year 13 web

I am looking at moving the year 13 course to a course that more looks at web 2.0 tools and developments. Students need to look at these things a little bit more to find out where things have come from, most students don't realise where we have come from and are unable to reflect on a sites design and audience to well.

Introduction to Web Design Using Microsoft® Expression® Studio 4: Module 1 History and Future of the Web

So I am looking at a number of modules that have been developed and using the guiding questions in each for the students to reflect on at the end of each lesson.

Introduction to Web Design Using Microsoft® Expression® Studio 4: Module 3 Designing for Communication

Students struggle with designing for communication, yes they can design a webpage, but what does it communicate.

Introduction to Web Design Using Microsoft® Expression® Studio 4: Module 6 The Design Process

The design process, students need to understand where this fits in and what is required in their own work

Introduction to Web Design Using Microsoft® Expression® Studio 4: Module 7 The Production Process

As normal, design and production almost go hand in hand, so these will go together quite well.

Introduction to Web Design Using Microsoft® Expression® Studio 4: Module 8 Web Publishing and Maintenance

The last module is one that students never think about at all until that last moment when they go to hand it in, who will look after it, how will they look after it. Maintenance is now more important than actual design, it is also something that people forget in our organsiation as well whenever I look at our own school website. It is a place to communicate with your target audience.

There is one other course that I am looking at this year, which is financial literacy, it is something that I am having to do...

Achieving your childhood dreams

Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams  - 02/05/2009 With equal parts humor and heart, Carnegie Mellon University Professor Randy Pausch delivered a one-of-a-kind lecture that moved an overflow crowd at Carnegie Mellon University - and is now moving audiences around the globe.

something different for next year

After another year of the three day learning around project 72 - get lost! I have found it pretty hard this year which resetting up and doing the development work again.
Although the students feedback has been positive, I am after another challenge. I think I have the beginnings of a challenge that will be somewhat different and go along the lines of the initial project guidelines.

The design principles

• Projects should provide interactive, engaging learning activities which strengthen 'learning to learn' capabilities.
• Projects should help students to make authentic, relevant connections between their learning and the world they live in.
• Outcomes should conclude with an evaluation, using learner-derived indicators of successful learning and opportunities to celebrate achievements.

The following concepts also guided the design of projects:

• opportunities for curriculum coherence by making links within and across learning areas
• timetable suspension, allowing for increased scope and choice for learning
• students and staff learning collaboratively
• opportunities to nurture creativity and innovation
• enhancing staff collaboration and collegiality
• creating opportunities to connect with the needs and interests of junior students
• multi-literacies in a knowledge age and opportunities to consider new approaches to assessment.

(Also the following adapted from Claxton, 2006)

• problem solving tasks that encouraged reflective thought and action
• actively questioning the learning, including traditional and less familiar types of questions
• making links to real life contexts where outcomes and solutions genuinely matter
• designing challenging and authentic tasks that provided multiple opportunities for students to learn.

This is an idea I last looked at a couple of years ago and have been thinking about as an extension project, possibly for a holiday programme or for a media/solutions class. Though I think the year 9 and 10 programme would be a good introduction for the students. We can look at the technology curriculum and use the development of the project. .

The more I start looking at teaching as inquiry through the http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz the more I start to wonder why we are using these terms at school when we don't fully understand them, the development that is required to start meeting these outcomes requires reflection.