University of Wyoming Instructional Computing Services

Faculty Question:  How can my students set up their own class web pages?

Last update:  14 June 2006; G. Buck

A student website is a lot like an e-portfolio:  Each is a set of linked pages, meant to be viewed on a computer monitor, designed and composed, by the student, to display knowledge or skills.

The differences are:
  E-Portfolio:  A compendium of professional work for sharing on request, such as an inquiry from a potential employer.  Permanent.  Included documents may be in word processor format, or audio/video, or images, not just written text.  Permanent; may be stored on CD for easy copying and mailing.
  Student Website:  A web page hierarchy for sharing with the class and perhaps the public.  Materials included may link to external websites.  Temporary; for a semester assignment or graduate project.  Requires a web server.

This document addresses the "Student Website" category.  For help with e-portfolios, see the Faculty Help question, "How can my students develop their own e-portfolios for my class?"  See that page for information about Nvu, a free application that will allow students to compose a HTML website.

You need to provide your students with (a) a server, that is, a computer with lots of storage space, connected to the network, and (b) the authorization and skills to set it up and manage it.  For information about websites maintained solely by you, the instructor, see the Faculty FAQ about web servers.  Faculty skilled in web site administration should see question #1 below OR contact their departmental user consultant.  However, for faculty unskilled in web site administration, the choices, outlined below, are limited by legitimate security concerns. 

• Your own dedicated class server space open to students without your intervention, on the UW servers

  IT did not in general allow this until recently, due to security and administration problems. Such problems are difficult in a college class environment. But now, with some control exercised by the instructor, you can request basic or Frontpage websites.  Go to http://www.uwyo.edu/AskIT/ and click on "Frequently-Asked Questions," then "UW Website FAQ" (near the bottom, #50901).  Within that document, you want the question "Can instructors have a class site with sub-webs..."  which will show you two choices: (1) Basic with sub-webs, or (2) Frontpage with sub-webs.  For guidance, discuss procedures with us or your department's user consultant.

  >>>>   However, UW students already have their own public Web server space.

• Student HTML directories on the "Students" server

  Each UW student can setu up a web page at either the "Students" server (MS Frontpage) or the "W3" server (HTML), by following instructions at http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/InfoTech/services/studentserv/.  The URL will be http://students.uwyo.edu/username. Students (with significant exceptions) are more skilled in writing web pages than you might think, and IT has instructions at the student services pages. These websites are meant to be for personal use, and students have access to only their own, so they are not well suited to collaborative class projects.  Sites are purged every six months, so sustained development and use is not practical.

  >>>>   Where else they put their web pages, that requires no management by the instructor?

• On a WebCT or eCompanion course

  You can request an online course at http://www.uwyo.edu/onlnsupp (go to "Faculty Resources"). This option uses our general online education platforms, WebCT and eCompanion, to maintain several types of Internet-based materials on the WebCT or eCollege server. Rudimentary student web sites can be set up, with restrictions.  These pages are private to the course, not accessible to the world at large.

>>>>    And where can my students go if they need help?

They can go to you.

The purpose of this office, Instructional Computing Services, is to assist faculty, not students.  We would be happy to demonstrate Frontpage (or some other web-authoring tool, or plain HTML) to you and your class together, or to teach you how to use those facilities, in person, here in the lab. See also the computer training available to faculty at http://uwadmnweb.uwyo.edu/InfoTech/Training, and other entries in the ICS Faculty Help page.  We strongly recommend that faculty who want to assign web development projects to their students learn the necessary skills themselves first.  Students who are driven to seek help here, however, will not be turned away unless we're busy.

Students can also contact Scott Johnson at IT for the latest short courses offered by ASUW.