January_27_2011


 * January 27, 2011**
 * Organizational Meeting**


 * Notetaker for the day: Jennifer Byrd**
 * Purpose of the District Website**
 * For many community members and prospective employees, the district's website represents the "first face" of the entire school district.
 * Provide information, information, information
 * Identify instructional resources for teachers, parents, and students
 * Identify individuals who can provide assistance on specific topics
 * Reflect the true quality of Harnett County Schools


 * Current Website**
 * Hosted solution
 * Maintenance and creation is meant to be a shared responsibility among several individual contributors - currently only one individual is posting information and is dependent upon others for the information
 * Mostly static content
 * Some content (department pages) - not current


 * Project Goals**
 * To update our district website (not school websites) so that it is a content-rich, easily navigated, and current source of information about our school district to serve the needs of students, parents, staff, and prospective employees and to be a clearinghouse of news about the wonderful things that are occurring in Harnett County Schools
 * To identify a basic structure for our updated website
 * To identify the primary contributors and publishers of the district website


 * New Organization and Maintenance**
 * Patricia Harmon-Lewis will now manage our district's home page
 * We will have current news articles and releases always available - SHARE THE GOOD THINGS!!!!


 * An Ideal District Website Is...**
 * CURRENT and has dynamic content.
 * **easy to navigate (intuitive).**
 * information-rich.
 * one that gives a sense of transparency of district operations.
 * rich but does not cause sensory overload.
 * professional.
 * a resource for the public, students, and staff.
 * a clearing house of the GREAT things that are going on in the school district.
 * opportunity to encourage two way communication
 * Multiple ways to get to information
 * Clean look
 * Suggested - get to what you want in 2 clicks
 * Add movies of news events
 * Look for ways to help eliminate duplicate efforts with website information
 * Forms - on department page, maintained by department (look into using and training on interactive pdf forms)
 * Information Gathering**
 * Let's divide all of the school districts in the state and take a look...
 * District names and assignments
 * After previewing other district websites, please complete one survey with compiled answers found at: []


 * Resources**
 * District Website Essentials (from Bona, Laura R. District Administrator, January 2009 Online Edition): []
 * How well does this website work? (from Bona, Laura. District Administrator, March 2010 Online Edition): []
 * District website reviews from DistrictAdministration.com: [] (Please read some of the reviews to get an idea of what is considered important by this one evaluator (Laura R. Bona).
 * Best Practices in School Website Design (Use of White Space): []
 * Section 508 Compliance: [|Section 508 Compliance]
 * Kathy Schrock's Website Critical Evaluation Resources - []
 * Literature on Instructional Technology, Educational Reform, and //Best Practices// in //School Web//. //-// [|www.bluebirdcreek.net/it/benchmrk.pdf]


 * Timeline**
 * February 11, 2011 - Complete website previews and survey
 * February - Meet again to discuss results and to brainstorm layout of homepage
 * Tasks**
 * Check out as many of the resources as possible listed in the **Resources** section above.
 * Preview (don't answer) the GoogleDoc survey listed in the **Information Gathering** section so that you will "know what you are looking for."
 * Preview the assigned North Carolina school district websites looking primarily at the structure.
 * Feel free to look at more than your assigned websites; looking at other states is also great.
 * Complete the GoogleDoc survey linked in the **Information Gathering** section.
 * In advance of our next meeting, try to visualize what you think our homepage should contain.