Final Exam

Web 2 Final Exam is below. Choose the assignment appropriate for your topic.

Be sure to save final copy properly in UDrive before the bell rings for your exam. TEST IT!!!

You are the editor of the Missouri Times. It is November 7, 2006. Your state is the only state that the Northern Democrats won. Your state has played a strong role in the slavery debate through the Missouri compromise and that information is important to your readers (and is perhaps why they voted for Douglas).
Prepare a breaking news website that reflects the results of the election.

You are the editor of the Capulet Times. You have just heard that Juliet may have died and Romeo is missing. Your newspaper is owned by the Capulet family.
Prepare a breaking news website that reflects this news.

You are the webmaster for the Madrid Times. It is July 2, 1898. You have to be as objective as possible, but you know the King of Spain reads your paper and has huge influence.
Prepare a breaking news website that reflects the events of July 1.

You are the editor for the Chicago Tribune. It is August 27, 1968 and the Democratic Convention is experiencing more and more protests. Many of your reporters sympathize with the protesters and you support the free speech of the protesters. However, many of your readers think the police are correct to “restore order”.
Prepare a breaking news website that reports the growing protests at the convention.

End of The Year

You never know what a year will bring. At this time last year I was preparing my students for their honors recitals, collecting uniforms, and preparing for the summer music program.

One year later I am completing my first year at Seymour High School. It has been an interesting year. Many of you have been with me since that first day in September, some joined us in January. I want to thank you for all your hard work along the way.

I have tried hard to teach you in a modern way. I learn alongside you. I teach with you, not TO you. This is the school 2.0 we have talked about. Many of you resisted this. I know it would be more comfortable for some of you for me to read the directions out of the book. On the flip side, many of you would have gone off the deep end if I did that.

My goal was to make you independent learners. Yes, that meant sometimes I didn't answer your question. Sorry.

So, what's next? I hope you stay on top of technology. Be the "tuned in" person. That will give you a HUGE advantage in interviews for schools or jobs. If you are the person people depend on for the latest information you are invaluable to a company.

Remember that an impression is lasting. So many of you made a lasting impression on me with your work. Having people advocate for you is incredibly powerful. You want people on your team that sing your praises. A bad impression spreads like wildfire.

Don't submit work you aren't proud of. If it has your name it that should stand for something. No matter what line of work you go into, showing pride in your workmanship is essential. You don't want your plumber saying "Yeah, what do I have to do to pass?". You don't want your doctor saying "I didn't really pay attention in that class".

Most of all, work on your collaboration skills. Isolation is the enemy of improvement.

Today: Evaluations of projects, comments on blogs, and final exam suggestions.

Checklist

Final projects are due Friday, June 1. I hope you will all attend the SHS tech Fair on June 4 from 6-8pm to show off your work. Bring friends and family.

If you are a presenter I ask that you be here by 5:45pm.

Some items to think about as you finish:

1. Check the rubric. Have you done everything?
2. Citations!! Correct format!!
3. Does your page look like a final project for Web2 or Web1? Are you using modern design? Is it visual and interactive?
4. Please be sure there are NO typos or links errors. Double and triple check.
5. Have you shown evidence of engagement and collaboration? The next few days are an excellent opportunity for this.
6. Do you have a "future" section where you outline what EXPERTS think will be happening in your area (laws, trends, etc...).

And most important: Did you actually answer the question????

This has been a three week project. Plan accordingly to finish on time and demonstrate your best work.

Check out the best Flash Websites. Get some ideas?

We will start forming the index today. Please go to UDrive on network (WebSchneider-Web2-Final Projects). Create a folder with your first and last name in the appropriate subject. Save your "index" file in this folder. It doesn't matter if it is done, we just need a correctly named file to start the index and make the links.

If you made a movie in Windows Movie Maker you need to convert it using Flash. Go to Flash and use "Import to Library". Bring file in. Then open it from your library and save it as a Flash file. Then you can bring it into Dreamweaver. Of course, it might be easier to make the movie in Flash to begin with....

The New Yorker has an interesting article about Gordon Bell, the famous computer scientist, and his vision of the future. Its long, but a good read.

The blogmeister had an interesting post about the Arts and Sciences. The 2nd half of the entry is the relevant part. Are you quoting experts in your project (and citing them correctly)? I hope so....

If you haven't checked out the completed horizon project that we reviewed a few weeks ago I urge you to do so. Those students did an excellent job.

Technorati Tags: Warlick k12 hz07 GordonBell NewYorker

Thursday

The weeks are going by real fast.....

The next few days will be crazy. Many of you have prom obligations, we have 8th grade orientation, track meets, and I have curriculum work on Wednesday. I won't see some of you for one week.

But the deadline still looms. Having other obligations is not a reason to produce shoddy work. I expect your best work.

I hope this is not blocked: weebly.com. Making a professional website is getting incredibly easy and free. Of course this impacts this class. If software is becoming online, free, and incredibly easy we may value the coding aspect of design less. The value of being a good writer and visual communicator will become more and more important. The value of being able to write in three dimensions is definitely becoming more important.

OK>>>>We have been playing with weebly all day. Our presenting group (web 2.0, video, etc..) will definitely use this. See me for questions.

Now a lot of programmers hate programs like this. It doesn't code completely correctly. There are trade-offs as the software becomes more user-friendly. Will this become the industry standard? I doubt it. Something even easier will debut before we teach this class again next September.

Don't fall behind. The world is moving VERY fast.

I did a quick flash thing from the VA tech victims and put it in UDrive. Use it if you want.

And finally, here is the link to Mrs. Deming's page about her breast cancer walk. Read this before you write up her questions. In addition she has been answering questions on students blogs (Christina, Jackie, etc..).

Technorati Tags: weebly k12 education

Monday

Today will be the final day in the Flash sandbox. Use the time to try something new in the tutorials (try zoom in if you haven't yet). I also want you to spend time reading Project 9 in the textbook as you will need to add Flash movies to your websites during your final project. Please take the time to view some of the examples of Flash Websites that are on the tutorial pages (there are links in the bottom right).

If you made a cool movie in Flash, save it to the UDrive so everyone can see it. I had Courtney P save her car movie there. Its pretty cool.

We will begin the final project tomorrow. You can read about it today, but be warned I have a few more items to add to the page. This will be a three week assignment and will require you to show competencies from Web1 and Web2. All of these projects will be displayed at the SHS Tech Fair on June 4.

We will split into two groups for the project. I will ask several of you to present at the Tech Fair on subjects such as Web 2.0, video, blogging, and such. The rest of you will work on one of the assigned tasks for the project.

Flash

Here is the link to the Flash tutorial that I would like you to start when your quiz is done. These are some simple directions for learning the basics of Flash. You will notice some similarities to the project that we just completed (timeline, layers, etc...). Start with the top tutorial (motion tween) and go through the rest.

I am new to Flash as well. We will learn this together. I think you will pick it up very fast. I got most of the things to work very easily. But some things held me up. I am sure they are obvious things. A few things to note about Flash. First, you can do some cool stuff with it. Second, because you can do some cool stuff designers often load their pages with stuff that adds no value to the page, causing it to take forever to load. Worse in my eyes are those "flash intros" to pages that almost nobody likes to use.

So, as you use the Flash tutorials think about how you could use Flash to add value or increase usability on a page.

Please try to put your Yankees quiz in the UDrive today. Important notes about the quiz....please follow the directions!!! Some of you have turned in a quiz that does not include the correct link or explanation text. Please don't turn in a webpage that is titled "Untitled Document".

I hope to have the final project assignment ready by Thursday or Friday. Keep sending me your ideas.

Technorati Tags: Flash

Final Project

Teaching a class for the first time is not easy. The main issue is pacing. I don't really know how long a unit will take and how many extra items to add for understanding. I do feel that we are finishing the year much stronger than how we started. All of you have improved on our three objectives: synthesize, summarize, solve.

Almost all of you have grades above 95 now. You are doing the work and doing it well. About 10 of you are not getting your work done. This is not acceptable. You know who you are. See me today and we can try to fix this the easy way. Otherwise.....

So what do we have left to do? We need to spend some time on Flash and Fireworks. We need to do our final project (this will be fairly large). We need to review for the final and take the final.

If you have ideas for the final exam and final project please add them to your blog. I would be interested to read them. If you took Web1 with me you probably have an idea where I am heading.

Wednesday

I am in general very happy with the reviews that you did for the Horizon Project and the comments you made on the blogs. I think about 80% of you showed a real depth of understanding about design, writing, and the creative process. Many of the rest of you went through the motions. Always do your best.

Go to teachertube.com and check out the scores for the movies I posted. Kelly's movie is in the lead with over 1700 views! Related to the horizon project this is a social network and an emerging form of publication. You have a global audience! Have something to say.

Project 8 should be in progress at this point. The quiz is posted on the wiki. Have some fun with it.

Technorati Tags: hz07 teachertube

Tuesday

Things to do today:

1. Review and edit your horizon project exams.
2. Complete your Web 3.0 blog entry from before vacation.
3. Check teacherease for missing work. I have not gotten to all the P7 quizzes and some of the videos. You have not been graded if you did not turn in an evaluation.
4. Make 3-5 substantial comments on students blog entries about the horizon project.
5. Project 8 if you are ready.

Stuff

Many of you are off to a good start on your movie. Please be sure to note your subject in your blog. If you do the work at home you will need to burn the movie file on to a CD. You want the MOVIE FILE, not the project. If you think you are done please save the movie file into the Udrive. Be sure to name your file correctly.

Project 6 involves templates and some work in CSS language. This work is fairly detailed, but pretty simple. Creating templates or style sheets is a time saver. We will not spend much time on this. However, if you decide to go further into programming this would be an excellent area to focus on as it unleashes a lot of the more powerful features of Dreamweaver.

For project six you will do the project, the outline, and the quiz. No extras. Be aware that the "logo" image is actually named "title" in this project.

And check out freeplaymusic. I found this site this morning and like it a lot so far. Very easy to use. (Aargh---someone just let me know its currently blocked for students. I will work on it).

Exam Observations

A few notes that I see about the exam:

1. Many of you should be using tables to help with your layout (review Florida Parks pages). Many of your layouts look a little sloppy. A table would help a lot. Remember, the table can have no border, but you use it just for alignment.

2. Many of you have images, but they don't have alternate text or VSpace or HSpace. This looks bad.

3. In general your backgrounds are way too prominent. They are backgrounds. You need to remove them. If you take the background out and your page suddenly looks cleaner, that should tell you something. In general your pages are way too busy. Again, it is VERY rare to find a professional website that has a dark background or one that is as flashy as some of yours are. The best looking websites I've seen for this exam are very clean, and have minimal, if any, backgrounds.

4. This is a website. Not an essay.

5. Citations must be correct. Everything must be cited and you must know who wrote your information. "Some guy" is not an acceptable answer.

6. Test your site! Have someone else try it out. Is it fun?? This is a a factor for your grade!!!! Will a 5th grader want to use your website?? I urge you to look at your classmates work for ideas.

7. You must link to a prominent blog on the subject.

Exam Thoughts

As you finish the research for your exam I wanted to have some Do's and Don'ts:

DO:

1. Look at information with a critical eye. Just because it is on the internet does not mean it is correct. How did you determine that it is valuable information? Who is the author? Is their work cited in other places?

2. Remember your designated audience!! Do 5th graders want a boring site? No! Do you include interactive elements like quizzes, video, surveys?

3. Be very specific. Don't start writing about irrelevant issues. Also, be sure you define the question correctly. For example, "can dogs love humans" will require a definition of what "love" is. Dogs can be devoted, but can they love? These are tough questions.

4. Be sure to only use work that is Creative Common license or non-copywrited.

5. Collaborate with your classmates!! It would be cool to link two or three sites together, each tackling a different part of the issue. Help each other with video, cool ideas, etc... I have no problem if you barter skills ("I work on your video, you help me with the images") as long as you cite who did what. Use blogmeister to connect with anyone in the world. You must have a blog reference. Blogmeister has students all over the world who could leave you comments!!!

6. Include a professional looking page of references.

DON'T:

1. Don't use dark backgrounds unless you have a REALLY good reason. Dark backgrounds are VERY rare in the design world. Plan your website BEFORE you start on the computer. Don't just jump in.

2. Don't wait until the last minute.

3. Don't do less than your best work. These WILL be used by the 5th graders in Seymour. Show that you know what you are doing.

Quiz

Quiz is on the blogmeister. Must be completed today (3/22/07).

Exam

Your marking period exam is posted here on the class wiki. It is due April 2, which will close the marking period.

You also have your chapters to complete. Yes, I am asking you to do two things at once. Your exam should reflect your current knowledge and you should use the tools that you have to solve the problems in the exam.

Book project 4 is about frames. This is a very quick project. Please do the following:

1. Parks
2. Student Trips
3. Outline/Summary
4. Quiz

You will do the same four categories for project 5.

Deadlines

Deadlines are moving up fast.

Period 1, 6 must take their quiz today.

Period 2, 4, 5 must take their quiz by tomorrow.

All project 3 work due by Thursday.

Last weeks blog assignment deadline has passed.

Many of you need to do homework or use study hall time. If you are behind, and not taking the CAPT test you should use the extra time and arrive to see me at 7:20am.

I will stay after:
Tuesday until 3pm
Wednesday until 3:30pm
Thursday until 3pm

Plan accordingly.

Schedule

Students should be familiar with the new grading schedule and requirements.

New Age

During Web1 I had several battles with students who felt that Web Design was only HTML based programming. Video, wikis, blogs, etc...were "extras". I think I convinced most that "web design" is a moving target. It is quickly adapting to a mobile, collaborative form.

Further evidence continues to arrive. Read this post about the growth of wikis and blogs in the workplace. Experts predict that 50% of companies will use wiki technology by the year 2009. A few notes about that:

1. If half the companies are using wiki/blogs I hypothesize that it is the better performing companies. Companies that do not use technology are probably "old school" in many other areas as well and risk falling behind in our global marketplace.
2. Our SHS freshman will graduate college no earlier than 2014. Will wikis and blogs be essential by then? The article speaks about companies replacing their traditional web sites with the wikis and blogs. Will Dreamweaver/HTML disappear by the time our freshman leave high school? I think so. But the communication skills (summarizing, analyzing, editing, etc...) will become even more important.

I think this has extreme implications for our modern student. If the workplace of 2009 will be largely wiki and blog based how should that shape your work at SHS? I think there is a lot of work to be done.

This is your future. Demand an education that prepares you for it. Find new technology and embrace it.

I will be formatting your projects very soon. But let me be clear---I will allow you to work on almost anything you want while you are in this class as long as you fulfill our objectives (see blogmeister). If you have an alternate assignment for any of our objectives please offer them. If there is something you want to pursue--do it!!

Technorati Tags: wikis webdesign Seymour Schneider k12 technology

Welcome Back

I hope you all had a happy and healthy vacation. I spent the first weekend in Pennsylvania visiting my mom and sister. We were delayed as all the roads were closed due to the Valentine's Day storm and ice on the roads. We spent most of the rest of the time playing with Claudia.

I think we have the basics of Dreamweaver down at this point. You all should be able to create a new website, create pages within that website, import links, and do basic manipulations to the page. We have done this fairly fast but I think you are doing well with it. Remember, I am not trying to teach you Dreamweaver, but how to use software. If you could walk into any publishing environment and use their software then we have done our job.

This is the first time I have taught this class. The hardest thing when teaching a new class is pacing. In my old job as a band director I could plan almost to the minute how much class time it would take to learn a piece of music. Figuring out how long it takes us to learn a chapter is challenging, especially since we have such diverse abilities. At the moment I think a chapter (with extras) takes us about a week. I think that will come down as we get better with the program.

I do feel strongly that our higher achieving students can do more, especially with helping our lower achievers. I have encouraged you to plow through the book. If you can finish it tomorrow, great. I would love if those of you who really "get it" would do one of two things:

1. Take the time to help some of our students for whom this is a challenge. Peer-to-peer instruction is far more valuable than teacher-to-student.
2. I will begin to provide more and more "extra challenges" for those who are moving fast. But I already have provided you with a blog, wiki, and a world of readers. Do something with your skills that is productive. Find something you are passionate about and write about it.

CAPT testing is approaching. We will have shortened periods and other various interruptions. What I will set up is a serious of activities as I know you will be a bit frazzled. I expect to start the Flash and Fireworks program work and do it concurrently with the Dreamweaver. This will give each of you more options as you come into class each day.

I will also be making the blog a higher percentage of your grade. You must show evidence of reflecting upon the reading assignments.

I would love to set up workshops for senior citizens, teachers, parents, or little kids. We could teach internet basics, email, and other items. I did a survey of parents during web1 and 100% of them asked for this type of thing. Please let me know if you are interested!!! Its a great project for a group of students to get community service credits (Hope Club??), teaching experience, and possibility a subject for a college essay. I have always tried to give future teachers a chance to actually teach as this gives them a huge edge when interviewing for schools. Here is your chance....

Web Design 2

Welcome to Web Design 2! I know we will have a great time this semester. As I already talked about, we will cover many new things during this semester. We will move out of the world of notepad into the program world of Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks. We will continue to work on our blogs, wikis and other aspects of the read/write web. You will do a lot of writing, reading, analyzing as we aim to improve our communication skills.

Over 99% of the information in the world is digital. Can you find this information, process it, interpret it, and reproduce it in a thoughtful way. That is what this course is about.

We will move faster than Web 1. However, this pace will not be the same for all. I will expect some leaders to emerge shortly who move VERY fast on our projects. This speed will allow us time to work on some exciting things.

Today is grunt work. Please do the following.

1. Go to your W:drive
2. Create a folder "web2"
3. Within the web2 folder create four more folders: Dreamweaver Projects, Flash Projects, Fireworks Projects, Other.

Create an MSWord document. (Web1-Schneider students answer these questions on blogmeister).
1. Save as "Day1" in your Other folder.
2. After watching the Did you Knowmovie please write a 1-2 paragraph reflection. How does this movie relate to your life here in Seymour, CT?
3. What about the future gets you excited? What scares you? Write 3-4 sentances on each question.
4. Bloggers, include 1-2 links in post.
5. Save file.

Good luck!

Technorati Tags: DidYouKnow WebDesign Schneider