While there are many projects on my plate right now (wait ’til Monday for a pretty cool collaboraton announcement…) none is bigger than the transition of our school Website from a traditional one person is the keeper of the kingdom format to anyone with relevant content can have digital paper space with Manila format. I’m not sure that I’ve written much about my plan of attack here, but I’m at the point where I’m starting to put the hard sell on some of the key people at my school with the hopes that they’ll be the ones to carry the ball to the rest of the staff. I’m really concerned that this not be seen as “Will’s Idea,” so I’m trying to tread that thin line between getting us where I think we ought to go without being the driver of that bus. It’s tough.
But I think we’re off to a good start. The Website Redesign Team met for the first time on Wednesday. I gave them the “we have an opportunity to do something radically different and create a model for others to follow” pep talk, and then we started thinking about the philosophy we wanted to have for this site. Here’s the draft we came up with:
“The Hunterdon Central Website should be a warm, friendly, human space that highlights the work of students and teachers, provides collaborative opportunities, connects the school and community, and serves as the first, best marketing and informational tool for the district.”
I think I like that…a lot. Especially the part about collaboration because to me, that means Manila. That means a model where many add to the site, not just one. That’s the way it should be, I think. And I that connecting the school and community part isn’t going to happen with a traditional site. How many times have you seen ‘Discuss’ on a school Website?
Now I know this “model” creates the potential for all sorts of problems and headaches…it’s scary, believe me. I’m putting a lot of faith in this software and this still untested idea. But I just keep saying that we’ll deal with whatever comes up. What I see in my brain will probably not come to fruition for any number of reasons…at least not as quickly as I want it to. But the pieces are starting to come together. What an interesting trip this could be…
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