Blog Assignment 4

I looked at two Department of Curriculum and Instruction websites from different schools, the University of Nevada Las Vegas and the University of Southern Mississippi. The UNLV site was plainer and easier to read, but the USM site seemed more sophisticated and more attractive. I found the USM website to have significantly more visual appeal than the UNLV site with the use of non-conventional fonts and graphics. In addition, the information provided on the USM website seemed to be geared more towards getting students to take an interest in the program than the other site. Included in the USM site was a letter from the Chair welcoming prospective students and explaining what makes the USM teaching department so special and what they can offer the student. The UNLV site stated simply that they were amongst the best. They gave no information to back up their claim or to entice the prospective student. Both sites included links to their required courses and to other links on the page, but the USM site turned the entire header into a link back to the C & I homepage. I found the USM site to be far more enticing than the UNLV site, and therefore, more effective.
I am writing in order to create a website that will make the field of education an attractive choice to those who have not decided on a major yet. The tremendous need for good teachers is what is prompting me to write and the desired outcome for this project would be to help increase interest in the field of Elementary Education. My reader desires a career with stability and a good future.
My primary reader will be Dr. Nichols, my ENG 333 instructor. It is her responsibility to make sure she teaches me what I need to know in order to make this class a successful one.
Other readers will likely be those students who have not yet chosen a major or are not happy with the major in which they are currently pursuing. My relationship to my primary reader will be that of student and teacher. It is my responsibility to take the tools I have been given and put them to good use.
My primary reader, being Dr. Nichols is probably very familiar with the specialty, so I will focus on the students that I hope to assist in reaching a decision regarding their major. The students probably only have a passing familiarity with my major, unless it is one that they had thought of pursuing previously. Taking into account my reader’s lack of experience with expressions exclusive to the field of education, I will probably keep the language user-friendly and simple.
I also need to make the website as interesting as possible while answering questions that my reader may have such as, what kinds of classes can they be expected to encounter? Other questions they may have are, what opportunities are there for me after I receive my degree and what does teaching have to offer that is of interest to me?
Most of the questions my reader has will be presented on the home page of the site. Other questions can be easily answered by exploring the links that are on the site. My reader will use the information I provide to make a decision on their future major. By compiling usable information, they will be able to make an informed decision regarding their choice of major.
My reader’s attitude toward my subject will more than likely be one of curiosity. This will be advantageous to me as I can play on that curiosity to introduce them to the positive things that teaching has to offer. My reader will be looking to me to show them what they do not know. I have already decided on my career and therefore can tell them about it and show them what they need to know in order to make a decision.
Other stakeholders affected by my communication will be the websites that I link to mine, such as Teachers-teachers.com, which will have a link on my website for prospective students to explore. By providing students with an outlet to do more research, the owners of the websites I include could see more interest in their sites. Limitations I may encounter will include my own lack of experience where teaching is concerned. I have not even begun my teaching career yet and therefore cannot tell them what to expect AFTER they graduate.
http://ci.unlv.edu/about
http://www.usm.edu/cise/