Publish your story

A Living Heritage story could be researched by a group of students, a class, a school syndicate or across the whole school. Within the framework of the research inquiry plan to allow time to learn the ICT skills necessary for publishing the story. There may be people from within your community who could support your students to develop their ICT skills.

A planning organiser like a storyboard template, could help with the design and development of each online story page and highlight the ICT skills required. Within your planning allow time for the students to celebrate their learning achievements with their local audience.

Here you will find general guidelines about writing for the web and technical information for creating your site. Use the Library Launch Kit to celebrate your newly published story.

How to write well for web pages

Writing for the web still means writing good plain English but there are some differences from conventional writing. It is harder to read a screen than a written page as readers scan the text. Keep your text short and simple so a reader can get information easily. Clear formatting helps the reader engage with the content.

Remember these few simple key points

Writing

• Use less words – half the words you would use in conventional writing
• Bulleted lists, like the one you are reading now, are good
• Write active sentences eg. “We found the information from the museum very helpful.” instead of “The information provided by the museum was very helpful to us.” YOU are taking the action.

Paragraphs

• Use short paragraphs – the spaces make it easier to read on screen
• Use short punchy headlines that tell exactly what the paragraph is about
• Include the key concept in the first sentence and then follow with detail

Sentences

• Keep sentences short
• Use straightforward language
• Don’t use too many adjectives

Proofreading/editing

• Get a peer to check your work makes sense and for spelling and punctuation mistakes
• A teacher or older student could make a final check

Images

• Break up the page with relevant images
• Meaningful captions attract the reader to your image
• Remember your image needs an alt tag (this is an HTML tag describing an image that appears when the mouse is rolled over it. It provides alternative text for the visually impaired)

Technical information

Include in your classroom planning, the ICT components and skills necessary for your students to present their inquiry learning online. Students will be learning how to create web pages, search the internet, and use digital and video cameras to record their research. The online story template gives students the tools to upload text files, images, videos, and other ways to edit their story pages.

Download this technical support document to help you publish your story.

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Library Launch Kit

Celebrate the launch of your newly published story by holding a public event at your local library. The following documents provide guidelines to assist you with this event.

These documents can easily be altered to suit your own school and local library. They can be downloaded and printed for ease of use.