I believe that a media center web page is the media center’s second front door. An effective media center web page pulls together, in one unified interface, the media center resources, policies and procedures and any other needed information for the teachers, students, parents and other members of the community.
As a media specialist is determining what to include on the school’s media center web page, it is important for her or she to keep the targeted audience in mind. Information that is needed by teachers, students and parents should be included on the web page.
What to Include for Teachers?
Teachers are always searching for new ways to teach lessons to their students. They are always searching for good books to read and valuable websites and technology resources to use in order to enhance their lessons for the benefit of their students. Because this is reality, why not help decrease the amount of research time for the teacher by providing them with easy access to lists of good books, valuable websites and other resources to use in order to help them better plan for their students. Teachers would appreciate lists of books, to use in the classroom, that correlate with the Georgia Performance Standards for their grade level. A list of websites that contain lesson plans already created would also help to benefit the teachers and also help to improve their instruction. If certain technologies are present in the school, such as SmartBoards, it would be beneficial to have a link to information about using SmartBoards and also lessons already created for the SmartBoard. It is important for the media specialist to make the media center web page teacher friendly!
What to Include for Students?
Students love reading good books! We know this for a fact; therefore, media specialists should include book lists organized by genres to help students find the right book for them. Book talks and book reviews should also be included on the media center page in order to help the students become excited about reading. A list of the recent book award winners would also be helpful for the students as they begin their search for a good book. The students also need to know the hours that the media center is open and the procedures for checking out books. This information should be easily located on the web page and presented in a format in which students can read and understand easily. We also know that students love to search the Internet and are required to use the Internet frequently to complete assignments. Therefore, media specialists should provide the students with a list of student friendly websites that will help them complete their assignments successfully. The websites should be listed in an organized and friendly use manner.
What to Include for Parents?
Parents are very interested in what is happening at their child’s school. Therefore, it is important to provide access to this information. A media center calendar would be very beneficial for the parents to be able to access on a regular basis. The Accelerated Reader program is used in many schools and some parents are interested in how the program works and a list of AR books that are located in their child’s school library media center. This information would be beneficial for parents as they help assist their child in becoming a better reader.
Web Page Layout
As the media specialist begins typing all of the information for the web page, it is important for him or her to lay out the information in a way that is user friendly. When viewers are locating information on a web page, they want to be able to scan the words and paragraphs and find their information quickly. Therefore, it is important to indent the content contained on the web page, to keep the paragraphs short (no longer than 3-4 sentences), to use bullet lists to display information, to use different style fonts and different color fonts for information, and to include images to catch the viewers eye. A user friendly media center webpage will be in the making if those tips are used!
I like that you give suggestions about what to offer for each group of stakeholders. I think it is important not forget the parents when making information available onthe media center's web page. My favorite suggestion that you make is for teachers. You make suggestions to provide assistance for tutorials online that can help with common technology in your specific school. We have these available at my school and it made it so much easier for me to access the information and connect things myself rather than putting in a request for someone else to come to my room and do it. It makes teachers feel self sufficient and in control. I think for those who want to do it themselves it should be available online but for those who do not feel comfortable, the media specialist will be there as well.
ReplyDeleteFor students, you mention helping studnets find good books to read. I like the idea of having studnets generate a list; they always trust a peers point of view over an adult's.
Great Stuff! Thanks, Raina
Your ideas for a media center web page are great. I appreciate what you said about the web page being the front door and that a media specialist should keep his or her target audience in mind.
ReplyDeleteYour ideas for inclusions to help teachers and parents especially caught my attention and I thought about a few items that could be added to your list.
For teachers, I think it is a great idea to include books that meet state standards and links to lesson plans. It might also be helpful to include links to different pathfinders, or web sites that provide pathfinders to teachers. They are a wonderful resource for teachers who need to create a whole unit on a topic.
And I think to build on the book lists that correlate with standards, any time a new book becomes part of the media center collection that would go along with a particular standard, the media center could include this on a section of the site. Maybe have a new materials corner or page. And then, if it is a resource that complements a standard, include this standard in the posting. It might also be helpful to have an interactive wish list on the page. Teachers could suggest materials for the media center, and include the standard that goes along with the material they are requesting. Having a “wish” link with a standard would certainly give it some weight.
I think also, to go along with your suggestion about the SmartBoards and having links to helpful information, that maybe tech tips could be included on the web page. Because the media specialist will already have to learn the new technology, whatever it is, he or she could create a tech tip while learning the new tool. This would reinforce the learning for the media specialist and pass it along to the teachers by faster means.
Your idea for a calendar for parents was also great! I think parents would be very interested in the goings-on in the media center. Especially when it comes to events like Read for the Record or the Polar Express event we do at my school. We have a lot of parents that like to participate in events like that. In fact, if it could be done, I think having an interactive, volunteer sign-up linked to the event calendar might be a positive thing. That way parents can see that not only does the media specialist want parents to know about their child’s media center; the parents are invited to participate and be a part of the media center.
I also agree that parents are very interested in Accelerated Reader. If they can look up books in the media center, they might also suggest books that their child or children might enjoy reading. And the AR levels on the books can help them understand what their child should be reading.
Like you said, the web site is the door. As media specialists, we have to ensure that it remains open.
Your post is so informative. It is so important to think about all who will view a webpage when creating it. Parents appreciate when there is information especially for them included on any school communication. Additionally providing student information on the website allows them access at home and it also helps to build their level of responsibility for their own learning and media center use. I love the idea of including books by genre! The layout of a webpage is also very important. A very busy webpage with entries all over the place is very distracting. Parents, teachers and students all appreciate a webpage that is organized and easy to navigate.
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