June 2002 — Applications
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Philadelphia Students Gain Real-World Experience From Web and Graphics Design Curriculum
Students in Mastbaum's Web design classes participate in real-world projects. For instance, many of the school's students live in neighborhoods where Spanish is spoken almost exclusively. As part of their coursework, students can design a Web site in Spanish for a local business, such as a grocery story or hair salon. It's a novel approach that brings students closer to their communities and exposes people who might have limited technology experience to the Web. "Students are challenged to write the text, select and design images, layout the Web pages, and get the Web sites online - all while juggling deadlines and the concerns of the business owners," says Bell.
Application Integration Encourages Exploration
It's one thing to teach students about what technology can do, and quite another to let them discover the possibilities for themselves. The Cisco Networking Academy Program was developed to encourage an active approach to learning. In addition to working on projects for local businesses, Philadelphia high school students use the Adobe software to create Web sites for their schools, Web pages for their families, online histories of their neighborhoods, and stories for video and print publications.
"A key benefit of Adobe software is its flexibility," says Chris Tully, multimedia instructor at Roxborough High School. "These are the same applications used by design professionals. What is great is that novice and more advanced users can jump in and create designs they like." And as students' skills improve, they have options for making designs richer and more interactive. The ease of using Adobe applications and their powerful features enable teachers to work successfully with students at different skill levels.
Intuitive features in Adobe GoLive offer students a point-and-click environment for incorporating advanced functions into their Web sites. Students can quickly build links between pages on a site, optimize graphics and images for on-screen presentations, create complex tables, and, if necessary, view the source code underlying their designs. With Adobe LiveMotion, students can further enhance the look and interactivity of designs by integrating Macromedia Flash (SWF) animations and QuickTime content into their GoLive Web pages.
Adobe graphics software, including Illustrator and Photoshop, enables students to create artwork, ranging from simple line drawings in black and white to colorful scenes with text, photos and images. As a result, students are more likely to create their own graphics, rather than pull stock images from commercially available sources. Equally important for students is the ability to capture their voices, import sounds from CD-ROMs and edit videos, all of which are supported by Adobe Premiere.
The integration between Adobe applications also makes it easier to personalize designs. Rather than struggling to learn five different programs from scratch, students can apply their experiences on one Adobe application to the others and achieve the results they want. "I never considered that I'd have the chance to design my own Web pages," says Roxborough High School senior Tyrell Parker. "Now I have insight into a possible career."
