But where do I begin, I subscribed to a hosting service and have an ENTIRELY blank page, I played with their templates and it looked terrible. So I want to start from Scratch. I bought some software the Adobve Creative Suite, not necessarily for this project but that I wanted to starting learning web design, going to take a online class in it starting 10/4.
I was reading through my Mashable reader items and stumbled across items about Web Fonts, Web technologies, and it reinforced the face to me that this is all new and foreign to me, so I have a feeling of what a first time online student feels like about the learning platform that I take for granted as the back of my hand.
John
Wow, John, what a gift to be reminded what your students might be feeling like. I appreciate the realization that using technology just to use technolgy can create frustration for our audience. I think that is really true and puts the responsiblity back on us to figure out when and where it can make the most impact. Good luck, nothing like starting the learning curve over and over and over!
ReplyDeleteThere's no question that a "full speed ahead" approach with blank pages give you the most freedom to create exactly what you want. But it's also the most challenging to design from a blank page. Stay open to the idea that you might want to start with a template and customize. Regardless of if you start with a template or not, I'd suggest three things: (1) Create an overall design/structure. For most people, good web design starts WITHOUT the computer. Figure it out on paper before you start creating it digitally. It will save time/heartache. The next two ideas are actually necessary to make your design. (2) Figure out what you need and want. As part of your planning, make a list of what you need and want to include content-wise, feature/interaction-wise, and navigation-wise. Seperate it into NEEDS and WANTS. Obviously you start designing with the needs but try to stay open to including the wants if you have time. (3) Take a critical look at other's websites for things you like/don't like.
ReplyDeleteHaving said all this...could PBWorks work for your first go-around? Or Google sites? Using one of these might be a nice way to "sandbox" it for one course offering to hone in on what you really need or want before you spend all the time creating the site in more sophisticated software. (you can do that for the second offering! :-)
What program did you end up going with? Is it a drag and drop style where you don't need to know any HTML? I find that when I am at a loss, I just sit and draw out what I might like on a piece of paper. That way you don't get stuck into keeping your web page one way after tons of work put into it.
ReplyDeleteIt's so intimidating to look at a blank page - it doesn't matter if it's paper, a new document, or a web page!
ReplyDeleteI would completely agree with the suggestion of outlining the page first, however you choose to do so. It should help to get the creativity flowing. Then, get something up there and tweak away!
Good luck!
I found same issue like yours with our staff who are not IT professional. I worked with engineer on daily basis helping them on using training material online but sometime they give up because they find online stuff completly foreign to them. I usually create a documentation on online training materials , so if they stuck on some part then they can go and read that documentation.
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