By Holly Olberding
NETS-T IA,D; IIB; IIIA,B,C,D; IVC; VB,C,D

With each new school year, teachers are always looking for ways to increase communication with parents and students. Teachers want to make sure important information is reaching its destination; paper copies can easily be thrown in the trash as students exit the classroom, never making it home for parents to see. 

Using a classroom website can allow teachers to keep parents informed electronically, ensuring that they will get the information straight from the teacher. It will also cut down on paper usage at school and paper accumulation in the home.

Communication is an important tool in a successful classroom, and a website can both convey important information and act as a learning tool within the classroom. If the program you choose allows for it, you can participate in online discussions with students. This is a perfect avenue for those students who are afraid to raise their hands to discuss within the classroom setting. 

Online testing features can also help prepare students for the online testing they will encounter as they progress through the educational system; grading features allow teachers to focus more on content learning than on grading tests and assignments. 

Many teachers have used learning management systems such as Moodle or Blackboard to keep parents up to date and informed. A simple and elegant alternative to such systems is Haiku Learning Management System (LMS). It's a program developed with the K-12 environment in mind.

Visit www.haikulearning.com to create and manage your own online classroom! Or visit any of the sites featured at the end of this article to investigate other options.

The creators of Haiku LMS have worked with teachers to meet their ever-changing needs and create a program that is very easy to use. The simple, yet effective layout allows you to create and maintain your pages while staying organized. Sign up for a free account, and if you are satisfied with the program, you can upgrade for a fee which will give you more benefits and storage space. 

Haiku LMS allows users to create their content using a word processing format rather than having to use HTML coding. You are also able to include audio, video, and images in your pages. Haiku LMS includes features such as an online discussion forum and a digital dropbox into which students can submit assignments.

Worried about the "look" of your page? Haiku LMS has a variety of skins to choose for backgrounds--or you can design your own using the Designer's Toolkit.

Once you are familiar with the setup and creation of your content, you are able to develop assignments for your students or use the calendar to set up reminders for parents. You also have the option of using the gradebook, though at this time there is not an export feature if you are using another type of online gradebook.

One great feature is the option to create assessments online which can be taken by students and then graded immediately. You will need to invest some time to create the assessment, but the option is a timesaver when it comes to grading and giving feedback. Concerned about cheating? Haiku LMS allows you to scramble the questions with each logged on user.

Haiku is not just an online classroom for students. Use the program as your classroom web page to provide another great communication tool to the home! Maintaining an online presence is becoming easier and easier for busy educators.

Website Development Options

If you decide not to use Haiku LMS, consider choosing a similar program to stay connected with parents and students, both inside and outside the classroom. Other options are listed below, or find out whether your district recommends a particular program to develop a classroom website.

Moodle
A free, open source learning management system.
www.moodle.org

ClassJump
A simple site offering free websites for teachers. The site was developed by two programmers as a resource for educators to communicate with students and parents quickly and easily.
www.classjump.com

TeacherWeb
A subscription site that allows you to create and maintain a website for your classroom.
www.teacherweb.com