Friday 1 April 2016

Digital Immersion: Creating a Site Using HTML


Today we consolidated our learning and understanding of Google Sites, HTML and critical thinking in current events through the creation of a current events page.  The 2016 MDTA cohort was set with the challenge of each creating a multi-modal page on Google Sites about a current event.  In previous weeks we discussed critical thinking in social studies and reading, and chose current event topics.  We then had a week to come up with the content of the lesson.  

I found creating my change challenging but very addicting!  After plenty of trials and errors, it was a great feeling to correctly fix something using HTML.  A challenge I had was that I wanted to unmerge cells that had previously been merged together.  This was tricky as when you merge cells you need to delete another.  Merging cells  shifts the one cell to take up the space of two cells,  therefore you are left with an odd cell that is to the right of your table.

Merging Cells using HTML 


Merge rows by adding the code rowspan="(number)" inside the <tb> code of the cell you want to merge
This shifts the cell to the right of the table.  You then need to delete that entire cell.




Unmerging and Adding Cells

When you want to unmerge and add a row back in again you are left with a gap where it should have been.  After some thinking and reading of the HTML I had, I figured how to add a cell back in by writing the codes <td> and </td> below the code for the previous cell.


You can unmerge cells by changing the rowspan code to rowspan"1".  However this leaves you with a blank space where the previous cell was deleted.
Place some x's in the column next to the blank space. This shows where you want to create a new column.

Find the x's to locate where you need to add in a column.  Insert <td> and </td> underneath the previous </td> for the xxxx column













Whilst this may have been very simple problem to solve for HTML savvy people, it was quite the accomplishment for someone who had no idea about HTML two weeks ago!

My Current Events Page


Here is the page I created using HTML.  Please note that it is not entirely finished.  I would like to increase the white cell padding and change the vertical alignment within each cell to be centered.  I am still on my HTML learning journey and will fix it when I figure out how to. Click on the screenshot below to explore my page :) .


https://sites.google.com/a/manaiakalani.org/currentevents/yr7-8-bus-strikes


I will be using my multi-modal current events page with my learners next week. 

10 comments:

  1. Hi Chelsea,

    I love how clearly you have explained the HTML part of the webpage, I will have to bookmark this post so I can remember how to do this in the future!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much Danni :) . I thought I might as well explain it thoroughly incase I run into the same problem again. I hope it will help you too.

      Delete
  2. This is fabulous Chelsea. I noted your comment ..."it was quite the accomplishment for someone who had no idea about HTML two weeks ago!..." and thought that you are perfectly positioned to connect with your learners! We truly did want you all to learn to develop a Google Site from scratch, BUT it is a huge bonus to have you take on a learning challenge and nail it. I love seeing you model 'teacher as learner'. Congratulations :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Dorothy! I definitely felt like a learner on Friday but I thoroughly enjoyed tackling a problem and finding a solution.

      Delete
  3. This is a fantastic resource Chelsea and very impressive that you made it using HTML. Our students were totally engaged with the multimodal options. Their contribution to the learning was informed and showed their buy in. I love being a part of the learning you share :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Robyn! It was a great lesson to team teach and I am very pleased with how the students responded to the learning. It is great that we get to take our learning from MDTA and share it with our mentors and learners.

      Delete
  4. Great explanations here Chelsea - I am with Danni, I am bookmarking this for future reference! Your page looks amazing too, I can't wait to hear how your kids enjoy using it!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Heath :) I am glad that my post will help you in the future! I did the lesson on Tuesday and it was great! I will be sharing how it went at Digital Immersion tomorrow.

      Delete
  5. I love how you have taken the opportunity to use your learning as a teaching point to share with others Chelsea! You have worked so hard and it's awesome to hear they loved your lesson, look forward to your next creation :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Georgia :) . It was so great to see that my learners were really hooked into the learning.

      Delete

Tell me what you think!