Web Design for Beginners
While teaching IT across Year 10 - 13 I built up some resources around web design to help explain the basics and let students build skills to the point they could create their own web site with a decent visual style. I taught them to adhere to the W3C specs (web standards) right from the start and aimed to keep things as simple and uniform for myself throughout the different age groups.
Year 10s typed in the XHTML and CSS and used the existing images to make a snazzy little site. The focus was on understanding the idea of structured content, separating visual style and the really switched on kids could grab the Gimp concept and tweak the images. Time was the biggest constraint with this age group.
Year 11s could be stepped up a notch as they were ready. Not all my students had done the Year 10 course so the scaffolding was important. They still typed in the XHTML and CSS but were expected to use the concept as a base to build their own visual style (keeping the same basic layout).
Year 12s worked through the basic template and students who had completed Yr10 and 11 with me were introduced to more complex layout techniques (not covered in this resource ... next one maybe). They built visual styles from scratch and were required to get the concept approved before moving forward. Testing and validation became more important and a key criteria for the assessment.
Year 13s who had been through all the previous years were beyond this resource but, again, some of the students were new to the course. Extensions were about more complex techiques and an introduction to content management systems. Validation and quality assurance testing were assumed to be basic skills and students were expected to set up and document the testing. Visual styles were expected to be built from scratch and a level of complexity and skill were expected.
This book is the tidied up verson of the various resources I used in class and while it arrived a bit late for my teaching I hope it is of value to other teachers who need something solid to introduce web design to students. The resource comes with a layered concept made in the open source image manipulation tool Gimp and the files for the final web site.
It has been published by User Friendly Resources and is available through their web site in hardcopy or PDF formats.
Open Source Software for the classroom
Open source software is a great resource for the classroom and, in particular I found it an excellent source of tool sets for my ICT courses.
We were using Ubuntu (Linux) as the desktop operating system so many of these tools are in the repositories but many are also available for Windows and Mac OSX. While not a prerequisite for use in the classroom it was beneficial to use tools that students could take home and use on whatever system they had available. It was also important that the tools were fairly stable, mainly for teacher sanity but also to help build the students' trust in open source software. I also appreciated the tools with a large community around them as I was able to point students at a wide range of resources and encourage them to find their own solutions to issues.
So here are the tools we were using:
The main tools:
- Open Office: word processing, spreadsheets, presentation. (Linux, Windows, OSX)
- Gimp: raster image manipulation. (Linux, Windows, OSX)
- Inkscape: vector image manipulation (Linux, Windows, OSX)
- Blender: 3D modelling and animation (Linux, Windows, OSX)
- Scribus: desktop publishing (Linux, Windows, OSX)
- Planner: project management (Linux, Windows)
- Audacity: sound editor (Linux, Windows, OSX)
- Kdenlive: non-linear video editing (Linux, OSX)
- Scratch: simple, visual programming environment (Windows, OSX, Linux - using WINE)
Infrastructure:
- VirtualBox: virtual environment (we ran Windows in it and students were free to experiment with other Linux distributions)
- iTalc: allows the teacher to take control of student desktops
- Wine: environment for running Windows applications on Linux
- Skype: internet telephone system (note: not open source but freely available for use)
- Likewise Open: authenticate non-windows systems against Active Directory
Ubuntu on the desktop
I have recently rebuilt the machines in my ICT room at school. After a couple of weeks struggling to use Symantic Ghost to create an image of the dual boot we have been using I went with a slightly simpler approach. The machines now run Ubuntu 8.10 as the sole operating system. I set up one machine with all the applications needed and then used Remastersys to create a custom install CD which was manually installed across all 22 machines. A bit manual but took about 2 hours to do all the machines with very little input.
The Likewise Open tool lets us authenticate against Active Directory and while, at this stage, we still have to mount the students' centralised home directories manually it makes quite a nice lesson about servers, ssh and permissions. Windows XP is being set up in VirtualBox so students can access some of the Windows-only systems (ie. printing) and get used to virtualisation. We have moved project documentation to the Google apps and students are encouraged to export to PDF for their final delivery.
I have installed iTalc to use as a classroom management tool and so far it's working pretty well. I can gather evidence about the computer use and grab a student's screen for displaying to the class or demonstrating a technique.
So far it's working pretty well and the aging machines have got a new lease of life running well with pretty much everything except for the game engine in the Blender. It feels a lot more stable than the previous set up and the students are having to learn a new set of tools. A few students have already taken Ubuntu home to install and our CD of open source applications for Windows has also been copied a few times. All good education in my books.
Wacom Bamboo and Ubuntu
Last year I invested in ten Wacom Bamboo Fun drawing tablets for the ICT classroom and with the recent upgrade to Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid have been stoked to find they are now plug 'n play and work really well. The only issue noted so far is the eraser nib not working but so far students have not noticed as they tend to use the eraser tool in GIMP. Maybe if I don't raise it no one will notice until it's fixed ... Gimp, Inkscape and Blender all work really well with a drawing tablet and the tablets have taken a somewhat higher status than the poor old mouse in class with students requesting them.
It is great to see the increase in hardware support for Linux, especially for schools who have invested in hardware but may be looking to open source software / operating systems. It has been interesting upgrading the machines this year and noting that Ubuntu has taken position as the primary operating system in students' minds as well as mine.
Blender: Game Engine
I have been working towards including 3D visualisation in my ICT courses as a way of hooking in students and teaching them how to use a virtual environment to explore concepts that would be expensive to build physically.
I have been introducing students in Year10, 11 and 12 to 3D modelling techniques and a simple workflow to move through the Design process with purpose. Recently a senior student has been exploring the game engine built into Blender as part of an independent project and I have been exploring the opportunities it provides us.
I am not overly interested in Game Design in school but the skills and techniques associated with a game engine are particularly interesting for letting stakeholders in a project take control of a concept and explore it in their own way. A lot of the interaction associated with 3D games is equally valuable for visualisation and provides a great platform for students interested in a range of media and contexts.
Next year I hope to include it in a few of my courses and start getting our students into it. Should be good fun.
New classroom layout
I have been looking at my classroom and thinking about the issues I am facing with the rows of computers. Students all sit sideways to the board and many are out of view while I am instructing and can continue working on the computer without me knowing. I can hardly get between the chairs to work with students and often miss students in the corners.
The courses are all based around the Design process (effectively the Technology curriculum in schools) and students need a different work environment. To this end I have measured up the room, 3D modelled it and started playing around with different layouts. The one posted here is the most likely and gives me greater acccess to the students and their work. I can call students around the tables in the middle during instruction making a clear separation between the working and full attention states. It should also allow students a space to work in groups or on non-computer related work.
Feels better to me so will run it passed the students and look at implementing it later in term 4. The year 10s will love moving stuff around.
Update: 5/3/09
From concept to reality the new room layout is working a treat. A centralised desk area with workstations around the edge allows students to engage in workshops, general instruction and group work on the central desks and quick access to computers around the edge. The first term around here is always about getting students up-to-speed with the systems and setting up the tools they need for projects. The last few weeks have seen students starting to share ideas and use the central desk area as they start to get to know each other and teams build up. My role is primarily to make sure they have access to the technical skills as they need them and to stay out of the way (which takes some effort at times).
The computers are now running Ubuntu with Windows XP available in a virtual machine (VirtualBox in our case). The projector has been mounted on the ceiling freeing up space on the desk and making it a more useful tool for displaying work and specific instructions (server details etc). We managed to get all cables tucked away or covered if they crossed the floor and the desk area has an area for our students in wheel chairs to park up comfortably.
Pilot Projects for 2009
Following the trip to Wellington for the NZ Open Source Awards and a breakfast workshop at Core-Ed I have revitalised my interest and understanding in Moodle. I have started a very small first step with a couple of Year 10 ICT students who came back after completing the course in the first half of the year and set up an animation project for them. I have added various resources and a forum for them in the hopes that I can use it again next year for the next intake. Ideally I'd like to see the students creating the knowledge base for every year that follows and effectively become the teachers for new intakes. Next year I plan to run a pilot that sees my course material for the ICT classes moved to Moodle.
I also plan to run a pilot to introduce and use Mahara as a way to create ePortfolios. It has struck me that it would be great for students to be able to have a space for all their work (which is mostly digital) and in a way they can carry them through the years and track their own progress. If it ties in with Moodle and Drupal then i think we have a winning combination. The aim for both these pilots is to focus my attention while I make the courses more robust and set ups some measureable goals so I can report success to other staff (and myself).
