Educational Web Sites and Their Requirements

Education web sites need to be built with a slightly different focus than the general company web site. The below mentioned outline provides some relevant issues which need to be addressed in an educational web site:

Very simple graphics. Since educational web sites are not built to WOW an audience but built mostly to deliver some value to students, the graphics are kept very simple.

Graphics are used in dynamic web sites which carry course material to explain certain points of the learning content. So if you are designing a web site for the student community, it is necessary to keep in mind that you should not have any graphics which do not carry any educational value.

Another reason for keeping simple graphics is that it allows learners to focus on the content on the web site and not get distracted with graphics which are there just to beautify the web site. It is advisable to use icons instead of graphics on educational web sites since they are easy to understand.

Keep the user in mind. The first question you need to ask when designing an education web site is who is it targeted to and what is the first thing they will look for when they come to this web site? Once you have your answer, put the most searchable item on the web site in a prominent location which is obvious to the user.

Users of educational web sites with dynamic content can be in various age groups and most of them may not be avid internet users. This must be kept in mind when designing the layout, the navigation system and planning the web site. Some educational web sites may even be used by 5 year olds and thus it is necessary to get a good user perspective before you design such a web site.

Dynamic modules are a good addition to education web sites. Education web sites can have some good dynamic content which adds value to the user as well as provide a revenue stream to the company.

Some of the dynamic modules which can be added to an educational web site are the Learning Management System, Student Management System and the Assessment Module.

These modules, as their name suggests, deliver learning content to users and evaluate them on their effectiveness by assessing them at the end of the course. Dynamic modules of the web sites can either be developed by the main development team or can also be third party product which is integrated with the main web site. The deciding factor would be the cost and the time in which the solution needs to be delivered.

Industry standards for dynamic modules. The elearning world or the educational web site world is very competitive and thus if you want your elearning web site to have an edge, it is advisable that you follow some of the industry standards for this sector. One of the most common industry standards for elearning industry is SCORM.

A SCORM compliant course can be used across many learning management system and this also increase portability of the course. Following the standards would make your elearning venture more likely to succeed. Today many web design firms have SCORM experts within their team.

The above points highlight the main considerations when developing an educational web site. It is imperative that the objective of the web site be discussed prior to commencing the design work so that you can maximize your efforts.