Gain allies. It’s likely that the people building the site will
not be teachers, but you need both tech expertise and insight from users to make it work. That means that if you
are a teacher, you will need the help of IT. And if you are in
IT, you will need to work closely with a tech-savvy group of
teachers to define their needs.
Take inventory of what’s already there. Do a thorough examination of all the file shares and online tools staff are
using right now. Use this information to create an intranet
design plan: Outline a site map, starting with the largest
“buckets” of information, and drill down layer by layer.
Consider using a mind-map tool, such as Free Mind
( freemind.sourceforget.net), to design the structure.
List all the teams, committees, and projects at your school. Use
this list to complete the site map and help identify the site’s
primary audiences. Then, by matching audiences to the
buckets on the site map, you can begin to develop a plan
for permissions.
Map access levels on the site map. Assigning permissions
can be one of the trickiest parts of building an intranet. On
one hand, extensive permission options can provide the
most flexibility. On the other hand, too many or too specific permissions can become exceptionally cumbersome.
Simplify as much as possible, set increasingly less restrictive permissions as people receive training, and let go of
some control.
Talk to everyone else. Secure support from the administration by showing the potential of an intranet. Survey the
staff about such topics as what information departments
share and what needs staff members have.
Get inspired! Search the web for educational intranet
examples. Imagine the possibilities, and get staff excited by showing them some of the sites you really like.
Two of my favorite sites are Mark Dunkel’s TechNet blog
( bit.ly/13XcOJT) and the Leon Schools Web Example
pages (SharePoint. leon.k12.fl.us).
Start small. Select and build out a department or grade-level
site first. Seek review and feedback frequently. After completing a design for that site, you can build a similar framework for other sites based on the rest of your site map.
Defend Your Ideals
Before launching your intranet build, it helps to define
the principles you will use for your design, based on your
school and the needs of your staff. We began our design
with these basic site architecture ideals in mind:
Ensure that all staff members have designated space. From the
administrative team to the custodial staff, everyone should
have both personal and team space they can contribute to
if they choose.
there is no doubt that our intranet saved us from suffocating
under the weight of our own
stored data. According to It
experts, including morgan killick
and pankaj kamthan, intranets
have a number of benefits that
schools can take advantage of:
Consistency. staff go to only one
place to find the information
they need, and it’s organized
with a consistent look and feel.
that means they can focus on
the task at hand rather than on
keeping track of a multitude of
sites and processes.
Flexibility. Because an intranet is
offline, and thus not mandated
by the same regulations and
requirements that an external
website might be, schools can
design and maintain it based on
their own needs.
Staff unity. Intranets can cultivate
a team atmosphere through
purpose-driven collaboration
tools.
Productivity and time. staff can
quickly find information and
complete processes.
Security. protecting information
in an educational environment is
imperative. Intranets are firewall
protected and can include privileged access with a variety of
permission levels.
INtRANet IN shINING ARmoR
You want people to go to the intranet, so give it
a personality that aligns not only with the school’s
vision and needs, but also with its spirit.
