As half baked an idea as this probably is, there is, as always, method in the madness. The best way to improve as a creative is to create more, as a web developer that looks like building more websites. I’m not very good at creating pretend websites, so my development sites usually need to have a genuine purpose.
I wanted a place to store resources and tutorials for my students and I’m a huge fan of WordPress, so this was the ideal combination. It is low stakes enough for me to experiment, but public enough that I need to put thought into what I share here. I have lots of other websites, but I take my teaching seriously, so it made sense to create a space for content written with my students in mind.
Having a website of my own to store and share useful resources is a much safer option than just adding everything to an online platform. Free tier options often disappear or reduce over time, meaning that you have to recreate the same things again on another platform. (Did that with Wakelet) I can and do add things to the university’s learning environment, but then they are only available to students on that particular module and everything will automatically disappear if I leave.
Minimal Viable Product – MVP
The point of this website was to quickly create a place to house resources and tutorials for students. It wasn’t to build the world’s most amazing website. I needed something functional and easy to work with. This website is a great example of an MVP. WordPress is a brilliant choice for this type of thing because of their famous 5 minute install. Self-hosted WordPress comes out of the box as a fully functioning website, so it’s a great choice for people who don’t code or also for people like me that do, but need to make a website exist in under an hour.
Like many hastily created websites, I’ve made the most of platforms like Canva to create graphics for the site and spent a bit too long creating a logo I don’t really need.
This one is currently the winner, but as you can see below, there were a lot of variations considered before I decided to just pick one and move on with my day!
My Inspiration
I teach web development and other associated digital topics and I have always been grateful to the lecturers that taught me when I was a mature student. They introduced me to influential people on the web, introduced us to people in industry, and shared amazing websites for inspiration, in addition to the obvious stuff of teaching us code and marking our work. That’s the type of educator I want to be.
I’m a self confessed MMU fangirl who was inspired by those that came before me and those that walk alongside me. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing people since I started teaching in Higher Education and the fact that I’m now teaching students the same things that I learnt here makes me smile. I love a full circle moment.
So here we are on a Friday afternoon with Claire starting yet another WordPress blog.
Welcome to Worthington’s Web Stuff.