Teacher Web Project Critiques

Student Learning: A class website might impact student learning in a positive way because it would allow students to revisit the information after school was over. If they were unsure about a topic that was covered in class, students could go onto the class website and visit links that were posted intended for increasing student learning through play. I also think that student learning would be impacted positively by a class website because the students would be able to go home and show their parents the hard work they did on a project or presentation. This might increase the students’ feelings towards school and learning if they got positive reinforcement from home as well as from school.

Student Engagement: A class website could impact student engagement in a positive manner because having a place on the internet that is just for them might get students excited about learning, especially if you have fun, interactive activities for the students to do while they are online. Although there would be mostly a positive impact on student engagement from a class website, there might also be a negative effect. A class website might negatively impact student engagement because not every student may access to a computer and the internet. So, if a teacher were to post homework questions or assignments that not every student was receiving, it could have a negative impact on the students’ willingness to participate.

Communication with Students and Parents: A class website would allow improved communication between parents and students, assuming that each student had access to a computer. A class website would allow parents to email and communicate with the teacher through emails. This way, if the parent was on the website and they had a question about the material, they could immediately send an email instead of navigating through other pages. A class webpage would also allow the teacher to post important upcoming events that the students and parents would need to be aware of. This would allow for an increase in participation because more people would be reminded of what’s going on.

Advantages: One advantage of using a classroom website within teaching activities is that the website would increase parent-teacher communication. It would increase communication because parents would be able to access information regarding their child without depending on their child to deliver the notes from their teacher. Another advantage of using a classroom website would be that it would increase student involvement in their schooling. It would do this because the students would be engaged in the information outside of the 6-hour school day and they might find something, through links, that would interest them more on a specific topic and would therefore increase their interest in the subject.

Disadvantages: One disadvantage of depending on a classroom website would be that not everyone has access to the internet or a computer. Therefore, if you posted reminders only on the website, not every parent would get the information. Another disadvantage of having a classroom website is that teachers might get so wrapped up in updating their website and making it perfect, that they forget about making the actual classroom experience stimulating and exciting.