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the students' voice
Class Websites - What's the Buzz? by Lin Wan Jie
As the title goes: Class websites - what's the buzz? If you log on to the RGS homepage, you will notice the Class homepages section under Student Showcase. Not all the classes have one; and most of those that do, such as of my class (113), do not have their pages linked by the official site. The main focus of this article though, is on the importance of a class' support for the class homepage to succeed. Don't understand? Read on.The basics, I suppose, are to build class spirit and establish a sort of 'home' or community on the WWW where members of the class can meet and chat. However, I am not sure if this really works. In the case of my class, despite having set up a class website, it has not exactly gained the support and enthusiasm of the classmates. Though many have visited, they have not left comments for improvements and suggestions. I am not sure if this is the case for other classes, but don't you think it is disappointing to set up a website serving a class when the audience isn't even there?
My idea of the perfect class website would be an established and regularly updated one, one in which every member of the class had a hand in, either an entry in the guestbook, a post in the forum, or as one of the mistresses of the site. It will be a place for sharing and bonding, where one can recommend good websites for others of the class, or post helpful advice and explanations to the latest subject or concepts covered in class. If you have discovered a new math formula to solve the question on today's Math Worksheet, why not e-mail your classmate who updates the site, and get it posted onto the class homepage? Post fool-proof methods of studying to guarantee stunning performances, post key points to take note of for the latest test, post test dates and the subjects tested, post third language guides for the benefit of those who don't take the language. The possibilities are endless. This way everybody in your class (or those who do check the site) will benefit. The class should excel together, and long after everyone has moved on in life and left school, the class website will still be there, this time as a place to meet and renew ties with each other. This would really be the PERFECT class website.But will it ever exist? The main onus lies on in the class, and their spontaneous participation in making the website a success, for they are the ones the site is for.
I hope this short article has given new insight to those who read it. I am after all, the 'webmistress' (it's a bad term, but I couldn't think of anything else) of my class homepage, of which my class mates are not very enthusiastic about, hence I experience first-hand how important the class's support is for the homepage to succeed. Now that you know, visit your class homepage today and tell your classmates what you think - or, if your class doesn't have one, start one and make it a success. It's good practice too.( If any readers want to know where the unofficial 113 (my class) homepage, it's here. )