Kostishion 1

Jill Kostishion

Professor Jefferson

ITC 515

24 July 2014

Generating Websites in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a teaching tool that can be manipulated in many different ways.

Included in its numerous functions is the ability to create simple websites. Today, more than

ever, the Internet is dominant in society and a necessity to most; therefore, a website can be

particularly appealing to young learners. According to international educational leader, Marc

Prensky, “our students today are all ‘native speakers’ of the digital language of computers, video

games and the Internet” (Prensky 1), and, consequently, may find the Internet a more meaningful

and purposeful learning tool than traditional books and lectures. Microsoft Word is ubiquitous

software found in nearly all school districts nationwide; through Word’s web design capabilities,

teachers can enhance learning.

For students to effectively use Microsoft Word to create a website, educators must first

consider their students. The complexity of web design requires students who are experienced

with Word and have dabbled with it in the past. For that reason, using Word to create websites is

most suitable to middle level and high school students. For these digital natives who are rapidly

approaching the working-world, “technology has become foundational to both education and

life” (Prensky 1), and using Word beyond its traditional word-processing functions allows

students to grow by learning more sophisticated uses of Word. A YouTube clip, “Did You

Know? 3.0,” may have put it best: educators today must prepare students for a growing digital

age; as educators, “we are preparing students for jobs that do not yet exist.”
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For students who have background experience with Microsoft Word, creating a website

in Word is a meaningful way to demonstrate understanding for a particular subject or topic.

Students have the ability to create home pages, site navigation hyperlinks, and standard pages, all

of which can correlate to a single topic or proposed idea (Harrison 1). A Microsoft Word

generated website provides the familiarity of Word to reach the creative minds of students.

Teachers can work with students to make their completed websites live by uploading them to a

server and viewing them in a web browser; this end goal is especially motivating for students.

Creating a website in Microsoft Word reinforces the understanding of many of the

functions that students have already performed in standard word processing; in this way,

Microsoft Word is practical and manageable. To begin making a website, students open Word as

they normally would, and then click the “View” tab on the main toolbar. After that, students

choose “Web Layout” on the displayed Ribbon (Harrison 2). One expert, Denise Harrison,

recommends that learners create a table next, just like most students have done many times

before in a Word Document. This table will serve as the underlying structure of the website, or

layout. This is where students have the freedom to be completely creative; they can use a table

to plan where the navigational menu will be, where the site title will be, and where the content

should go. It is best if teachers demonstrate the varying possibilities of the table structure first.

Right-clicking anywhere in the table allows students to edit the “table properties.”

According to Harrison, it is in the table properties menu that students are able to align tables,

choose exact table widths and heights, choose font families and sizes, show or hide borders, and

change font colors and background colors (Harrison 3). By having so many property options,

students have the ability to be completely inventive with their work. Marc Prensky argues that
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this interaction with technology is important: according to Prensky, “technology is an extension

of our brains; it's a new way of thinking” (Prensky 1).

Working in Microsoft Word is comfortable, familiar, and recognizable for most digital

natives. After students have structured a table, it is a familiar task to type information about a

topic into the table. This alternative to a typical research paper is relatable to the student; it is

purposeful. Students visit websites on a daily basis and understand their function in society;

incredibly, websites and the Internet are a huge part of digital learners’ lives. In fact, “today’s

education system faces irrelevance unless we bridge the gap between how students live and how

they learn” (Solomon and Schrum 19). The familiarity of Microsoft Word makes it possible for

students to learn in a project-based, constructivist way that is of relevance to the student

(Solomon and Schrum 39).

Under the “Insert” tab in Word students will find a “Hyperlink” icon on the Ribbon. This

allows students to link to other web pages of their own or to external links and permits students

to share information and to pool resources, refining ideas with others (Solomon and Schrum 21).

Ultimately, because of this shared learning, the student is able to understand the material deeply.

Appropriately, the Hyperlink option promotes further research by the student, reaching far

beyond what a textbook could offer. It encompasses the ideology of lifelong learning, preparing

students “to become part of a nimble workforce that makes decisions and keeps learning as the

workplace changes” (Solomon and Schrum 21).

Generating websites through Microsoft Word addresses copious Pennsylvania State and

Common Core standards. Specifically, it reaches the standards of CC.3.6.6-8.E., CC.1.2.6.G,

CC.3.5.6-8.G., and CC.8.6.6-8.C. (“PA Core Standards Implementation”), among others. Web

design in Microsoft Word also encompasses all ISTE Standards, including “Creativity and
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Innovation, Communication and Collaboration, Research and Information Fluency, Critical

Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making, Digital Citizenship, and Technology

Operations and Concepts” (International Society for Technology in Education 1-2). It is

undoubtedly a tool that has the ability to enhance teaching and learning.

Using Microsoft Word to create websites does not have to be a solely independent

project. Unlike standard research papers (which are usually entirely written by one student),

websites can be created by a number of students. For example, students can each create

subpages related to a particular aspect of a single topic, and all of the subpages produced by each

group member can be simultaneously linked on a “home page.” This collaboration among group

members allows students to share knowledge and to reflect on the topic together; at the same

time, learners create their own subpages as a way of contributing their own expertise and

opinions (Solomon and Schrum 57). Students “learn independently, collaborate with peers to

accomplish work, and communicate the conclusions” and teachers “are more likely to encourage

student-led inquiry and collaborative work” (Solomon and Schrum 34); therefore, the potential

for student collaboration makes Microsoft Word an ideal tool for learning.

While reaching Common Core Standards, ISTE Standards, and promoting collaborative

work, Microsoft Word generated websites can also target the peak of “Bloom’s taxonomy.” At

the top of famed educational psychologist, Benjamin Bloom’s revised classification of

intellectual behavior is the verb “creating” (Overbaugh and Schultz 1), and, undoubtedly,

generating a Microsoft Word website encompasses just that. Artistically, students use the

familiar functions of Word to invent color schemes, stylize tables, and stylize text while

incorporating headings, subtitles, and hyperlinks. A Word-website can be basic or completely

sophisticated; therefore, by creating a website, students are “putting elements together to form a
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coherent or functional whole; [they are] reorganizing elements into a new pattern or structure

through generating, planning, or producing” (Solomon and Schrum 37). The meaningful

challenge of producing something for the World Wide Web can allow students to linger at the

top of Bloom’s pyramid.

In conclusion, Microsoft Word is a widely-used word processing tool that can be used for

more than just a typing tool in today’s classroom. For most middle and high school students,

Word is familiar and therefore practical to use; most students know how to generate tables,

change background and font colors, change fonts and font sizes, and to create hyperlinks.

Generally speaking, most secondary students know how to navigate through Microsoft’s Ribbon

interface and understand the function of a website. Because of its practicality, Word is an

obvious choice to use in the classroom, and since most students are digital natives, creating a

website is a relevant and a meaningful task.

Additionally, most students visit websites daily and have a great understanding of the

Internet’s role in society. In the eyes of most students today, the Internet is of value and

importance. The meaningful creation of websites, along with the potential for student

collaboration, promotes inquiry-based learning and encompasses the ideology of life-long

learning, an important skill that can prepare students for their futures in the workplace. It touches

on multiple Common Core standards and all ISTE standards. The higher level thinking skills

associated with creating a website places this task at the top of Bloom’s taxonomy, making

Microsoft Word truly a tool than can enhance student learning.

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Works Cited

"Did You Know 3.0 (Officially Updated for 2012) HD." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 23 July

2014. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmwwrGV_aiE>.

Harrison, Denise. "Create a Website with Portfolio using MS Word." PE Content and

Methods. (n.d.): n. pag. Kent State University, 2007. Web. 24 July 2014.

<http://www.library.kent.edu/files/sms_harrison_webword.pdf>.

International Society for Technology in Education. "ISTE Standards." (n.d.): n. pag. ISTE. Web.

<http://www.iste.org/docs/pdfs/20-14_ISTE_Standards-S_PDF.pdf>.

"PA Core Standards Implementation." Pennsylvania Department of Education. N.p., n.d.

Web. 25 July 2014. <http://www.pdesas.org/Standard/PACore>.

Overbaugh, Richard C., and Lynn Schultz. "Bloom's Taxonomy." Bloom's Taxonomy. N.p., n.d.

Web. 30 July 2014. <http://ww2.odu.edu/educ/roverbau/Bloom/blooms_taxonomy.htm>.

Prensky, Marc. "Digital Natives Und Digital Immigrants." Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.

05 Oct. 2001. Web. 24 July 2014. <http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-

%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part1.pdf>.

Solomon, Gwen, and Lynne Schrum. Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools. Eugene, Or.:

International Society for Technology in Education, 2007. Print.