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July 2008 |
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Keeping creativity in their sites |
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Tuesday, 25 March 2008 |
Web design class teaches visual communication
 Wapakoneta High School students Chad Downing and Michelle Newland work on pages for the school’s Web site during class last week. (Staff photo/ Karen Campbell)
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
For a Wapakoneta High School senior interested in fashion, she says Web design was a way she thought she could improve her creativity.
Michelle Newland, in her second year taking Web design classes at the high school, said it has ended up being more fun and a little more stressful than she imagined.
“I’ve learned a lot,” said Newland, a senior who plans to pursue a degree in pharmacy, with classes in visual communication at the University of Toledo.
One day she said she is thinking she might like to put her skills to work doing layout at a magazine.
“I’ve learned better how to express my thoughts and work with others to create something, and how to think outside the box,” Newland said. “Of course, the stress comes because it’s a computer and sometimes they are just frustrating.”
Newland said in today’s technological world she thinks whatever career path she chooses, she will use what she has learned in these classes.
Students in two levels of Web design at Wapakoneta High School are responsible for creating and updating the high school and middle school sites for the district.
“The kids take on more and more responsibility
every day,” said their teacher, Julie Courter, who started the classes seven years ago during the 2001-02 academic year. “There are probably quite a few people who don’t realize the students are doing all this.
“The pages change every year, with new students bringing new looks and finding new ways to get the information out easier,” she said.
Courter said she hopes what they learn, not just in class lessons but in hands-on applications, propels her students ahead of the pack when they are applying for jobs.
“When it comes down to getting a job and they are asked if they are able to design a Web site or not, something many companies now need someone to do, they will get the job,” Courter said.
She said in her class, the students take charge, knowing what they need to do and making sure it gets done with minimal supervision. Her role is mostly to answer questions and offer input. She expects her students to work just as they would on a regular job.
The class started after Courter, who took over the high school’s Web site when she first started teaching, realized what a huge load that would be if it was done right. She asked if she could develop a class where the students could help do it.
Twelve students are selected for the class each year. The members, consisting mostly juniors and seniors and some sophomores, are chosen through a selection process. They are required to have taken two computer classes prior and to be a student that will know what needs to be done and work on his own.
The students, who recently helped update the home page for the high school, communicate with teachers every day to update their sites, including adding new homework and class assignments and transferring notes from Smartboards to the Web where anyone can access them outside of class.
Sports and other extracurricular activities at the school also have their own pages, with pictures, scores, schedules and other information.
The students, constantly wanting to add new details or try out things they’ve learned, recreate and enhance the pages they are responsible for — typically, each student handles certain pages throughout the class.
The students also are already using skills they have learned in the class to create Web pages and designs beyond the school site.
They’ve created flyers for the Sidney YMCA, booklets for an association of wrestling referees, and programs for graduation and the Hall of Fame induction.
The students also create special projects for teachers at their request and many have created sites for their families.
Their skills have earned donations for the school.
“The main idea of the class is for them to learn to do Web design and programming,” Courter said. “But they’re also learning how to work with someone and how to do the job they want.
“They’ve learned not to create the page or design they want, but to work with the person wanting it done to do what they want,” she said. “They’re learning what’s too much and what’s not enough and they’re learning a new way to express themselves.”
Chad Downing, a junior in his second year of the class, said he always liked Web design, but he’s learned even more about how to create different types of pages.
While Downing does not know what degree he wants to pursue after high school graduation, he is hoping to incorporate the design skills heis learning, even if it’s for a side job.
On his resume, Downing can write he has won awards for his pages on the soccer team and is working with Auglaize Family Dental on his own to design its business site.
“It’s fun to make pages more personal,” Downing said. “I try to make them so they work for everybody.
“It’s a good skill to have,” he said. “I think it’s one I’ll definitely use in the future. With the Internet so big you can have a Web site for anything.” |
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 26 March 2008 )
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| | ...I love the "small town" charm and sense of community I feel when I run into my father at Community Market or my Mother-in-Law at Walmart or one of my sisters at the gas station! Tracy Anderson - Wapakoneta
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