Own domain name

Sooo after creating a funky website that I was really happy with I realised it was pretty expensive to host it with them using my own domain name. 

I decided to purchase my own domain name and use another web 2.0 application (www.weebly.com) to make a new website - not as pretty but still functional... and they let you host the site with your own domain name (the name/address that you type in when going to a website).  I purchased my name for a year (only $22.50, not too bad!) and am hosting it for free.  I would definitely consider purchasing a domain name in the future to use with my class - easier to remember and pretty cool for the kids.

I don't for a moment think that teachers need to have a massive amount of technical knowledge relating to e-learning, but I do really believe that it doesn't hurt!  If a teacher has more knowledge and confidence, maybe the are more willing to embrace e-learning within the classroom.

Experimentingwith websites, transferring domain names, linking them through to existing sites etc. has really developed my skill set.  See http://www.fabfaces.co.nz

I didn't know that emails can be forwarded to another email address and then be made to appear sent from there too - eg. my hotmail email is fabfaces@hotmail.co.nz but I've forward all emails through my domain name, so that emails sent to sarah@fabfaces.co.nz appear in my hotmail inbox, and are sent out looking like they're from sarah@fabfaces.co.nz - the fabfaces.co.nz email address doesn't really exist but looks like it does - neat!  All free of charge too and the result?  A much more professional looking email address.

The email address finding isn't quite so useful for the kids but all building my knowledge.  I love that this course has encouraged me to experiment with technology and e-learning.