When teaching students how to design and use websites, one of the most important aspects to cover is the site’s navigational structure. In fact, you’ll want to have your students chart out their websites’ navigational structures before they even start designing. Here’s a simple lesson plan that you can use to get this done:

Step 1

Have students start with a list of the site’s major pages. Have them map out their plan like this:

High School Football Team Website Pages

Page Title                                                        Brief Description

The Highview Falcons Football Team Welcomes the visitor to the site

About Us Tells about the team, participants and past records

Events Schedule of upcoming games and events

Contact Us How to reach management and volunteer personnel via phone and email

Site Map Complete list of site links and information

Step 2

As your students work through this exercise, tell them that using tables and charts is a good way to gather the information needed to plan out their sites. (You’ll want them to consider which pages will be “parent” pages, for example, and which will be “sub pages.”)

Step 3

Once they have a basic idea of their site’s navigational structure, explain to your students the need for hierarchical structure within their websites. Have them chart that structure like this:

1. Open a blank word processing document or use a sheet of paper. At the top, write the title that you plan to use:  Football Team Site Navigation Structure.
2. Using the information charted out in Step One above, have students create a chart showing the navigation structure of the proposed site. Have them employ hierarchical structure, with the home page at the top.
3. Add five lower-level pages, or sub-pages under the Events page. Write appropriate page titles for these sub-pages.
4. Have students proofread their charts, name them and save them on their computers.

By mapping out the information using these three steps in advance, students will be able to take an organized approach to designing their first websites.

Students can use any number of programs, such as Microsoft Word and its SmartArt features or Microsoft Visio to create their navigational chart. There are also free apps that can be found online in order to create their charts.

“Certifications allow us to see if students know programs like Microsoft Word from top to bottom, and provide an industry standard that we can measure against,” says

Erik Amerikaner, computer technology instructor at Oak Park High School in Thousand Oaks, Calif. Amerikaner, who implemented a Microsoft Office Specialist certification program at the school in 2009, has seen the benefits of helping to certify over 300 students at Oak Park, and at his previous school.

“Students are expected to graduate from high school with basic computer proficiency, and the Microsoft Office Specialist certification proves that,” says Amerikaner. “Colleges are accepting certifications as proof that someone has a strong computer education foundation, and that he or she doesn’t need a beginning computer class.”

If you’re considering certifications for your school’s technology curriculum, here are three to check out:

• MS Office: Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) is the credential required by academia and business, recognized globally as the premier credential chosen by individuals seeking to validate their knowledge, skills and abilities relating to the Microsoft Office systems. In academia, MOS promotes success in the classroom for students and instructors, and prepares students for an increasingly competitive workforce. For business, MOS maximizes office productivity and efficiency for the organization and increases job satisfaction and heightens career achievement among employees. Access complete information on the Office Specialist program at:  www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mos.aspx

• Adobe Specialist. Adobe offers two levels of certification: Adobe Certified Associate for validating entry-level skills and Adobe Certified Expert for validating expert-level skills. An Adobe Certified Associate has earned a certification that validates entry-level skills needed to plan, design, build and maintain effective communications by using different forms of digital media.

Learn more about Adobe’s expert-level programs at:  www.adobe.com/support/certification/

• IC³: The Internet and Computing Core Certification (IC³) training and certification program covers a broad range of computing knowledge and skills that proves competency in various computing areas. Individuals seeking IC³ certification are required to take and pass the following exams:  Computing Fundamentals, Key Applications and Living Online. Learn more about IC³ certification at:  http://www.teknimedia.com/html/about_ic.html

Dustin Devers, instructor, business technology, at Meridian Technology Center in Stillwater, Okla., has taken that approach, and shares a few of his best tips for integrating technology into the classroom without breaking the bank:

♦ Seek out open source software and/or materials that will be free for personal and educational use. Moodle is a popular classroom management program, for example, and wikis provide free website setup and management tools that you can use to get your students interacting and collaborating online.

♦ Contact vendors, or companies in your area, that are disposing of old equipment that you might be able to use or integrate and employ as tools for your classroom. Approach them, explain your situation and figure out a win-win way to infuse your classroom with technology.

♦ Contact or send a letter to your student’s parents about recycling their old computer or electronics equipment to use in your classroom instead of just letting the equipment collect dust on a shelf somewhere in the house.

♦Don’t overlook the many grants and large corporations, such as Microsoft, that will help teachers fund projects that meet the organization’s specific guidelines.

For More Information

Moodle
www.moodle.org

Microsoft Education Programs
http://www.microsoft.com/education/educationprograms.mspx

Technology has made portfolio creation easy for students, who can gather their digital creations in a compact format for showing off at a later date. Maybe their parents want to see what they’re doing in their advanced graphics design class, or maybe an employer is interested in their AutoCAD accomplishments. Regardless of the material or the audience, your students will enjoy using Adobe Acrobat to create their own e-portfolios.

Here’s a step-by-step guide that you can use to help students compile their web-based work using Adobe:

1.      Have students determine what they’d like to collect and store in their e-portfolios (classroom projects, tests and quizzes, artwork, engineering drawings, etc.).

2.      Remind students that they can create multiple portfolios for different types of projects and documents (and that they don’t have to jam them all into a single e-portfolio).

3.      Tell students to open Abode Acrobat 9 Pro (or earlier version of the software). The program will serve as the “basket” in which they will store their images, videos, documents and/or other materials using a PDF portfolio (this format allows pretty much anyone to view the materials, from any computer).

4.      In Acrobat, students will be working with a document pane that displays Adobe PDF documents, and a navigation pane on the left side where they can browse through open PDF documents. The toolbars appear at the top of the window and are organized by feature type.

5.      To kick off their portfolio-building exercise, have students upload one text, image or video file at a time to their e-portfolio, which should be named with a simple naming convention that they will remember (such as, “My11thgradeportfolio.pdf”).

6.      Tell students that individual files should be named in ways that clearly identify their contents (since viewers can see these filenames).

7.      Discuss with students the fact that Adobe PDF documents preserve all the fonts, formatting, color and graphics of the uploaded files, regardless of which application they were generated in. To convert files to PDF formats, students will need to take the following steps within Adobe Acrobat:

In Acrobat, do one of the following:

• Choose File>Create PDF>From File;
• Or, in the toolbar, click the Create button and choose PDF From File. In the Open dialog box, select the file. You can browse all file types or select a specific type from the “Files Of Type” menu.

8.      As students continue to add files and build their portfolios, remind them that these projects aren’t static, and that they are expandable and scalable. They can contain as many pages as necessary, and are easier to update than paper-based versions.

For More Information

Adobe Acrobat

www.Adobe.com/Acrobat

After signing up, you’ll be able to access your inbox and network, manage your subscriptions and favorites, and edit your profile from “My Home.” Using the “Find and Share” resources tabs, you can connect with other members and invite friends to join the network.

For CTE teachers, Adobe Education Exchange’s lesson plans will allow you to infuse new projects into the classroom without having to search high and low for good ideas. A few of the projects currently on the site include, “Editing with Premiere Pro if you’re a Final Cut Pro user,” “Visualization of the Atom,” and “Generating Lesson Plans with Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro4.0.”

Educators can also read through the latest Adobe announcements, with some of the most recent news including new resources for Adobe Connect 8, Adobe Digital School and Adobe Acrobat X Pro15.0.

For more information about Adobe Education Exchange visit http://edexchange.adobe.com/. You can sign up with your Adobe ID and fill out your personal profile to gain full access to this valuable resource.

Educational requirements: 

Web content editors should be familiar with interactive technologies of the web so that they can blend text, graphics and sound together. Familiarity with electronic publishing, graphics, web design and multimedia production is also important as the use of electronic and wireless communications equipment to send e-mail, transmit work and review copy often is necessary. Online publications require knowledge of computer software and editing tools used to combine text with graphics, audio, video and animation.

How much they earn:  

According to online job resource Simply Hired, the average web content editor salary in 2011 is $57,000 annually. The number can vary greatly due to employer, location, industry, experience and job benefits.

Job outlook: 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), authors, writers and editors held about 281,300 jobs in 2008. Writers and authors held about 151,700 jobs and editors held about 129,600 jobs. About 70 percent of writers and authors were self-employed, while 12 percent of editors were self-employed. With the Internet playing an increasingly important role in our everyday lives, the need for knowledgeable web content editors is expected to grow over the next decade.

Web links:

The BLS’ Occupational Outlook Catalog

www.bls.gov/oco

In this era of tight school budgets, shared funding agreements are gaining in popularity. Instead of a single district, school or classroom seeking funding for specific projects, two or more of these entities work together to finance larger initiatives. A CTE teacher, for example, might partner up with two other educators to write a $25,000 grant for classroom technology that can then be spread among the three entities.

Shared funding opportunities are both varied and plentiful, and typically only limited by the financing source itself. If, for example, a granting organization has specific rules concerning the distribution of funds and use of the technology being purchased, then those guidelines must be followed before any shared arrangements are made.

Shared opportunities also exist outside of the traditional funding “walls,” and can include partnerships with local businesses and organizations. If, for example, a non-profit in the community needs access to a videoconferencing setup once a week – and if your CTE program is vying for similar equipment – then the two groups can work together to raise the $5,000 or so needed to purchase the goods.

Minnesota economic development agency, Iron Range Resources, for example, has forged partnerships with K-12 institutions throughout the state, including a shared funding setup with the Northeast Higher Education District. This partnership supports a regional workforce development coordinator who advances technical education program development and assists with marketing and recruitment for technical programs.

Shared funding arrangements like this one allow institutions to expand services and share resources to achieve goals that they wouldn’t necessarily be able to accomplish individually. If you’re ready to tap into this new funding resource, here are five steps to success:

1. First, look at what your classroom, school or district does well, and where it could use a little help.
2. Consider which local, state and federal organizations, schools or institutions could help your group “fill the gap” in those specific areas.
3. Find out where those organizations are lacking, and consider what strengths your own institution can bring to the table.
4. Brainstorm viable funding options with one another, and decide on one or two that are within reach and that will serve as good shared funding sources.
5. Work together to create a “shared” atmosphere whereby all participating organizations benefit, both financially and in terms of achieving goals and growth.

Web resources:

Iron Range Resources’ Education Page

Desktop virtualization is helping districts achieve those goals by allowing them to pool and share IT hardware and software while also providing centralized management over technology assets and improved resource sharing. The process requires desktop virtualization software, which separates each individual PC desktop from its related applications, files and data.

It works like this: In a computer technology classroom, for example, multiple students and teachers can use the same physical PC, but set up their own desktop environments (complete with personal settings, applications, documents, music, photos, etc.). Individuals log into those environments via any computer, and access their individual work assignments, projects and research as they move among classrooms and subjects.

One of the top benefits of desktop virtualization is the ability to get more out of a school’s existing equipment. The strategy also helps extend the life of obsolete equipment. With very old machines, for example, virtualization serves as a way to keep them running when you can’t get hardware and/or support for them anymore.

Using virtualization, students and teachers can access memory-intensive, graphical applications without the use of high-powered, state-of-the-art computers. The process also takes the pressure off the school’s IT department, which can control the machines and software from a centralized location (instead of having to run all over campus fixing problems and installing software security patches, for example).

Lower cost of ownership (compared to new computer purchases) and reduced energy consumption are two additional benefits of virtualization. If your CTE program is looking for a way to leverage its existing resources without having to invest thousands of dollars in new equipment, virtualization could be the answer.

Web links:

A Survey on Virtualization Technologies

www.ecsl.cs.sunysb.edu/tr/TR179.pdf

VMware (vendor site includes comprehensive information on virtualization)

www.vmware.com

Developed by the State of California, the “Who Do You Want 2B?” toolkit includes several lesson plans that CTE teachers can use to help students select their career paths.

Here’s a 2-step activity that you can use to get students thinking about what they’ll need to accomplish in high school in order to achieve their career goals:

Step One:

1. Go to the Who Do You Want 2B website. Get copies of the Industry Sector Pathway Options for your students based on their pathway choices.
2. Place students that have matching sector pathways together in small groups.
3. Have students review the document and discuss their observations.

Step Two: 

1. Working in the small groups, students should discuss college options including local colleges and choices for transfer.
2. Students should be allowed to discuss academic options, locations and other information about local colleges.
3. Based on their Industry Sector Pathway, students should research the following questions:
1. Are any of the CTE courses needed for their career path offered at their current high school? Are they offered at other local high schools?
2. What is the closest college that offers the career path? (Students can brainstorm how to locate this information. Teachers can have local college catalogs available or students can search the local college websites.)
4. The teacher should demonstrate how to write an appropriate letter.
5. Students should write a business letter to a college or high school counselor that provides the counselor with the information about the particular student’s career choice and requests information on the major for the specific career path.

Web links:

Who Do U Want 2B?

A new program in Ohio is making it easier for CTE students to articulate their technical knowledge and skills into equivalent college courses and programs.

Known as Career and Technology Transfer (CT)², the program is a collaborative effort among the Ohio Board of Regents and the Office of Career-Technical Education of the Ohio Department of Education, public secondary/adult career-technical education institutions and state-supported institutions of higher education.

Under the guidance of the (CT)²Advisory Committee, the new articulation and transfer initiative established criteria, policies and procedures whereby students are awarded college credit for agreed-upon technical knowledge and skills in equivalent courses/programs that are based on recognized industry standards.

Students are guaranteed the transfer of applicable credits among Ohio’s public colleges and universities and equitable treatment in the application of credits to admissions and degree requirements.

Through (CT)²the participating organizations hope to help more high school and adult career-technical students enter the higher education realm with college credit while also providing Ohio’s businesses with more employees who possess higher education and advanced skills.

Details on the program can be found online at OhioHigherEd. The site provides information on career-technical course work that students can complete and transfer. It also offers information for campus staff to facilitate program approval for their career-technical programs.

Web links

OhioHigherEd – University System of Ohio Board of Regents