SWOT Analysis on Wesite

SWOT Analysis on the use of a Website tool in the classroom

Strengths	Weaknesses
Design choice - can personalise the layout, look and feel (create own website) Great access – school and home Sharing tool either through link or embedding site into other ICT tools Creative tool Students have ownership over their learning journey and pace Settings can be managed by the school or classroom teacher	False information Inappropriate information is shared Only one perspective Accessed by anyone Plagiarism of other peoples work Student must have access to a computer and the Internet
Opportunities	Threats
Gives a voice to all students Personalized learning - students own topic Creative tool- unlimited applications Improve literacy skills Improve computer skills Improve information literacy skills Research and referencing Can be used to show parents the student progress Great communicative tool between teacher and student  Communicative tool between teacher (school) and parent	Internet predators Failure of technology Plagiarism of your ideas Cyber bulling (if own website is created) Unable to validate website

Above is a SWOT analysis I created discussing the use of a website in a classroom environment.  The design program I used was weebly.com a very simple and user- friendly program, which works through designing your site a step at a time. The benefits of this particular design template are that the designers have recognised that this tool is hugely beneficial for educational purposes, and so have allocated a design template specifically for this purpose. I used this template, and found it such a inspiring and creative tool.  I hadn’t used a program like this before, and so I was both nervous and curious to explore the concept of a website, and importantly decide whether I could identify a purpose for this tool within my classroom. I found that one of the most exciting aspects of a website is the ability for the tool to be used in conjunction with so many other ICT tools, and therefore helping to create  appropriate learning outcomes for different learners within my class. Some of the learning approaches that I could see from using my website include the following;

·         Collaborative learning – the interaction with other class members to share knowledge

·         Problem- based learning – through blogs or forums on the website

·         Discovery based learning – using the website to explore, analyse, organise and generate knowledge

·         Self-directed learning- self paced, and class editing of uploaded work

So YES I will definitely be using a website in my classroom!!
This is the link to my website I have been working on over the last few days. Again it's not finished, but I have really enjoyed the creative process I have been able to work through, and I am sure the students would appreciate how collaborative this tool is.

http://ourjourneyaroundtheworld.weebly.com/

Happy Blogging!