Comparison of Parent and Teacher Perceptions of Desired Website Features and Elementary Teacher Website Practice

• In Event: Poster Session 6
  In Poster Session: Instructional Technology SIG: Poster Session 1

Abstract

Teacher-created websites, wikis, and blogs are increasing due to the relative ease of online web creation tools and the benefits of home-school communication. Given that no national guidelines for teacher website creation exist, Unal (2008) conducted a national survey of elementary parents and teachers to assess what features are desired in classroom websites. This study compares desired and non-essential features of teacher websites with a sample of 20 elementary teacher websites from a national report examining technology-using teachers (Author et al., 2010). The results of the feature analysis indicate desired website features are not commonly present on teacher-created websites. Interview data from a selected sample of the website authors provided follow-up information regarding the purposes of various features.

Authors

• Tiffany Anne Roman, Indiana University

• Anne Todd Ottenbreit-Leftwich, Indiana University