Building Your Course Website
There's no great mystery to the process.
There’s no reason why it has to cost a bundle.
You just need to know where to look.
That, plus a few simple guidelines and instructions, and you’re on your way.
We created The Bargain Hunter’s Guide to Building Your Course Web Site as an alternative (maybe short term, maybe longer) —or as a supplement—to the uptown packages so popular on campuses today.
- Do you want your course Web site up and running right away?
- Are you tired of waiting for your institution to settle on a plan?
- Are you less than satisfied with your institution’s software choices?
- Do you like some features of the chosen software but not others?
- Would you rather spend your training time on solid, transferrable skills than on the peculiarities of some software that may disappear next year?
- Do you have an independent streak, an eye for a bargain, and a yen to add an online component to your current courses?
- Do you perhaps represent an institution that’s ready to “test the waters” before committing to a full-scale software investment?
The Bargain Hunter’s Guide will get you off the ground right away. It will expand your horizons. It will lead you to options you might never have known existed.
Not until we started building this guide did we realize just how much we know here at FutureU about low-cost solutions for the online classroom. And how much we continue to learn. There’s more available all the time: web hosting packages, HTML editors, online calendars, grade books, quiz generators, and much, much more, all free to you or costing no more than a few dollars.
At FutureU we’ve identified and tested dozens of low-cost site-building resources that really work. We’re always on the lookout for the next great bargain. It’s kind of a hobby around here.
Like all enthusiasts, we have a network of colleagues who let us know about bargains and great ideas they discover. Software developers around the world have asked us to “beta test” their new products. Seems like every week there’s something new worth checking out.
Meanwhile, we marvel at how much institutions spend on course management software that accomplishes little or nothing more than what can be done, just as well or better, on a dime.
We sympathize with the many eager course developers who loyally wait while a campus committee debates the many software options and reaches an agreement on which one to anoint. We’ve seen that process take years.
We’ve also seen institutions invest (financially and emotionally) in one software package, and train their faculty members in its use, only to see the whole enterprise crumble when the vendor goes out of business. The search starts over and the faculty goes back to a holding pattern, having picked up few if any transferrable skills.
It’s a shame.
With so many excellent solutions available at bargain prices, there’s no reason to delay. There’s no reason to settle for solutions that are unreliable or more complicated than you need. There’s every reason to start building your own course Web site right now.
We believe in online support of the classroom and we want everyone to learn how to build a terrific course Web site as quickly, easily, and inexpensively as possible.
In the Bargain Hunter’s Guide, we’ve collected links to dozens of free and low-cost resources for building your course Web site. We’ve personally tested every one of these products and selected only the best to share with you.
Wrapped around these links are more than 50 pages of guidelines and tips written by us to help you get started on the right foot, avoid wrong turns, and finish with a truly terrific course Web site. The material is easy to read, so the work is painless and even fun.
Contents
- “A Fresh Look at Course Management Software”
- “The 4 Easy Steps to Putting Your Course Online”
- “A Simple Syllabus and Course Calendar”
- “No-Frills (But Highly Effective) Course Materials”
- “A Quick Way to Post Quizzes and Exams (and import them into course management software if you must)”
- “The Fastest, Cheapest Ways to Move Your Site to the Web”
- “Easy Online Communication With Your Students”
- “The 10 Mistakes You Don’t Want to Make”
- “Bonus Section: Build a Successful Course Website…Automatically”
Features
Links to the best:
- Free tutorials about computers and the Internet for novices
- Free and low-cost Web hosts
- Free lesson plans and course content
- Free and low-cost HTML editors
- Free and low-cost calendar templates
- Free and low-cost quiz generators
- Solutions to the online grade book dilemma
- Free trial sites for some leading course management software
- The 8 basic steps for building a web page
- The Tenderfoot’s Guide to HTML (the language of Web pages):
- 3 basic rules that will save you from headaches
- 8 essential HTML tags and the clearest instructions you’ll find anywhere
- The one big no-no you want to avoid
- Ways to build a page without knowing any HTML at all
- All about “intranet software”
- A free online discussion forum where you can ask questions, find answers, and exchange ideas
Benefits
- Dramatically broaden your career options.
- Find out what all the fuss is about—without making a huge commitment.
- Save hundreds or even thousands of dollars on software.
- Avoid institutional delays. Get your course Web site up now!
- Work at your own speed, at your own convenience.
- Pick and choose from the tools you prefer. (Don’t settle for packaged software that frustrates and limits you.)
- Replace one or more parts of a course management software package with something much better but still compatible.
- Gain confidence at your own pace!
- Have it all at almost no cost!
Technical Requirement
Access to The Bargain Hunter’s Guide to Building Your Course Web Site requires Internet access and an email address.