Building the Website
Building the Website
This SUST English language website was part of a project in the College of Foreign Languages and Communications during the spring 2010 semester. Over 10 weeks, English majors became the first group of SUST students to undertake the challenge of developing an English language website in their writing course. Below is a description of the process and highlights of making this website a success.
Purpose of the Project
Web Project Process
Project Significance
Student Viewpoints
Project Highlights
The Process back to top
Teachers separated the project into several parts to guide students toward completing the project and gaining insight and skills about website development.
Step 1: Introductory Design Discussion
Students collaborated with teachers to collect ideas about the website design . The students presented their ideas in class and expressed the need for a connection between the website design and SUST characteristics and culture. Specifically, students had ideas about images, colors, navigation, and organization.
Step 2: Developing the Topic
64 students, divided into 10 groups, brainstormed different content topics, such as International Visitors and Campus Life. Students drew and described their responsibilities and content ideas using mind-mapping techniques.
Step 3: Gathering Information
To ensure accurate and updated information, each group researched and gathered relevant materials about SUST. Students completed online research, interviewed SUST administrators as well as an American web consultant.
Step 4: Organizing Information
After gathering all the necessary information, students made outlines , which helped them organize their content. Then, using the outline, the students spent a lot of time developing their rough drafts.
Step 5: Final Drafts
Students spent time in class proof-reading content and met with teachers out of class to ensure all the work was coherent and professional.
Step 6:Website Design
Students submitted their work to an SUST web designer who combined students' work with a coherent and effective design.
Project Significance back to top
The students involved in this project have developed their writing and communication abilities while building an online marketing tool that promotes SUST all over the world.
Teachers' Remarks
ˇ°In January [2010], China Internet Network Information Center, the country's official domain registry and research organization, reported that by the end of 2009, the number of Internet users in China had touched 384 million, more than the entire population of the United States.ˇ±
March 2010 issue of McKinsey Quarterly, the business journal of McKinsey & Company
(If you are unable to view the Mckinsey article, visit the Harvard Business Review )
ˇ°Journalism schools can see which way the wind is blowing, and it's a brisk wind coming in from Silicon Valley . It's clear that students who can report and write are better off if they are also comfortable with and imaginative about the ways of the Web.ˇ±
University-Based Reporting Could Keep Journalism Alive
November 2009 from the Chronicle of Higher Education
These excerpts illustrate the growing importance that 21st-century students need to be knowledgeable and comfortable working with the web. This project allowed students to build a valuable web resource for the University and improve their English communication skills as they prepared for the professional world.
The process was long and challenging. It was an aggressive goal to manage 64 students as they completed their work in a variety of writing disciplines (and even with a little design work). However, the learning that went on was real-world and the result is a professional website that SUST can continue to develop over the years.
Benefits from the Class Project
While some class members questioned SUST's choice of English majors over professionals, teachers and administrators knew that this project would not only create a practical tool for the University but also allow students to acquire relevant skills such as:
Teamwork and group collaboration
Web writing skills
Project management skills
International Visibility
As SUST develops into an internationally renowned university, a fluent and accurate English language website is not only helpful but necessary as the school makes more connections with English speakers all over the world.
This website provides resources for the SUST community as well as international visitors who want to know more about China , and specifically about SUST .