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A couple of years ago I started a website for my Grades 5&6 Technology classes while my District was promoting the use of Weebly. I loved it - easy to navigate, easy to design, easy to add components. With the start of the IT&DML program, I really wanted to try something new. A photographer friend of mine uses Wix, Ian uses Google Sites for the Digital Texts and Tools pages, and several of my comrades in the program use Word Press.
I have to be honest - I attempted several beginnings with all three of those site platforms, and either disliked or did not understand how to navigate any of them. I am frustrated - so many people in our cohort and out seem to be using these tools seamlessly with enviable professional-looking results. Faced with asking myself if I'm inflexible, or worse, 'set in my ways,' I've been thinking that I became so comfortable with Weebly that subconsciously or not, I've decided it's the only platform that will work for me.
That can't be the case, I'm certain. I've tried and loved a great number of new technology products in the last six months. Diigo, avatars, collaborative learning, multimodal tutorials.... Maybe Weebly is just the right fit for me.
My hub was nonexistent in July. Most of my challenges with building this hub have been in the branding of it. How do I want to be perceived? Which self is represented? Who is my audience? What are my goals?
I like the layout of my hub and the graphics. I like the stark black and white imagery and design - it is simple, and the focus is on the content I create. I am less enthusiastic about the navigation bar and limited number of tabs I can use before they are hidden and consolidated under a 'More...' tab. I also feel as though the 'Tutorials' tab could be better organized. Should I have my tutorials listed? Or perhaps represented with images in a clickable grid that you don't have to scroll through?
Unlike the end of a semester, the development of my Hub and Blog will not have their loose ends neatly tied up. The nature of technology is change. Evolution. A digital presence must reflect that capacity to morph and be fluid, and hopefully, my online identity, wrapped up in the variables of my websites, will model that potential, as well.