Websolutions: Oakwood Elementary School

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Websolutions Oakwood Elementary School

• Issues of Usability and Sustainability
• By Sean Fox-Elster
• Oakwood Elementary School Site

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Activities of Site

• Parents
• Check on school closings
• Check lunch menu
• Learn about class activities
• Fundraisers
• New subject matter
• Class holiday events
• Daily schedules
• Library
• Art
• Music
• Physical education
• Lunch

• Teachers
• Create newsletter updating parents on class
  activities
• Update Individual websites for class (if used)
• Accessing teacher resources
• Reviewing and answering email
• Webmaster
• Post weekly newsletters
• Update activity schedules per semester
• Post monthly lunch menu
• Update school closing and advisories

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Website Issues

• Usability Issues
• Slow loading pages
• No consistency with information from teachers
• Menu page is unreadable
• Site is boring
• Should we add kids as users?

• Sustainability Issues
• No regularly updated teacher sites
• No consistent weekly newsletter postings
• Old html format with multiple tables

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Breakdown in Current ScenarioParent Newsletters
We use a newsletter to inform parents of class
events
No enforcement For consistency
Roles
If no newsletter then Parents have nowhere Else
to go
Inform parents With a weekly newsletter
Teachers Parents Webmaster
Where do I Find the Information?
Parents check Site for updates
Copies information Onto website weekly
If no information Given then section is blank
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Transformed ScenarioParent Newsletter
We use a newsletter to inform parents of class
activities
Go to website To view newsletter I can print my
Own copy
Produce weekly Newsletter Using On-line
template Turn in to webmaster
Teachers Parents Webmaster
Post newsletter on site with a Common template
and post It as a printable page
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Research design chart (RDC)Usability and
Sustainability
Questions
Data Sources
Methods
Who?
When?
Kindergarten Teacher First Grade Teacher
Week of 11/20
Interview And Survey
How can we update the website to make it more
user friendly?
Teachers
Week of Thanksgiving
Ami Kihn Andrea Gruber Shannon
Scenario And Survey
Parents
Week of 11/20 ?
Webmaster
Interview
Webmaster
Kindergarten Teacher First Grade Teacher
Interview And Survey
Do we want to add kids As a user? If yes,
then Whats Needed?
Teachers
Ami Kihn Andrea Gruber Shannon
Interview And Survey
Parents
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Research design chart (RDC)Usability and
Sustainability
Questions
Data Sources
Methods
Who?
When?
Kindergarten Teacher First Grade Teacher
Can we Simplify the Input Process for
Less web-savvy teachers and Future webmasters?
Interview And Survey
Teachers
Webmaster
Interview
Webmaster
Kindergarten Teacher First Grade Teacher
Interview And Survey
Teachers
What do you Want the site To do for you?
Ami Kihn Andrea Gruber Shannon
Interview And Survey
Parents
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GANTT chart
Nov December
Genre analysis (other elementary schools)
Interviewing, Surveying, and User Testing
(on-going)
Teachers
Parents
Webmaster
Progress Report due
Preliminary Recommendations
Create samples
Draft final Report due
Web prototype
Final adjustments
Final Report due
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Summary of Project Issues

• Usability
• Speed up loading time of pages
• Teachers
• Simplify information input processes
• Parents
• Look at on-line, updated newsletter
• Find information on class activities
• Easy access to school closing information
• Find easy to read lunch menu
• Access for kids?

• Sustainability
• Webmaster
• CSS style sheet for easy reading and updating
• Increase upload speed
• Provide easy way for teachers to update
  newsletters
• Simplify process for future webmasters
• Provide on-line templates for teachers to input
  information and to create individual class web
  pages
• Update design to be more attractive to kids and
  parents