“Photo by Russ Hendricks”
Technology has changed the face of the education system, replacing the old and obsolete teaching methods with innovative new ones. The internet plays a significant role in this, connecting teachers and students, and offering quick access to a wide range of information in a few simple clicks.
Educational websites and blogs are great enablers for students as they can find information about the syllabus, extra reference articles, coursework and even live tutorial videos and lectures. These websites also allow teachers to add new programs and interact with students from around the world.
Whether you’re a professor at the university or a high school student, educational forums and websites are a fantastic way to explore new aspects of learning. Building an educational website is no longer a difficult task. There are loads of website building platforms online that will help you design a fantastic education website without any coding.
We have a list of the top 5 educational website builders that both first-timers and professionals can check out.
Weebly Education
Weebly has been a popular website builder, well known for its web development features in the eCommerce sector. But Weebly has also released a version which specially caters to educators, enabling them to create and manage learning portals and forums. Innovative, intuitive and informative, Weebly Education lets users design websites, post reference articles, learning programs, and assignments online.
One of the greatest benefits of using the Weebly builder is that both teachers and students can upload content, create their e-portfolios and get to decide the accessibility of the information they post.
Websites created with Weebly Education give the teachers complete control over the kind of content they post and the people who can access it. Teachers can create accounts for their students, add or reschedule classes, assign tasks, integrate projects, and build learning groups as well for a comprehensive experience.
The Weebly Education website builder is also used by students to build their own websites to share information, discuss projects, publish their assignments and interact with the teachers. The drag and drop editor includes all the necessary web-building features, a collection of attractive templates optimized for mobile devices, blogging tools and even the freedom to customize the HTML source codes and CSS stylesheets.
Edublogs
Becoming an educator is no easy task; it requires immense investment of consistent effort and time to make an impact on the students. Edublogs is one of the best platforms preferred by teachers and students alike who want a transparent and hassle-free space to exchange ideas and promote learning. Edublogs is a part of WordPress and comes with all its amazing features and perks. For instance, users get free access to a wide range of WP templates and themes.
Edublogs basically caters to students who want a forum to keep track of projects, discuss the syllabus with fellow members, among other tasks. A set of powerful blogging tools, an extensive collection of plugins and an in-built drag and drop interface simplifies the process for beginners.
For teachers, Edublogs offers a series of effective class management tools for organizing virtual classrooms, distributing class notes, conducting video lectures and assigning projects to students in a specific batch. Edublogs has 3 plans – Free, Pro and CampusPress – the free package comes with the standard student management tools necessary to build an educational website from scratch. You can always upgrade to the premium plans to access the more advanced services.
Wix
Wix as taken the world by storm web its powerful eCommerce support and advanced features. Armed with an ADI framework, a WYSIWYG editor, and some intuitive tools, the website builder offers great customization support to users, irrespective of their technical expertise or coding skills. Both teachers and students can create an account and post content via Wix. You can even add forums, create groups discussions for managing project assignments and sharing lecture notes.
Wix is a great website builder for education, offering a wide range of templates, pre-set themes, and graphics for all kinds of educational websites. the templates are usually divided into separate categories- clubbed under the section “Education and Culture”, these mobile-friendly templates can be applied b private schools, govt colleges, kindergartens, fundraising events, cultural events and more.
Wix also offers users some great blogging functionalities to make varied niche posts about your subject and expand the website’s reach. The website owner has control over both the contents and readers, they can add, remove or block members from certain posts as they deem fit. Additional extensions and plugins are available on the Wix App Market where one can install multiple third-party apps like Online Calendar, Wix Events, etc.
Ning
Ning is a simple, reliable and robust website development platform for teachers and students who want to create a space for learning online. Ning is a great platform for running crowdfunding programs, conduct online forum discussions on topics ranging from politics to science and music among other topics.
In this day and age, simply relying on the library is not enough to get a holistic idea of the subject. One also needs some additional reference work and extra research about the topics taught in class. Educational websites help you with that. Ning supports both professional educators and private teachers to post articles, create programs, and create assignment projects for their students.
Ning also offers some great blogging and social media networking tools for promoting content across other websites. This doesn’t only expand your audience base but also open op lucrative monetization opportunities. the dashboard is loaded with attractive themes and readymade layouts to choose from. All these themes are dedicated to educational content and optimized for mobile devices. What’s more, your content will be protected against theft and other online threats. SSL certifications, encryption tools, and firewall ensure complete data protection and security.
Which One Should You Choose?
Building an educational website might be an easy task but finding the perfect builder for the same can be quite confusing especially if you are a novice with no experience in website designing. Website development tools are popping up every day claiming to offer the best of services and features. Don’t worry, all the educational website building platforms on our list are tried and tested by professionals. We’d recommend Weebly Education and Wix for amateurs and Edublogs for professionals.
