Digital projects and assignments

Omeka.net is an online platform that allows users to create online multimedia collections. Omeka sites are fully searchable. The free version is limited to one site, two themes and 500MB of storage but it should be sufficient for in-class or smaller projects. Plans with more sites, themes, and storage can be purchased. 

If you have your own website, Omeka Classic can be installed there free of charge. 

From Laura Leibman's Using Omeka for Teachers:

What can I do with Omeka in my Class?

• You can create a class webpage and class collections.
• Give students the experience of what it means to write and create a  narrative rather than just readings about them.
• Enhance student visual literacy by making them think about how they interpret images and how they would like others to interpret images.
• Guide students in how you’d like them to use online resources.

What can my students do with Omeka?

• They can create a digital collection of images, sound files, videos, interviews, pdfs, and more related to a specific topic, which they can then turn into a a virtual exhibit.
• Students can organize their collection into thematic galleries.
• They can share their collection and galleries with the world. 
• Can create simple webpages for essays that analyze or introduce their collection and galleries.
• They can learn about collaboration through group projects using the platform. 

Create an account

• Go to https://www.omeka.net/signup
• On the top-right corner click on Start your free Omeka trial
• Fill out the form and click on the Sign Up button  
• Go to your email and click on the link to activate your account 

Start a site

Upon sign in you will be directed to the My Account page, where you’ll be able to find all your sites. To create a new site, click on the Add a site button. Fill out the information and click on Add your new site.  If you are using the free account you can create a test site to familiarize yourself with the platform and then delete it when it's time to create the final one. 

Manage your site

You will find the Manage site link on your My Account page. This will take you to the site Dashboard.

Add and manage items

Create a Collection

Collections are used to group items according to a specific criteria. Items can only belong to one collection. You can also group items by adding tags to them. 

• On the Dashboard, click on Collections (left-hand side navigation menu)
• Click on Add a Collection
• Fill out the form with as much information as you want
• You can make your collection public by checking the Public box under the Add Collection button. 
• When you are finished adding the information, click on Add Collection
• Items can be added on the Items tab on the navigation menu

For more instruction, please consult the Omeka.net manual.

Plugins add functionality to Omeka. These plugins allow you to create basic web pages (Simple Pages), build digital exhibits (Exhibit Builder), add links for web visitors to connect with their social networking sites (Social Bookmarking), and more. 

To add plugins, click on the Plugins link on the dashboard header.  

Omeka.net has put together suggested uses for different types of creators: