Google Sites Create A Basic Site Alex Reyes
Dijital Maestro
L ESSON 1
A Basic Site
In this introductory lesson we will setup a basic classroom site from which we will develop instructional resources in future lessons. In this lesson we will create a site with pages to support instruction in several content areas. This lesson will focus on a typical elementary school teacher that teaches all the content areas, but the principals can be used by departmentalized campuses like middle schools and high schools. If you don't have a gmail account, which is needed to create a Google site, create a free account by going to gmail.com.
Google provides an easy way to create free web sites. Web sites can be a powerful tool for educators. They can be used to deliver a variety of instructional content. It can also be used by students to submit content in a variety of formats and venues. Google provides free content. Much of this content can be used for collaboration and sharing. Creating a site with Google is a great way to harness these great tools for teaching. 1
Sign into your Google/Gmail account. If you go to Google.com the sign in option will be available on the right side.
Enter your gmail address and password.
2
Once you've logged in, the right side will display your name and gmail avatar.
Click on the Google apps launcher. A list of apps will display.
3
If the Sites app is not available in this list, you will need to click on the more option.
If you don't see the Sites app here, click even more from Google.
4
A list of all the available Google apps will be displayed. Scroll down the list and look for the category that reads Home & Office.
The Home & Office section has two columns of apps. Sites should be in one of the column lists. Click on Sites.
5
A page will open with a button to create your first site. With Google Sites you can create multiple sites. Click on the Create button.
The first thing we see is the option to select a template. There are some basic templates, but we will begin with a blank template so we can learn how to develop our own styles. The blank template option is automatically selected for us.
6
Below the template option we have a place to provide a name for our site.
Provide a name for your site. Below the site name you will see the site location section. This is the URL to the site you will create. The URL begins with https://sites.google.com/site/ and is followed by a blank. This blank is automatically filled in with the name of your site. You could leave this as is or change it.
7
I'll modify the URL to make it easier to use. This is where people will go to see my web site once it is published.
Below the site location we have a section where we can select a theme for our site. The blank site is a little to plain so let's select a template to give our site a little more color.
8
I'll select a color theme. Google sites does not provide a preview, but you can always change the theme later if your not happy with it.
After selecting a theme let's enter a site description. This doesn't have to be very long.
9
To finish creating the site, enter the security code into the field.
After entering the code, scroll back to the top of the page and click the create button.
10
The site will be created in a few moments and displayed with a home page and a site map. Let's add some basic information to our home page.
To edit any page, click on the edit button.
11
When you're in edit mode, a basic toolbar will display so you can format content on the page.
I'll provide some basic information about the site and my contact information.
12
When you're done editing the page, click the save button. Google Site tries to save a draft of your page every few minutes. This assures you won't loos anything if something goes wrong with your network connection.
We now have a basic site, which we can use to build all our instructional content.
13
Copyright ŠCopyright 2014 by Alex Reyes Cover design by Alex Reyes This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of
this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.
Every effort has been
made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is provided without warranty, either expressed or implied. Neither the author, nor any distributors will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.The author has endeavored to provide trademark information about all the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, the author cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
Š 2014 xiv