Kick off the new year by exploring web design, creation, and development across the curriculum! #CSforALL
Exploring web design, creation, and development across the curriculum!
As we enter 2022, we’re feeling inspired by the ways computer science is all around us, enriching our lives and deepening our connections to each other. CS is embedded in almost every aspect of our lives, helping us learn, grow, and unlock new possibilities for our futures, starting with the new year ahead.
Web creation, too, is everywhere — it’s used to share who we are with digital storytelling tools, build ways to connect with the people we love online, and to even craft the platform you’re reading from right now. As Tim Berners-Lee said, “When something is such a creative medium as the web, the limits to it are our imagination.” There’s a vast world to explore with creating with the web across interests, ideas, jobs, and subjects — there are no limits to what we can create online, and there are no limits to how you might use web creation in your classroom.
Since launching Wix Education in 2021, we’ve been so inspired by the ways students are using websites to bring their ideas to life in every subject at every point in the school year. Students are using Wix Education to create websites that bring attention to climate change, code accessible sites for their peers to have easy access to STEM scholarship opportunities, and designing portfolios that showcase their personal style. No matter the subject, the web can serve as a dynamic platform for students to let their imaginations take flight with technology.
The New Year is an opportunity to explore new ideas and ways to create with technology. As you plan what’s next for your students, here are five project ideas to take inspiration from that honor the idea of #CSEverywhere by building websites in and across every subject:
1. Create a Capstone Project Website
Bring websites to ELA and writing classrooms by creating online book reports or writing from the perspective of a character.
Rather than writing a paper, taking a test, or putting a PowerPoint together, students can flex their technological fluency while demonstrating understanding of their learning by creating with an authentic medium that they interact with every day.
Here are a few ideas for creating websites as capstone projects broken down by subject:
A picture of a table of ideas for creating websites as capstone projects broken down by subject!
Take it further with code: Use code to create dynamic buttons that control the content of your site.
2. Build an E-Portfolio
Students can create e-portfolios to showcase their work, express their personality, and reflect on their learning across subjects and grade levels.
Students can create portfolios in one (or every!) subject, and/or create portfolios that span across subjects to showcase their projects and house their ideas. Online portfolios can also be vehicles for students to document, reference, and reflect on their learning journeys, offering innovative ways for students to tap into metacognitive thinking. Perhaps most importantly, e-portfolios give students the opportunity to carve out their own spaces online. E-portfolios can provide a meaningful pathway to express who students are by customizing every bit of their portfolio to reflect their unique interests.
Take it further with code: Bring text to life by coding a custom microinteraction that adds flair and brings a sense of whimsy to an otherwise static page.
3. Create a Website about a Case and/or Passion
Students can create websites that ignite their passions while flexing their technological skills by creating websites about causes they care about.
When given a blank canvas for a website project, we most often see students taking the opportunity to highlight a case they care about or a something they’re passionate about — another website idea that can span subjects and learning goals. Students can create resource sites for local causes, advocacy sites with actionable steps or tips, or sites that help their peers feel seen and heard. We’ve seen students create activist sites to help connect their peers with local social justice protests, sites that offer ideas for curbing wasteful consumption, and sites to connect with others by sharing tips for mindfulness and self care.
The cross-curricular applications are limitless: when creating this kind of site, students can practice their writing skills as they craft descriptions, tap into computational thinking while coding custom interactions, and nurture SEL as they navigate the emotions that arise as they create their sites.
Take it further with code: Code an infographic with facts that appear as the mouse hovers over an image.
4. Build a Website for a School Club, Class, or Local Business
Club or interest websites allow students to bridge their skills and interests across subjects and share ideas with their local communities.
Building a website for a community cause (like a club, class, or even a local business) is another great way for students to tap into learning goals across subjects and topics. Students can create a vision for a community site together, then take turns adding to and updating the site to keep others informed of their work. With a collaborative project, students can take on and switch different roles (such as designer, project planner, writer, developer) to craft a website that is reflective of all of their perspectives and ideas.
Take it further with code: Use conditionals to create an interactive image that site visitors can customize and make their own.
5. Experiment with Digital Design
Websites are digital blank canvases! Create projects that invite students to explore and experiment with new ideas and new tools.
Not all websites need to serve a distinct purpose; sometimes the best learning moments arise when students are creating to create! We love websites that stretch the limits of our imagination, that tap into ideas that are silly or whimsical, or simply make us smile. One of the ways we nurture this kind of creative thinking is with a project randomizer, that helps students combine disparate topics to spark their imagination. By focusing less on the topic and more on creativity, students can expand out of their comfort zones and try out new designs or unfamiliar lines of code.
Take it further with code: Use randomness in code to create a catch game or mix-and-match site.
About the Author (Saskia Leggett): As the Education Programs Lead at Wix Education, Saskia Leggett designs personally meaningful learning experiences, creates community, and builds playful, equitable pathways for students, educators, and families to explore, experiment, and create with digital tools. Prior to Wix, Saskia designed learning experiences at the MIT Media Lab and led outreach at the Scratch Foundation. She holds a Master’s Degree in Technology, Innovation, and Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
About Wix Education: Wix Education is a free online platform and suite of teaching resources for future web creators to nurture their design and coding skills, be creative, and make their ideas come to life. Our free lesson plans and activities are designed to give educators and their students everything they need to dive into the world of web creation, design, and coding — no matter what subject they teach. Head over to wix.com/education to learn more and get started for free.