Every year these fast paced Ignite presentations offer teaching tips and projects that bring new ideas to the Media classroom. Presentations from BEA Ignite, April 2018 in Las Vegas.

1. Renee Human
Ball State University
SoYouWant to Build aWebsite (or do you really?)
BEA IGNITE

2. So, You Want to Build a
Website (or do you really?)
Renee Human, Assistant Professor
Journalism Graphics, Ball State University

3. (I’m a front-end developer. I build interactive
websites with code and design the graphics/layout
that work with code.)
Hey, Renee, teach me to build a website. I need a
website because [insert reason here].
But in fact, most people don’t want me to teach them
to build a website because that takes months or
years to learn just the basics.
“Hey, Renee!”
”“

4. You don’t really want to
a website, you actually…
1. …intend to make content publicly visual?
It’s really about getting the pretty stuff on the web
with little-to-no skills, time or resources
2. …need to tell a story or give a presentation?
It’s totally about digital experience and not about the
act of design and development
3. …want to have a web presence?
It’s absolutely about wanting a completed website,
not about the highly-customized building process to
build

5. You simply need to get something on the web
and make it public and attractive.
Chances are, you need an online

6. 1. Online
Portfolios
You are an expert in [insert expertise
here], but you don’t need to be an
expert in web design and
development. You need to get your
stuff out on the web.
➔ easy
What can I do in a few hours?
➔ free
What can I do at low or no cost?
But usually
lacking in:
➔ features
You’re locked in
on the portfolio
site’s format and
layout.
➔ control
You’re locked in
on how much and
what you can
add.

7. Free and Easy Options:
Behance - free and effective way to put your creative
work out there for the world (see next slide)
Coroflot - similar to Behance, older community
Portfolio - free, use your own domain, templates, but
editable, responsive
Wix, Squarespace, Weebly, Jimdo - it's all about web
presence

9. Example Assignment for
Online Portfolio:
Students create an account on Behance
at the beginning of the semester and
begin to build their online presence, an
intimidating prospect that most only
tackle their senior year. Only one
project is necessary to get started. Use it
to easily bring up work and critique in
class. Use it to show progress on a
project over time. Use it as an easy way
to access student work for grading.

10. You simply need to have a content-or
user-driven experience.
Chances are, you need a prototype or

11. 2. Storytelling
You need to present a story. You are
interested in the design and the
nonlinear possibilities. You are not
interested in writing if-then
programming loops.
➔ content-driven
What am I focusing on?
➔ free
What can I do at low or no cost?
Drawbacks:
➔ number of
screens
You’re limited in
how many ways
you can flow
through a story.
➔ control
You’re limited in
how much control
your audience
has.

12. Fun and Free (or Almost Free) Options:
Experience Design - prototype designs, iterations,
interaction design, user design, interface design, in beta
(free) (see next slide)
Invision - prototyping, collaboration & workflow platform
Spark - free or premium, fun, easy, attractive, can include
video

14. Example Assignment for
Online Storytelling:
Students write non-fictional personal stories
about loss: lost keys, weight loss, love loss,
death of a parent, courage loss, any kind of
loss imaginable. Some stories are funny,
some are heart wrenching, some are just
plain good stories. After editing, students
connect with each other, find links between
stories through keywords. Students create
webpages and link to each other. The stories
become a larger story and, once posted to
the web, public stories.

15. You simply need to get something on the web
and make it customized or
personal.

16. 3. WYSIWYG or
CMS
You don’t want to learn code or
graphic design. Or you don’t have
time. But you do need some features
and options. You need a website.
➔ Prebuilt
Why recreate the wheel?
➔ Flexible
What can I do to make it
customize it for my story?
Relationship
status:
It’s complicated
➔ The more
features,
the more cost to
get what you
need.
➔ The more
control,
the more effort
time needed

17. WYSIWYG and
CMS Options:
Muse - visual web editing, part of Adobe Creative Cloud or 7-
day free trial
Google Web Designer – downloadable, beta web design
software (see next slide)
Wordpress - .org (open source and installable content
management service-CMS) or .com (service)

19. Example Assignment
for Templated Sites:
Have students create a site for one
of their other professors, creating
four basic template-driven pages: a
homepage, teaching, research/
creative and service. They’ll
develop a bond with a professor
and you’ll be a hero for offering
the service. Win-win-win!

20. What do you REALLY need?
Presence,
personal,
customized?
Fast,
pretty,
visible,
accessible?
Story,
presentation,user-
centered?

21. Want more?
Contact me:
“Hey, Renee”
Renee Human
rmhuman@bsu.edu
There’s always
something new and
exciting to create on
the web! And if you
still really want to
learn coding, drop
me an email!