveys and instructional handouts that
were administered to the participant throughout the sessions are also included in this report.
Thank you for your time,
Nour Altahif
Needs Assessment
The initial stage of planning for the professional development consisted of looking over
the school’s technology plan to determine a focus area for the professional development. I also
engaged in informal conversations with some of the teachers regarding technology
implementation and different tools they use. This led to discussing areas of interest related to
instructional technology integration in which they would like to explore. I then had the teachers
complete a needs assessment survey which helped with determining a focus area for the
professional development. The teachers had an interest in website creation for their classroom.
Since the teachers wanted to learn how to create website pages, I decided that learning how to
create a WebQuest, which is an online based project, would be an appropriate area to focus on.
Once I had determined the focus area for the professional development, I had the teacher
conduct a competency survey. The competency survey was conducted to assess teacher’s level
of technology competency related to the focus area. After looking over the surveys, I was able
to generate goals that will help to establish a productive professional development. You will
find the surveys in Appendix A.
Professional Development Proposal
The professional development proposal was written based on the Components of an
Effective Professional Development For Technology Use (North Central Education Laboratory,
2000). Some of the components the proposal was based on are: connection to student learning,
variety of learning experiences, curriculum specific applications, new roles for teachers, active
participation of teachers, on-going process, built in evaluation, and adequate resources.
The sessions consisted of a mixture of observing, mentoring, modeling, discussing,
practicing, evaluating, and reflecting. Before the participant created her WebQuest, I was able
to show the teacher an example of an online-based project that I completed through Weebly.
This helped her to generate ideas on different uses of Weebly for instructional purposes. Since
she has become familiar with Weebly, she is able to apply what she has learned in the
classroom and can show other teachers how to move away from the traditional format of
conducting projects and move towards creating an online based project. Once teachers
understand how to use Weebly and create different pages, they can take what they learned and
use Weebly for different instructional purposes. They can broaden their knowledge and present
their new skills to other staff members. The teachers can peer mentor each other and
contribute to each other’s learning.
One of the main goals of the professional development was to have teachers develop an
online based project or activity using Weebly to engage students and encourage them to be
active participants in their own learning. Being able to create an online based project and have
students participate in it allows the students to collaborate with each other and use critical
thinking skills. The hands-on approach will accommodate the different learning styles and gives
both teachers and students an understanding about technology integration and how it can have
a positive impact on student’s learning.
It will take time and effort for a professional development to be successful. A
professional development is not done once the sessions are complete. It is an ongoing process
and there are follow up activities, evaluations and discussions. The school does have the
adequate resources to support such a tool for integration and helpful all teachers can benefits
from using this tool.
Implementation
The implementation of the profession development sessions were conducted on
October 24, October 15, and November 1. The sessions were conducted in the participant’s
classroom. The first session was an introduction to Weebly and how it can be used for
instructional purposes. I started the session by having her navigate through an online based
project (WebQuest) that I have created and discuss what she notices. This allowed her to get a
better idea of which project she wanted to convert to online-based. I showed her different
features of Weebly and from there on, we set up an account for her.
The second session consisted of designing and creating the WebQuest using Weebly. We went
over different features of Weebly including how to add pages, blogs, images, and how to
publish the site once it is completed. The teacher utilized her time wisely and was able to
complete most of her WebQuest during the session.
In the last session, we moved away from the instructional use of Weebly and focused on using
Weebly to create a classroom website. The classroom website is for students to refer to at their
own convenience for important dates, assignments, and resources. We are still keeping in
touch and communicating about the follow up activities.
Overall, the sessions were productive. Since I was working with just one teacher, the
sessions ran smoothly and she was able complete the activities quicker than expected. I was
available to assist her whenever she needed assistance. I provided her with an instructional
handout which she referred to a few times.
Appendix B contains the instructional handouts the participant was given to use as a guide
while she conducted her activities.
Evaluation
Evaluations were conducted before, during, and after the sessions with the help of the
Guidelines For Evaluating Professional Development (North Central Education Laboratory,
2000). Before the sessions began, the preformative evaluations were assessed to determine the
needs for the professional development. Throughout the sessions, formative evaluation was
assessed to determine any changes that need to be made. I would ask checkpoint questions in
regards to the activities occurring during the sessions. I would also make sure the teacher was
on the right track before I would move on to the next activity. The summative evaluation,
which was conducted after the activities, was based on the Five Levels of Professional
Development Evaluation (North Central Education Laboratory, 2000). The five levels were
related to participants learning, organizational support and change, participant’s use of
knowledge and skills, and student learning outcomes. Based on the data received by the
participant, the sessions were productive and she learned a great amount of ways to utilize
Weebly for instructional purposes. She also was impressed with the student’s learning
outcome. Students also liked participating in the WebQuest that was created and liked the idea
of working on a project in a different format rather than the traditional way. The evaluations
helped with determining the overall success of the sessions and activities and helped me
determine if anything needed to be done or changed for future sessions. You will find the
evaluations below in Appendix A.
As with any use of technology, there were drawbacks with using Weebly on the school’s
computers. I wanted to play a video that presents information on how Weebly can be used for
educational purposes it would not play because of a particular software that need to be
downloaded and I did not have access to download it. We even tried to access and edit several
Weebly pages on student’s computers that were in the classroom but were blocked from doing
so which made us stick with working on just one of teacher’s computer. One recommendation
on that issue is to uplift the filters for teachers or have a separate account for teachers on the
student’s computer in case they want to use them. Also, as with any free tool, there were
limitations we came across. She wanted to imbed a video and provide a powerpoint
presentation as an example in one of the pages but could not do that (must pay for that).
Reflection
Overall, the sessions were a success. It was my first time designing and implementing a
professional development and would hope to conduct more in the future. I enjoy teaching
others things that I am interested in and that could make an impact on student’s learning. I
would have hoped for more participants but yet I was quite pleased with the teacher’s
enthusiasm and the motivation in trying to come up with different ways to enhance the
learning process. It was a learning experience for both me and for the participant.
References
North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. (2000). Critical issue: Providing professional
development for effective technology use. Retrieved December 3, 2011 from
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/technlgy/te1000.htm.
APPENDIX A
Needs Assessment Survey
Hello there! I would like to thank you in advance for willing to participate in the professional
development related to technology integration. In order to come up with a productive
professional development, I am going to need you to fill out this questionnaire to give me a
better idea on what topic to focus on and to get a general idea of your technology skills. Thank
You!
1. I would like the professional development to be related to the following area technology of
integration:
2. It would be beneficial if I learned how to:
3. What would you say your weakest area of technology is?
4. Strongest area?
5. What technology tool do you like to use?
6. What technology tool would you like to learn to use?
7. What type of technology integration would you like your students to do or contribute to?
(e.g. blogging, wikis, powerpoint)
8. List technology integration you use in your classroom. (can be tools, websites, etc..)
9. When would you be willing to participate in the professional development after school?
Preformative Evaluation:
Competency Survey
I realized many had an interest in creating classroom websites and figuring out ways to how it
can connect to student learning and the curriculum. Please take a moment to complete the
following questions. Thank You!
Name :________________________________
1. I have created a website before:
If so, explain:
2. I have created a webpage for my students to contribute to:
If so, explain:
3. I had students participate in blogs or journal entries before:
4. I usually have students write journal entries:
4. I know how to upload files, videos, images, etc.. onto a webpage:
5. I am familiar with widgets:
6. I am familiar with webpage-making sites:
7. What would you like your students to see or do with the classroom website? How would you
use the website to connect to student learning?
8. What do you hope to learn?
9. Are you familiar with WebQuests?
Formative Evaluation:
CheckPoints
CheckPoint 1: Observing
After viewing the video related to Weebly and its uses for educational purposes, I will ask the
teachers the following questions:
1. What do you notice about this site?
2. Did it give you ideas to how you can use this site for instructional purposes? If so, explain.
Hearing their answers to the questions will allow me to determine if the teachers understand
what Weebly is about and what it has to offer for them in the classroom.
CheckPoint 2: Modeling
After showing teachers how to set up an account, navigating and modeling different features of
Weebly, I will ask the teachers if they are ready to proceed with the hands on experience of
creating one of their own. If the teachers are ready, they can proceed with the experience. If
one of the teachers is not, I can reiterate some of the materials and provide better explanations
to the procedures.
CheckPoint 3: Sharing
After completing their tasks, I will ask the teachers to share what they have developed. This will
allow teachers to evaluate and reflect to each other and will also allow me to evaluate their
work. Their discussions, self-evaluation and reflection will help me understand if there is
anything that needs to be added or eliminated in other sessions.
Five Levels of Professional Development Evaluation
Summative Evaluation:
Please answer the following questions:
Level 1: Participants Reactions
1. Were the activities meaningful and productive?
2. Were the sessions worth the time?
3. Will the activities conducted be useful in practice?
Level 2: Participants Learning
1. What did you learn about Weebly?
2. Explain how you will use Weebly in the teaching and learning process.
Level 3: Organizational Support and Change
1. Do you have the resources to implement your online based-activity/project?
2. Were problems about using Weebly addressed efficiently and quickly?
3. Was administrative support public and overt?
Level 4: Participants Use of Knowledge and Skills
1. Which feature of Weebly have you used with your students?
2. Have you created more online-based activities/projects using Weebly? If so, explain.
Level 5: Student Learning Outcomes
1. Did creating an online based activity/project benefit the students in any way
(academic, behavior,etc..)? Explain.
2. Did the students have a difficult time with the online-based activity/project?
3. Were there any unintended results?
Anything else you would like to share:
APPENDIX B
Weebly for Instructional Use
www.weebly.com
Instructions:
1. After logging in, enter a title a title for your website and scroll down to education for type of
title.
2. This page will show up next. You will choose a subdomain name which is free (new domain
or one you already own are not free) for your site.
3. Whenever you log in, a “My Sites” page will appear that shows the sites you have created
under that username. You will click on the one you would like to edit.
4. The following screen shows up when you begin to edit your site.
The Elements tab contains the templates for the layout of the page. You can drag down the
templates to each page.
The Design tab provides design options on how you would like your page to look. You would
simply double click on the design you would like.
The Pages tab is where you would go to add different pages to your site and the Settings Tab
provides your account information.
How to …
Add another website under the same username:
Log in > my site page will come up > click on add site > name the site > proceed to developing/editing
the new site
Add a Page to a site:
Pages > add a page > name the page> click save
Delete a Page:
Pages > delete page > save
Add a Blog:
Pages > add a blog > name it > click edit > new post > publish
Edit an image already on the page
Double click on the image > save
Publish the Site
Click on Publish on the right hand corner
View the Published Site
Once you have published your site, you may view it by typing in the subdomain name you created for it
e.g. domainname@weebly.com
Edit the Published Site
Simply log in to Weebly.com and click on the edit button.
Classroom Website Using Weebly
1. After logging in, the following page will display the name of the sites you have created.
2. Click on edit to edit the current site OR
3. Click on the orange button “Add Site” to create another website under the same username
you logged in with.
4. Once you click on the “Add site” button, you will be asked to enter a title for your 2 nd
website.
5. The rest of the procedures are the same as when you created your first site.
Refer back to the first handout when needed.
·Potential Pages/Tabs to Add to your classroom website:
Welcome
Calendar
Supplemental Materials
Resources
BlogPage
ParentsPage
StudentsPage
Assignments News
ShowCase
Events
LessonPlans
Activities