Have you seen www.ascd.org lately? If not, take a few minutes to stop by—a completely redesigned and reorganized Web site awaits.
Visitors to the new site are greeted by a home page with a carefully rethought structure, in which user-friendliness is para-mount. To make the site easier to navigate, the 14 content areas on the old home page have been streamlined into six categories. A small graphics bar highlights new programs and resources.
This format has allowed ASCD to eliminate much of the text on the home page, resulting in a cleaner, more coherent look. The new design does not sacrifice the amount of information that is instantly accessible to users, however. By moving a cursor over each of the six content-area buttons, users will see a pop-down menu listing all of the subtopics that are housed under that area, allowing them to quickly get where they want to go.
"We wanted our Web site to look less cluttered, more inviting to our members. There's a lot of great material on this site, but it was getting lost," says Nora Gyuk, head of ASCD's Information Systems and Services Unit. "The new design allows us to feature programs and services more easily and also to frequently rotate information to keep the site fresh."
Tutorials and Education News
Along with the redesign, content additions to the site include the launch of a new product: ASCD Tutorials. Tutorials are brief multi-media lessons on topics that matter to those who care about education, and they're free to all visitors to the site. Each tutorial provides a topic definition, related articles from past ASCD publications, video clips of experts speaking about the topic, questions to ponder, and a list of professional development resources for those who want to explore further.
Tutorials are appropriate for educators who are looking for a succinct introduction to a subject that interests them or for those who are already familiar with a topic and want one site with multiple links to more in-depth information. Tutorials currently available include Standards, Differentiated Instruction, Performance Assessment, Classroom Management, Curriculum Integration, and The Brain and Learning. Many more are in production.
Also new to the site is a section called Education News, which creates a single home for all the latest education information, including Education Bulletin—ASCD's online newsletter—as well as ASCD press releases, headlines, and hot topics.
Coming Attractions
Now that the new site is up, don't expect staff in ASCD's Information Services to twiddle their thumbs—even more changes are coming in the next six months. In addition to Educational Leadership magazine and the newsletters Education Update and Curriculum Update, entire books will be available as part of online member benefits. Members will also be able to do much more online themselves, including changing their personal information in ASCD's database or renewing their membership. Affiliates will be able to maintain their status online, and conference attendees will be able to register online. Finally, ASCD will introduce a newly designed online store, with enhanced searching and order- tracking features.
This Web site reorganization reflects ASCD's desire to be a leader not only in the education field but also in other domains that affect education, including information technology. "The nature of the Web drives this change," says Gyuk. She feels that in an environment as kinetic as the World Wide Web, one has to be constantly aware of new ways to convey information.
Tell us what you think about ASCD's new look! Please send your comments via e-mail to webmaster@ascd.org.
