I've been tinkering with the new Google Sites recently (first time since earlier in the year), and am really pleased with a lot of the functional changes that are starting to come through.  I'll post about that later in a separate post.  I thought that I'd have another go at creating a Workspace in order to utilise the deadline function.  So, I've developed a Workspace to trial for the unit I'm delivering during JumpStart this year.  I embedded the Workspace into the new Google Site that I will also trial with the students.  Two birds with one stone!

The Workspace itself was relatively straight forward to put together, because I already had many of the resources anyway.  I've embedded many of the VTaL resources for the unit (Learning Activities, Student Check List, Class Task List, Google+ Community), into the Workspace, which is then embedded into the Google site.

So the trial that I'm wanting to undertake includes:

• is the site visible? (this should be a no brainer).
• is the Workspace visible?
• does the Workspace direct students towards meeting deadlines?!  This is a big one for me, because trying to get students to complete and hand in work on time is a major issue.

The standard being offered during the JumpStart program is 'Create a Web Page 18734' which is worth 2 credits.  I'll reflect on the effectiveness of this combination of VTaL tools at the conclusion of the unit, in terms of student achievement.