Revisiting Google Pages

Here is the site I created using Google Pages. http://bwcoach.googlepages.com/home

I created this page as a sort of "hotlist" of links for students to follow that are great for encouraging healthy living. I talk a lot in my classroom about healthy choices, and giving students an online option to learn more and have fun in regards to this topic is important to me. I had planned on adding something like this to my current website this summer. One thing that drives me nuts about Google Pages is that you can't directly link images to another page or URL (at least that I could find) so I had to post the link below the image.

For me, maintaining a classroom website is something I have done since being hired as a 4th grade teacher a little over a year ago. I use Dreamweaver MX to edit my site. I update it about on a weekly basis during the school year. It provides students, parents, colleagues and members of our school community a landing place for all things 4th grade. My students visit the site every time they log in to a computer, as they find assignments, links to outside sites, video highlights from recent events, and free choice activities.

I first used Google Pages when it was launched in Google Labs about 2 years ago, I think. I did find it easy to use and create quick web pages. I was not thrilled that the URL address was automatically based on your gmail account. Recent talk on EdTech blogs seems to point to Google Sites instead. It does not seem that Google Pages is going to graduate to a full service, as it is still in Labs. Therefore, I would caution those creating full blown websites that it could (but may not) disappear if Google chooses not to launch Google Pages.

When I am discussing classroom or grade level websites with my colleagues this year, I will likely refer them to Google Sites. I wish that they would improve Google Pages some more and publish it, or maybe integrate some of the good features of Google Pages into Google Sites. Creating classroom websites is a much talked about issue for those interested in EdTech, so if anyone has any other recommendations for free classroom website hosting and development please pass them on!

**Update 8/06/08**

As was pointed out by Lindsay on our class discussion forum using Blackboard, Google has gone ahead and announced the transition from Pages to Sites. I really look forward to Google Sites being a premier service for educators needing to create spaces on the web for a variety of reasons.