Build a Class Website with Weebly

Jenny Siegfried, Waubonsee Community College
Cathy Kramer, Joliet Junior College/College of DuPage
 
Do you find yourself using a variety of web resources and wishing you had a way to keep them all together? Do your students ask you for internet resources they can use to practice at home? Do you want to do more with introducing your adult learners to the internet, but aren't sure where to start? We've had great success using Weebly.com to create websites we can use with our adult learners in a variety of ways.
 
Weebly is an internet-based platform that allows you to build and publish your own website for free. The first step is to create an account and do some activities to prove that you're human. Next, you'll select a theme - there are plenty to choose from! Once you choose a theme, Weebly will take you to its site editor. Here, you can edit and add text, change pictures and other elements, and customize each page of your site to suit your needs. You can also add pages and reorganize your site by clicking the "Pages" tab at the top of the editor. There IS a bit of a learning curve with using the site editor, so start simple – you can always add more once you get the hang of it!
 
So you've created your site and done some editing - now what? Here are some ways that we've used our Weebly sites with students:

• Keep resources in a central location (for example, Ventures links for ESL or research skill videos for ABE/ASE)
• Make a class blog with daily or weekly videos, activities, and websites for extra practice
• Put homework or assignments for "flipped" classroom activities on your site
• Use a blog page as a discussion board: post a prompt, then have students add comments
• Upload your syllabus or keep a class calendar with important dates
• Share your professional experience - you can upload conference presentations, link to a LinkedIn profile, or have a professional biography on your site
• Use your site in class as a common starting point for activities during computer time
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For all its benefits, however, there are some issues with using Weebly that teachers should be aware of. First, students sometimes have trouble navigating to and around your website; it’s important to demonstrate how to use it and make sure that your site’s address is typed correctly (you can text or email your link to students to get around this). You may wish to demonstrate site navigation frequently, especially if you expect students to find a specific page or make a comment on a blog post. Finally, remember that your site is publicly available on the internet, so be cautious with the information you and your students add.
 
Even with these minor issues, we have found Weebly to be an easy and rewarding way to incorporate technology use into our adult education classes. We hope you’ll give it a try! Feel free to check out our Weebly sites for inspiration:
 
http://cathykramer.weebly.com
http://teacherjennyesl.weebly.com

Have you built a website for your students? Share a link in the comments!