| Student creates free Web pages for teachers Evan, a seventh grader, created a free online resource for teachers who would like a Web site designed for their classroom. By Amy Schimmel SCR*TEC |
 ave you ever found a site that would be a perfect resource for your
students to use while learning independently online, but struggled with
relaying the URL to them? Evan, a 12 year-old middle school student, saw
his teachers facing such a problem, and came up with a solution. He decided
to start his own online service, creating Web sites for teachers, free of
charge. |
| Evan
spent as much time as he could, homework permitting, sharpening his programming
skills and practicing different designs on Web sites. |
 van has spent his
share of time learning about making Web pages; in the fourth grade, he and
a friend began learning HTML together. They started out "playing around
and making the Web sites really simple." It did not take long before the
two were off and rolling. Because no online publishing classes were offered
at his school, "HTML for Dummies" became Evan's main information resource.
Evan spent as much time as he could, homework permitting, sharpening his
programming skills and practicing different designs on Web sites. "There was a home page club at my middle school," Evan said, but "I wasn't really interested in [it] because we didn't get to publish any of our Web sites." Then in the sixth grade, Evan found his first opportunity to create a Web site for someone else. The Ultimate Club, an after school club where kids get together to play games and learn new skills and hobbies, needed a Web site. He spent some time brainstorming, and then constructed the official Ultimate Club Web site. |
 fter creating that
Web site, Evan started wondering how he could use his knowledge to continue
helping others. "I've always wanted to help people. That's been a big thing
with me. Last year we were doing research on the U.S. Government, and we
had a bunch of Web sites that our teacher gave us that we were supposed
to be using to look for information. They all had really long Web site addresses
and I wanted to consolidate them to something easier. So, I decided to make
a Web site to put it all together, making it easier to navigate." Evan determined
that he would construct a Web site for his teacher that listed all of the
informative sites that she wanted her students to use. This saved his teacher
the hassle of trying to repeat drawn out URLs, and saved the students from
the frustration of having to type and retype the URLs day after day. |
| So positive
was the reaction Evan received that he decided to go into business making
similar sites for other teachers. |
 he site was a hit
in the classroom. So positive was the reaction Evan received that he decided
to go into business making similar sites for other teachers. "I found a
great Web service called Freeservers.com [where] you have a short address
and 20 Megs of space [to build your site]. They have templates and all kinds
of other things that you can use." Using this service, Evan has already
created three Web sites, and is working on more. "I'm trying to make a virtual
teachers' lounge" at http://www.vtl.4mg.com/ where teachers can
come and find a directory of sites that are useful in the classroom. That
way teachers don't have to go out and find them." The site is still under
construction, but Evan is continually working to finish it, spending about
an hour each day on various sites, as time is allowed by homework. "I think
adding links to other [educational] Web sites would be a good idea. I [also]
want to make a teachers directory so students can find their teachers' Web
sites without having to remember the address." |
| van's Web site for teachers
who would like a free Web page made for their classroom is called Free Custom Sites. From there teachers
can learn about what he has to offer, and see a sample site that Evan created
for his U.S. Government class. To advertise, "I nominate [my site] for a
lot of awards, and you can find it in the directory at Education World.
I am also really easy to find in Ask Jeeves for Kids," says Evan. Because
his service is still new on the Web, he has not received much mail. "[I
get] a lot of spam!" he says. The most important thing he wants to stress
though is that everything is free! With support from his parents and teachers, Evan wants to learn more about Web site design. "I think Flash and CGI scripting look interesting, but I haven't gone near them yet. I [also] joined Expert Central, so I can try to help answer questions. It's an online help page where you can sign up as an expert to answer other people's questions. I'm Gokartkid." Evan plans to do "something involving either the Internet or building computers" in the future, but his motto is "start out basic and work your way up." |
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